Photograph depicts "The arrival of Lt.Gen. Baba Masao, Supreme Commander, Japanese/ Forces, Labuan Borneo". (Exhibition Label with photograph.)Photograph - copy of black and white photograph depicting 3 Australian troops and six Japanese personnel with an aeroplane fuselage in the background. Photo is laminated - on back is handwritten notation.Back of photo - handwritten in black ink "HOSHIJIMA/IN / CHARGE/ SANDAKAN CAMP.photographs, ww2, japan, sandakan

The Pilatus B4 is an all metal intermediate sailplane meeting Standard Class rules that was designed in 1966 by Ingo Herbst, Manfred Küppers and Rudolf Reinke. It did not immediately go into production. In 1972 Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland acquired a licence to build the aircraft and began production. The PCII and PCIIA versions were semi-aerobatic. The PC11AF released in 1975 was rated as fully aerobatic. By 1980, when Pilatus sold the rights to manufacture of the aircraft to Nippi Aircraft of Japan, 322 of the Pilatus B4 had been produced. Nippi Aircraft built a further 13 and also one two seat version. The Pilatus B4 proved popular in Australia with 26 appearing on the Australian register. The Museum’s example is a basic semi-aerobatic type (Serial Number 092) that was built in 1974. It is registered as VH-GID on 8 July 1974 by H.G. Sutton of Mandura, Western Australia and flown out of the Narrogin Gliding Club in Western Australia until September 1986 when it was sold to the Albury – Corowa Gliding Club, New South Wales. In 1999 it was acquired by Michael Green and moved to Townsville, Queensland. The aircraft changed ownership again in 2004 and fell out of use for nearly 4 years. By then it had recorded 4377 hours in the air from 4304 flights. It returned to service briefly in January 2008 (5 flights totalling about 5 hours). It was donated to the Museum by David Millward of the Geelong Gliding Club, Victoria, on 10 April 2017. The aircraft is representative of a popular imported 1970s intermediate single seat sailplane design of aluminium alloy construction.Single seat sailplane of metal alloy constructionWhite colour scheme with yellow fuselage underside highlighted by blue stripe – “Pilatus B4” in black lettering on starboard side of cockpit – black anti-glare paint on the fuselage nose – Registration “GID” on the underside of port wing.australian gliding, glider, sailplane, pilatus b4, sutton, narrogin, albury, corowa, green, townsville, millward, geelong

This aircraft was designed by Edmund Schneider as a single seat medium performance sailplane. Originally designated as the Grunau 3b but later named the Grunau 4. However, it was a new design with fully enclosed cockpit. The main point of difference to earlier Schneider Grunau designs was the tapered wings with the Gottingen 549 aerofoil. This design feature gave the Grunau 4 a better speed range compared to the Grunau Baby 2b or the Grunau 3. The prototype flew on 6 December 1953 and it went to the Waikerie Gliding Club. A second was delivered to the Dubbo Gliding Club in October of the next year and a third (the Australian Gliding Museum’s exhibit) built for the Adelaide Soaring Club in 1959 (registered as VH-GLX on 21 October 1959). Another was built by Josef Brabec from a Schneider supplied kit from 1954 to 1956. The log book indicates that the glider recorded 2362 flying hours over approximately 40 years of active service. There are many long flights recorded. The registration was cancelled on 30 July 2014 as a result of a decision by the Museum to withdraw the glider from service. The exhibit represents the final development of the "Grunau" single seat type by Edmund Schneider Ltd in Australia. Viewed together with the Grunau Baby gliders in the ATO Collection (Two Grunau Baby 2, and a Grunau Baby 3A), the changes to this glider type over a 30 year period can be recognized. Single seat wooden sailplane with fabric covering. Fully enclosed cockpit. The aircraft is white with Linden Green on the wing tips, tailplane and underside of the fuselage and also on the central wing cover. Identification Plate in cockpit showing that glider is serial number 37 built by Edmund Schneider Ltd in 1959 australian gliding, glider, sailplane, grunau, grunau 3a, grunau 3b, grunau 4, schneider, waikerie gliding club, dubbo gliding club, adelaide soaring club, josef brabec

