The Queensland Air Museum is a

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

community-owned

aviation museum An aviation museum, air museum, or air and space museum is a museum exhibiting the history and cultural artifacts, artifacts of aviation. In addition to actual, replica or accurate reproduction aircraft, exhibits can include photographs, maps, P ...

located at Caloundra Airport in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Its mission is to collect and preserve all aspects of aviation heritage with an emphasis on Australia and Queensland. The museum has the largest collection of historical aircraft in Queensland and it also has a large collection of aircraft engines, equipment, artefacts, photographs and books.

History

On 2 June 1974 the Queensland Air Museum was inaugurated with the official unveiling of a

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

bomber that had been purchased from a Government disposal. The aircraft was displayed at the Pioneer Valley Park, which was a museum at Kuraby in Brisbane's southern suburbs. The park was eventually closed and the aircraft was moved to a leased site at Nudgee on the north side of Brisbane. The collection began to grow when a Meteor TT20 was donated to the museum by the British Government and a

Vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

and two Sea Venoms were acquired. Due to the construction of the new

Brisbane Airport Brisbane Airport is the primary international airport serving Brisbane and South East Queensland. The airport services 31 airlines flying to 50 domestic and 29 international destinations, in total amounting to more than 22.7 million passeng ...

nearby, the collection was forced to move to a temporary holding area on the airport site. Exorbitant rental costs at this location eventually lead to the museum being evicted and the resultant publicity resulted in an offer of a permanent home on the Sunshine Coast by the Landsborough Shire Council. On 14 June 1986 the collection was relocated to a site at Caloundra Airport which had a newly built

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

. The official opening of the museum took place on 4 April 1987 by Mrs Ly Bennett, wife of the museum's first

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

, the late

Air Vice-Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

Don Bennett.

Don Bennett Air Vice Marshal Donald Clifford Tyndall Bennett, (14 September 1910 – 15 September 1986) was an Australian aviation pioneer and bomber pilot who rose to be the youngest air vice marshal in the Royal Air Force. He led the "Pathfinder Fo ...

was the Queensland born founder of the World War II

Bomber Command Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...

Pathfinder Force and to honour this the road in front of the museum was named Pathfinder Drive. Now with a permanent home the collection continued to grow and in 1989 it was bolstered by an ambitious recovery expedition to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

where a

Sea Vixen The de Havilland DH.110 Sea Vixen is a British twin-engine, twin boom-tailed, two-seat, carrier-based fleet air-defence fighter flown by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during the 1950s through to the early 1970s. The Sea Vixen was designed by ...

, Meteor and

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

were purchased from a scrap metal dealer just days before their destruction. The aircraft were disassembled and successfully shipped to Australia, where they were restored and placed on display. Queensland Air Museum hangar 2

The two

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

museum site has been steadily developed with the construction of a second hangar being completed in July 2004 which was later extended in 2006. A library, restoration and storage facilities have also been constructed. In September 2006, Mr Allan Vial, DFC OAM OPR (Pol), become the Patron of the Queensland Air Museum, he is also Life President of the Pathfinder Force Association in Australia. A plan to relocate Caloundra Airport placed an uncertain future on the museum for many years. But on 2 September 2010 the Queensland Premier Anna Bligh announced in Parliament that the airport would continue to operate on its present site and she said this would provide "certainty for the iconic air museum". The museum's situation further improved when the

Sunshine Coast Regional Council The Sunshine Coast Region is a local government area located in the Sunshine Coast district of South East Queensland, Australia. It was created by the amalgamation in 2008 of the City of Caloundra and the Shires of Maroochy and Noosa. It cont ...

granted the museum a 30-year lease extension and on 28 March 2013 a Caloundra Aerodrome Master Plan was adopted. The Plan recognised the museum's tourism potential and provided for a substantial increase in the size of the museum's site to allow for expansion. In August 2013, former Australian Defence Force Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Geoff Shepard AO (ret) became the patron of the museum.

Aircraft collection

The museum's aircraft collection is made up of a large variety of aircraft types that represent many aspects of aviation. Queensland Air Museum wicko

Military aircraft represent the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF),

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

(RAN),

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(RAF),

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

(RN),

Republic of Singapore Air Force The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) is the aerial service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for controlling and defending the airspace of the country, and providing air support to the Army and Navy. It was establish ...

and

Polish Air Force The Polish Air Force ( pl, Siły Powietrzne, , Air Forces) is the aerial warfare branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as ''Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej'' (). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 16,425 mil ...

. Passenger aircraft types represent Australian and Papua New Guinean airlines, such as

Ansett Airlines Ansett Australia was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne, Australia. The airline flew domestically within Australia and from the 1990s to destinations in Asia. After operating for 65 years, the airline was placed into Adminis ...

Trans Australia Airlines Trans Australia Airlines (TAA), renamed Australian Airlines in 1986, was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception in 1946 and its merger with Qantas in September 1992. As a result of the "COBRA" (or Common Brand ...

, Bush Pilots Airways, Queensland Airlines, Queensland Pacific Airways, Airlines of NSW,

Airlines of Tasmania Airlines of Tasmania, commercially known by the name Par Avion is a regional airline based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It operates scheduled services across a number of locations in Tasmania. Par Avion also operates a wide variety of chart ...