Aluminium fabrication depicting aeroplane fuselage panel with table and mounting wall for radios, has morse key and audio player connected. also a small radar screen and lights. Light green radio console, lancaster mock up

The Altair was built between January 1956 and November 1958 with first flight on 20 December 1958. After a few flights the cockpit was lengthened and the glider flown by Cliff Gurr and Ron Adair to complete their FAI Gold C badges. Cliff set an unofficial Australian record for an out and return flight (between Gawler and Renmark) of 230 miles (368 km) in 1961. The glider was flown by only Ron and Cliff until Mervyn Waghorn joined Ron to fly it in the National Championships at Waikerie in 1967. For a period of time the glider was left in the care of some members of the Geelong Gliding Club. Doug Vanstan of the Geelong Gliding Club fitted a new canopy and rebuilt the aileron bellcranks to improve their operation. Subsequently the Altair was flown in competitions and at vintage rallies until the mid 1980s. On 31 March 1987 Alan Patching of the Victorian Motorless Flight Group purchased the glider from Ron for the sum of one shilling and named the owners as himself, Doug Vanstan and Ian Patching. It has been stored at Bacchus Marsh airfield since then. The glider is the only 18 metre wing span machine to have been designed and built in Australia.The Altair glider is a single place 18 metre span cantilever wing glider constructed from spruce and aircraft plywood. The laminar flow wing is completely covered in plywood with a ply balsa sandwich for the leading edge and the airbrakes are unique being located in the trailing edge of the wings. All these features were done in an effort to retain laminar flow over the wing and achieve a high performance. The wings, empennage and top of the fuselage are painted white with the rest of the fuselage red. The word ‘Altair’ appears on both sides at the top of the fin.australian gliding, glider, sailplane, adair, gurr, waghorn, vanstan, rees, patching, altair, adelaide soaring club, gawler, geelong gliding club, vmfg, zechner

Items belonged to Maxwell Lennox Matheson No 418447 RAAF. Refer Cat No 1959 for his service records.Envelope containing 5 photos: .1) 1P Auro Anson T.1 - Fuselage number W2083 .2) 2P Laverton RAAF Base B&W c.1938 Bunch of Airmen marching past Hawker demons .3) 3P North American b&w RAAF P51 Mustang Number A68-585 .4) 4P Airspeed 'Oxford' b&w Fuselage Number V3354 .5) 5P Blue print 'Wirraway' Fighter/Bomber.1) 3 Lines description on rear. RAF Aircraft issued to RAF .2) Laverton RAAF Base C1938 & 2 lines about Hawker Demons & Auro Ansons .3) 5 lines about history of P51 & No 84 Sqn 1945 .4) Rear inscription 4 historical lines about AIirspeed Oxfords .5) Front inscription on blue print: Wirraway' as a General Purpose Trainer Aircraft No A70-98 Wirraway' as a Dive Bomber Aircraft No A20-754photography -photographs, raaf

80 SQN RAAF.1) Sepia photo of a group of 10 men in casual attire. White sign on building behind them. .2) Black & white photo of a group of 12 men in casual attire alongside plane fuselage. .1) On sign behind men: "80 SQN EQUIPMENT STORE" .2) " Logo of roaring bull in triangle border"photographs, raaf, 80 sqd

The Hall Cherokee II glider is an American design for amateur construction from plans. The designer was Stan Hall (1915-2009), a professional engineer, who gained extensive experience in the United States aviation industry during World War 2 including the programs for military gliders. He continued to work as an engineer for aircraft manufacturers and as a consultant to the industry after the war. He was active in gliding and, in particular, the home built sailplane movement. The Cherokee II was one of about 10 glider designs that he produced: it came out in 1956. It is understood that over 100 Cherokee gliders have been built. In Australia the number is possibly 10 or 11. The Hall Cherokee VH-GVO was built by R.D Meares of Caringbah, New South Wales. The glider was registered as VH-GVO on 11 October 1973 and given serial number “GFA-HB-82” by the Gliding Federation of Australia. The Logbook for VH-GVO appears to be a complete record of the flying history; in aggregate 210 hours 40 minutes in the air from 331 flights. The first test hop occurred on 29 July 1972 at Camden, New South Wales. VH-GVO was last flown on 22 July 1986. Many of the flights recorded are of one or two hours duration. The glider was last inspected and certified as airworthy and in a reasonable condition at the Hunter Valley Gliding Club in July 1986. Since that time, until transferred to the Australian Gliding Museum, the glider was in storage. Structural restoration work has been completed on the fuselage and one wing. However, inspection of the other wing revealed extensive damage to the ribs and spars and consequently a decision was taken to make it a static exhibit. The exhibit is an example of home built construction of a type that has proved popular amongst amateur glider builders.The Hall Cherokee (formerly registered as VH-GVO) is a single seat wooden home built glider. The glider is constructed from wood, plywood, fabric and metal fittings, all commercial grade except for main wing fittings, pulleys, cables and bolts. The fuselage is simple with four main longerons and bulkheads with diagonal bracing. The wing has two identical solid spars which form a geodetic structure, hence the leading edge is non-structural. Registration VH-GVO – serial number GFA-HB-82 australian gliding, glider, sailplane, hall, cherokee, meares, hunter valley gliding club

The Skylark 4, the final in the Slingsby Skylark series, dates from 1961. The design heralded a trend towards the use of plastics in the construction of gliders. Slingsby incorporated GRP (glass reinforced plastic) panels to achieve a streamlined fuselage nose and cockpit area while retaining the more traditional wood techniques for the rest of the aircraft. Another notable feature was the smooth wing surface that was obtained using a Gaboon ply skin across the ribs. Best glide performance of 1:33 was found to be comparable with the early full GRP glider designs. The Museum’s example (VH-GTB – C/N 1382) was built in 1963 and originally owned by Chuck Bentson of the UK. It was brought to Australia in 1967 by Jeremy Picket-Heaps and flown at various places including Benalla, Cooma and Gundaroo. In 1970 the glider was transferred to the New England Soaring Club. Many flights were made from Armidale and Bellata in Northern New South Wales. On one occasion, the glider was kept aloft for 8 hours 45 minutes and on another the pilot took it around a 500 kilometre triangle in nearly 8 hours. In 1980 it was sold to Ralph (“Feathers”) Crompton and was flown extensively in South Australia until 1988. The final owner before the glider was given to the Museum in 2004 was Ross Dutton of Melbourne. The last recorded flight occurred in 1992. The glider at that point had logged over 2000 hours flying time from about 2000 launches. The airframe is currently being restored to flying condition. Technically this aircraft represents the state of the art at the stage that sailplane design was changing from traditional wood construction to composites (GRP) The Slingsby Skylark 4 is high wing single seat sailplane of mainly wooden construction with plywood and fabric covering. However, the cockpit and forward part of the fuselage consists of glass reinforced plastic which was innovative at the time that the type was designed. The cockpit provides for a semi reclining position for the pilot protected with a full Perspex canopy. The wings are made up of a centre section with constant chord and tapered wing tips. The aircraft has a conventional arrangement for the tail stabiliser / control surfaces. The sailplane bears construction number 1382 and is registered in Australia as VH-GTBaustralian gliding, glider, sailplane, skylark, slingsby, bentson, picket-heaps, crompton, new england soaring club, dutton

Mr Beatty sitting on fuselage of biplane. 7 cylinder rotary engine biplane with two propellers behind wings (each side). Four-wheeled undercarriage. Written on bottom in white: 'Flying at Hendon, Mr. G.W. Beatty'aviation, civilian, hendon, mr. g.w. beatty

The Kyeema airline crash took place on 25 October 1938 when the Australian National Airways Douglas DC-2 Kyeema, tail number VH-UYC, flying from Adelaide to Melbourne, commenced final approach to Essendon Airport through heavy fog and crashed into the western slopes of Mount Dandenong, killing all 18 on board instantly. There is strong evidence that the pilots were becoming unsure of their position. According to Macarthur Job's book, Disaster in the Dandenongs, the radio operator had requested the controller at Essendon give them a radio bearing. Essendon had acknowledged and told them to leave their transmitter on, but the signal stopped and no further contact was made. It is thought that this is the moment that Kyeema hit the mountain. There were 18 people on board the DC-2: 14 passengers, the captain, the first officer, an air hostess, and a cadet pilot who operated the radio during the flight. The victims were :— THE CREW. CAPTAIN A. C. D. WEBB, 32, pilot, married, of Essendon, Victoria. JUNIOR CAPTAIN ALAN J. STEEN, 25, pilot, married, of Essendon North, Victoria. ELVA JONES, 27, air hostess, single, of Toorak, Victoria. PHILIP D. PRING, about 20, cadet pilot attached to Australian National Airways' Aeronautics School, Sydney. PASSENGERS. CHARLES ALLAN SEYMOUR HAWKER, M.P., 44, single, of Adelaide. LEONARD SYDNEY ABRAHAMS, K.C., 51, married, barrister, of Sydney. SIDNEY HILL SMITH, 41, married, managing director of S. Smith and Son, of Yalumba, South Australia. ALFRED CECIL GAIN, 42, married, barrister, of Sydney. GORDON H. GODDARD, 30, single, accountant, of North Sydney. LANCELOT WILLIAM SHIRLEY, 27, single, solicitor, of Manly. JAMES IAN MASSIE, 25, single, solicitor, of Sydney. VAUGHAN PATE, 42, refrigeration cabinet manufacturer, married, of Unley, South Australia. THOMAS M. HARDY, 48, married, head of the firm of Thomas Hardy and Sons, vignerons, of Seacliff, South Australia. GEORGE WILLIAM LING, 72, of Kingswood, South Australia, former building inspector of the Municipal Tramways Trust, Adelaide. LOUIS HUGO GRAMP, 43, married, managing director of G. Gramp and Sons, Ltd., vignerons, Rowlands (sic) Flat, South Australia. Mrs. ELIZABETH MARY SCHRADER, 69, widow, of Adelaide. Mr. and Mrs. HANS L. GLOE, of Perth.Small section of the Kyeema DC-2 fuselage made up of 5 pieces of piece of twisted and torn aluminium riveted together. Marking can be seen in red but is indistinct. Aluminium has gold, silver and green colouring.kyeema, a webb, j steen, elva jones, philip pring, charles hawker, leonard abrahams, sidney hill smith, alfred gain, gordon goddard, lancelot shirley, james massie, vaughan pate, thomas hardy, george ling, hugo gramp, elizabeth schrader, mr hans gloe, mrs gloe

Model Meteor Jet fighter/bomber made of alumimum painted silver with clear plastic cockpitRed, white and blue roundels on wings and fuselage Red, white and blue idenitfication markings on tail.Flap markings painted on wingflaps and tail .plane, model

After an eight year international search for a complete bomb quadrant to fit the B24- Liberator fuselage it was decided to create a replica. This scale mode was used to prove the methodology.This scale model allowed us to manufacture a full size complete working replica.This replica is now installed in the B24-Liberator and completes the operational system.Quarter circle quadrant with operating levers and security bracket. Body is dark green with two red operating handles.

This Dunstable Kestrel glider (which originally was finished in silver paint) was built in 1939 by Ric New and members of the Lake Pinjar Soaring Club. It first flew on 26 December 1939 at Lake Pinjar. The first extensive flight was on 7 January 1940 when Ric New managed to stay aloft for 30 minutes and reach a height of 3000 metres. Unfortunately the Kestrel was badly damaged the same day when another club member Jim Brabazon stalled and spun in. The Kestrel was repaired by June 1940 and flown extensively at Lake Pinjar in 1940 and 1941 until Government authorities intervened and ploughed up Lake Pinjar as a wartime measure to prevent it being used as a landing field by the enemy [Allan Ash, Gliding in Australia, pp 92 – 94]. The Lake Pinjar Soaring club was reformed as the Perth Gliding Club after the end of the war and was joined by Ric New with his Kestrel [Allan Ash, Gliding in Australia, p 103]. The glider was held in storage at the Gliding Club of Western Australia prior to transfer to the Australia Gliding Museum. The Deed of Gift indicates that it was formerly owned by Wally Williams, also from Western Australia. The aircraft is in poor condition and has some non-original elements. It is one of three that currently exist. Nevertheless it is considered to be an important exhibit for relating the history of gliding in Western Australia.Aircraft of wood structure skinned with plywood and fabric – off-white colour scheme – crazed flaking paint on fuselage – nose of fuselage has been modified by addition of streamlining – damage includes impact holes to plywood, especially on starboard side – wings have been stripped of fabric covering and some ribs are missing – tailplane and rudder are in reasonable condition although, like wings, have been stripped of fabric. Overall, while the main elements of this aircraft are present, there are a number of missing fittings and will require extensive works to restore to a static display standard.australian gliding, glider, sailplane, dunstable, kestrel, bill manuel, ric new, lake pinjar soaring club, lake pinjar, gliding club of western australia

Postcard: sepia coloured card, man dressed in buttoned coat with hat and flying goggles on. Outfit appears to be a flying suit. Standing in front of partly visible fuselage of plane. Written on bottom in white ' flying at Hendon, Mr. Pierre Verrier'aviation, civilian, pierre verrier, basil watson, mr. pierre verrier

Historical Details: The Bristol Freighter was the first post war heavy freight aircraft to enter service in Australia. It featured large clam shell doors at the front of a large "container" like fuselage allowing complete cars and other large loads to be carried. In 1966 th. Description: The Bristol Freighter was the first post war heavy freight aircraft to enter service in Australia. It featured large clam shell doors at the front of a large "container" like fuselage allowing complete cars and other large loads to be carried. Designe. Level of Importance: Nationalfreighter, bristol

Items belonged to Maxwell Lennox Matheson No 418447 RAAF. Refer Cat No1959 for his service records. 2 photos: .1) 1P RAAF WWII PR photo b&w shows group of pilots walking away from Tiger Moth aeroplanes .2) 2P 3 Tiger Moths in flight RAAF b&w the fuselage number of closest aircraft is T-5411.1) Rear 'A Flight, No 11 EFTS RAAF Benalla April 1944 all of the Tigers pictures were Australian built' .2) Description: 'Out of the 3508 Tiger Moths built by Morris Motors Ltd, Cowley, Oxford for the RAAF, 100 were transferred to the RAAF and 1940. Before D H Australia got into production of the 1085 locally built Tigers these 3 were probably at No 7 EFTS, Western Junction. photography-photographs, raaf

The Hutter H17 is a small single seat glider with a wing span of 9.69 metres, designed in 1934 by Wolfgang Hutter, for flying in the Austrian Alps. Construction of the museum’s example, “Sweetwings” (now registered as VH-GQM), commenced in Perth in 1949. It is one of two Hutter H17 gliders built in Western Australia by N.J. Wynne and A.G. Milligan at the time – the other “Fleetwings” (formerly VH-HDQ and since re-registered as VH-GXV) is located at Millicent, South Australia. Ownership transferred to G.R. Reichelt of Tocumwal New South Wales and later to D.B. Hunt of Thornbury in Melbourne and later Mt Isa, Queensland. It was acquired by Bill Riley of Tocumwal who donated it to the Museum. The glider was last flown on 25 October 1979 at Tocumwal. This exhibit is an example of a 1930s small wood and fabric glider that was designed in Austria for hill soaring. It is a simple design that became a popular choice for home building in the post war years in Australia when gliding as a sport was in recovery. Some examples are still flying.Small single seat glider. Fuselage and wing struts are painted yellow. Wings, rudder and tailplane / elevator are primed with pink dope. It has an open cockpit with small clear Perspex wind screen. Instruments include airspeed indicator and altimeter tucked neatly under front edge of the cockpit rim.australian gliding, glider, sailplane, hutter, sweetwings, fleetwings, reichelt, riley, wynne, milligan

This aircraft is one of 9 single seat ES 59 advanced club sailplanes manufactured by Edmund Schneider Pty Ltd in the 1960s. It was first flown in August 1963 and delivered to the Darling Downs Soaring Club at Toowoomba Queensland. At that Club it had 2603 flights and recorded a total airtime of 1475 hours. In addition to many local circuits and soaring and cross country flying, it was used at gliding competitions, including Nationals at Benalla in December 1964, State Championships at Oakey in April 1965, at Warwick in April 1966, and at (Inverell?) in March 1967. On at least 15 occasions flight times in excess of 5 hours duration were achieved. On 5 October 1970, the glider had a new life when it was relocated to Wollongong in New South Wales. It recorded 1927 flights with a total airtime of 1179 hours at the club between October 1970 and June 1988. Competition appearances included the State Championships held at Forbes in January 1972. Places away from Wollongong where the glider was launched include Cootamundra, Wagga, Temora, Marulon, Narromine, Leeton, Nowra, Goulburn, Horsham, Greenthorpe. On 15 June 1988 it was transferred to Ron Geake who transported it to Warrego in Northern Territory (flown once at Alice Springs), and then to Gympie in Queensland where it was flown about 20 times by the end of 1995. It was also flown on a small number of occasions at Forbes in New South Wales in 1996 and 1997. During 1998 and 1999 the glider was sparsely used (9 flights) at locations that have not been recorded. From May 1999 until transfer to the Australian Gliding Museum in May 2011 it apparently was not flown. Aggregate airtime hours for the glider stand at 2702 hours 53 minutes. It has been launched 4569 times. A good example of a Schneider ES59 sailplane from the 1960s. This type is of note because it was the first Australian designed and built sailplane to be used in a world gliding competition (Jack Iggulden in Argentina in 1963). This Schneider ES59 Arrow is a single seat wooden sailplane with one piece wing. The instruments are not present except for altimeter. Fin and rudder are of swept back design. Colour scheme is white with lemon yellow fuselage underbelly. The aircraft came to the museum on an open trailer that had been designed to carry the one piece wing. Plate in cockpit with details of manufacturer states; manufactured by E. Schneider Ltd, Adelaide SA; Type ES 59; Serial Number 62; Date August 1963.australian gliding, glider, sailplane, schneider, es59, arrow, darling downs soaring club, wollongong gliding club, ron geake

This ES Ka6 sailplane (VH-GRW, serial number 55) was built under licence from Alexander Schleicher in 1962 by Edmund Schneider Limited. It was one of 12 Ka6s, with minor variations from the Schleicher product, built by Schneiders in Australia. It was test flown at Parafield Aerodrome, Adelaide, on 8th September 1962. By way of background, the Schleicher KA 6 series of sailplanes were designed by Rudolf Kaiser in Germany. They were quite successful in the Standard Class in the late 1950s and 1960s. Over 1400 were produced. The first owner of VH-GRW was the Victorian Motorless Flight Group which, at the time, was based at Berwick Airfield on the outskirts of Melbourne. On 22 April 1972, the ownership passed to a syndicate of members from the VMFG. It again changed ownership in July 1974. The new owners were another syndicate based at Campbelltown in New South Wales. The glider went to a Tasmania syndicate in June 1976 and finally to the Soaring Club of Tasmania. In total VH-GRW recorded 3369 hours air time from 4952 launches. It was used very little after 1996. This exhibit is an example of the Scheicher Ka6 sailplane type that were built by Edmund Schneider in Australia.Plywood, spruce and fabric covered high wing single seat sailplane. The airframe has been restored to the point of repainting. Currently the fuselage, rudder and the wings aft of the main spar are coated with pink dope. The tailplane retains the white gloss finish of the glider prior to the restoration work. The cockpit to be refitted (with instruments etc). Serial number 55. The manufacture details are displayed on a metal plate fixed to the main bulkhead. australian gliding, glider, sailplane, schneider, schleicher, ka6, rhonsegler, victorian motorless flight group, soaring club of tasmania

12 small handwritten, interpretive labels for display (re Basil Watson) - presumably to accompany an exhibition of Basil Watson memorabilia (no date) Labels: fabric with monogram from original plane; finished plane; airmail envelopes 1929-30; Basil Watson Bendigo's first aviator,; first Australian to loop the loop; picture of the delivery of the first letter carried by air in Australia. Flown from Melbourne to Bendigo and delivered by the late Mr. Basil Watson of Melbourne, to his cousin Mr. Keith Munro of Bendigo, at 5.15 p.m. on Wednesday, November 29th. 1916, at the Bendigo racecourse. Envelope: handwritten on front of envelope 'Assam silk material used in covering the wings and fuselage of Basil Watson's airplane built by him in 1916. The wings and fuselage were then painted with an oil protective covering'person, individual, basil watson

The “Northrop” is an American copy of the “Zogling” which was designed in Germany in the 1920s as a training glider. Apparently, the Northrop primary glider takes its name from a Marvin Northrop of Minneapolis who imported a Zogling from Germany and from that glider had plans drawn and published in a magazine called Modern Mechanics in 1930. The Australia Gliding Museum’s Northrop was built over the period of 1970 to 1974. The project was conceived by a pioneer of Australian gliding, Ken Davies, about 1969, as a hobby project and to experience afresh gliding flight of the early years. By that time, few primary gliders, which performed a fundamental role for gliding clubs in the 1930s and 1940s, remained in Australia. Ken began construction and was helped to finish the project by two old time Gliding Club of Victoria members, Dave Darbyshire and Rudi Feil. The glider was test flown on 8 March 1975 at Benalla. The glider was stored at the Gliding Club of Victoria and flown on special occasions in the 1980s. Later it was damaged at the 1996 vintage glider rally at Ararat as a result of a heavy landing. Storage was then provided for the glider by the Victorian Motorless Flight Group at Bacchus Marsh until it was returned to Dave Darbyshire for restoration in 1998. Fully restored, the glider was donated by Iris Davies and Dave Darbyshire to the Australian Gliding Museum in April 2001. This exhibit is the type of machine that formed the basis of the sport of gliding from 1929 to about 1945. The glider consists of an open (uncovered) wooden framed fuselage (painted blue) with a brown vinyl covered seat, fabric covered wooden framed wings of constant chord (painted silver) with provision for attachment of semi-circular cane wing skids, and fabric covered wooden framed tailplane, elevators and rudder (painted silver). When assembled the airframe is wire braced.australian gliding, glider, northrop, zogling, davies, darbyshire, feil, gliding club of victoria, victorian motorless flight group

The “Coogee” is an intermediate single seat sailplane designed and built by Tom Proctor in 1940. Only one was built. It was first flown at Stuart Hill near Bendigo Victoria in January 1941 and was maintained in flying condition until 1967. The aircraft was flown extensively by the Victorian Motorless Flight Group (now the Melbourne Gliding Club) and Geelong Gliding Club and several subsequent owners. This exhibit is a "one off" Australian designed and built glider similar in some respects to the Hutter H17. Its usage is relevant to the history of gliding in Victoria in the post war years. Also the aircraft provides an insight into gliding technology in Australia in the 1940s. Wood and fabric single seat glider sailplane with strutted wings and strutted tailplane – features metal framed perspex canopy, central fuselage skid and wheel, small tail skid, instruments include airspeed, turn and bank indicator; variometer and altimeter. Metal parts include struts and fairing covering wing joint. All surfaces are pink doped – awaiting painting.australian gliding, glider, sailplane, coogee, tom proctor, victorian motorless flight group, geelong gliding club

The Gardens were a popular venue for Sunday School picnics for many years. She was aged approximately when the photo was taken and her head can just be seen in the middle of the photo. Alice Weatherhead (Cochran) lived firstly in Newport and then Railway Cres Williamstown. She attended the Newport Baptist Church and the Domestic Arts School. At the time of writing the letter she was 91 years of age. She worked at the aircraft factory in Champion Road, Newport making the rear fuselage for Beaufort Bombers. Her father, Tom Cochran, belonged to the Williamstown Horticultural Society.Alice’s photos and written memories encapsulate the intangible heritage of the Williamstown Botanic Gardens. She recalls: playing in the Gardens; using them as her as a place for solace and thinking; while riding to the beach from Newport; walking in crocodile file past the Gardens from her school to the swimming baths, the ‘air of mystery as you walked through those wonderful wrought iron gates’; a place of courtship with the boy she later married. She wrote about seeing a purple flowering plant in a circular bed that was ‘spectacular and inspired me to grow it in my garden’. Black and white image of people sitting and standing together for the group photo. There are large trees in the background; a young boy standing with his hands behind his back at the back row to the left. There are two crosses (in pen) above the heads of two women in the back row on the left side.On the reverse of the image: Mother and G. M. L. / marked x x / Newport Baptist S.S. / Picnic Williamstown Gardens / Grace Logan / [address is written but not to be published] / No29williamstown botanic gardens, hobsons bay city council, 1930, newport baptist sunday school picnic, alice cochran