, Ansett-MAL and Mandated Airlines. Australian designed or produced aircraft are represented by

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) was an Australian aircraft manufacturer. The CAC was established in 1936, to provide Australia with the capability to produce military aircraft and engines. History In 1935 the Chief General Manager ...

Wirraway, Winjeel and Sabre, de Havilland Drover and Vampire,

Government Aircraft Factories Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) was the name of an aircraft manufacturer owned by the Government of Australia. The primary factory was located at Fishermans Bend, a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria. It had its origins in the lead-up to World ...

Jindivik, Turana and Canberra, Kingsford Smith Aviation Service Cropmaster, Transavia Airtruk, Victa Airtourer and Calair Skyfox. Other aircraft represent agricultural aircraft, training aircraft, helicopters, naval aircraft and

de Havilland Aircraft Company The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...

types.

Wicko Cabin Sports VH-UPW replica

The first powered aircraft to be designed and built in Queensland was the Wicko Cabin Sports. It was a wood and fabric monoplane designed and built by Geoff Wikner and it first took to the air in January 1931 from

Archerfield Airport Archerfield can refer to: * Archerfield, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane, Australia **Archerfield Airport **RAAF Station Archerfield, a former RAAF base at Archerfield Airport *Archerfield Estate and Links Archerfield and Archerfield Links are a ...

in Brisbane. The Queensland Air Museum obtained copies of the original plans of this significant aircraft and constructed a

replica A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...

, which went on display at the museum in 2007. Queensland Air Museum wirraway engine run

CAC Wirraway A20-652

The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation's Wirraway has been described as the aircraft that established a viable Australian aircraft industry. The Wirraway was a licensed built

North American NA-16 The North American Aviation NA-16 was the first trainer aircraft built by North American Aviation, and was the beginning of a line of closely related North American trainer aircraft that would eventually number more than 17,000 examples, notabl ...

which was manufactured between 1939 and 1946. With 755 manufactured it is the second most produced aircraft type in Australia. Deliveries to the RAAF began just months before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and they served in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

, the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

and

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

areas against the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese in tactical reconnaissance, target marking, dive bombing and army co-operation roles. They were also used by the RAAF as an advanced trainer throughout the war and for many years after with their retirement from service in 1958. The example in the Queensland Air Museum collection is A20-652 construction number 1104. It was built in July 1944 in the final production batch which had the designation of CA-16. The museum purchased the aircraft with a grant from the John Villiers Trust in October 2010. It was flown from

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, South Australia to Caloundra and placed on display in a flyable condition. The aircraft is maintained to preserve it in an operational condition and it is run in the regular Operation Engine Collection public displays. Queensland Air Museum F-111

General Dynamics F-111C A8-129

The

F-111 The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark is a retired supersonic, medium-range, multirole combat aircraft. Production variants of the F-111 had roles that included ground attack (e.g. interdiction), strategic bombing (including nuclear weapons ca ...

aircraft was the RAAF's premier strike asset for 37 years until the type's retirement in December 2010. It was operated by 1 and 6 Squadrons for all of that time from the

RAAF Base Amberley RAAF Base Amberley is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military airbase located southwest of Ipswich, Queensland in Australia and southwest of Brisbane CBD. It is currently home to No. 1 Squadron (operating the F/A-18F Super Hornet), N ...

near

Ipswich, Queensland Ipswich () is a city in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River, it is approximately west of the Brisbane central business district. The city is renowned for its architectural, natural and cultural heritage. Ipswich pre ...

. The aircraft had the ability to perform a " dump and burn" which involved dumping fuel from an outlet between the engine jet pipes and igniting it with the engine's

afterburners An afterburner (or reheat in British English) is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and co ...

. The spectacular flame produced was popular at air shows, sporting events and firework displays, such as the annual Brisbane River Fire firework show and the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

closing ceremony. The Queensland Air Museum has F -111C aircraft A8-129 on display, which is on long-term loan from the RAAF. This aircraft was in the first group to arrive in Australia on 1 June 1974 and it also flew in the final operational flight of the type on 3 December 2010. The aircraft is painted in its delivery camouflaged colour scheme with 1 Squadron markings on one side and 6 Squadron on the other.

Engine collection

The museum has a large collection of aircraft engines many of which are displayed on stands beside the aircraft. They include

piston engines A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common featu ...

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

s and

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...

types. The piston engines on display include

radial Radial is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Mathematics and Direction * Vector (geometric) In mathematics, physics, and engineering, a Euclidean vector or simply a vector (sometimes called a geometric vector or spatial vector) ...

types such as the

Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies. Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airlines) and military aviat ...

types R-1340 Wasp,

R-1830 Twin Wasp The Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp is an American air-cooled radial aircraft engine. It displaces and its bore and stroke are both . The design traces its history to 1929 experiments at Pratt & Whitney on twin-row designs. Production began ...

, R-2000 Twin Wasp and R-2800 Double Wasp, Bristol Hercules 634, Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX,

Wright R-975 Whirlwind The Wright R-975 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by the Wright Aeronautical division of Curtiss-Wright. These engines had a displacement of about and power ratings of . They were the largest memb ...

and Wright R-3350 Turbo Compound Cyclone. Other piston types include the

Allison V-1710 The Allison V-1710 aircraft engine designed and produced by the Allison Engine Company was the only US-developed V-12 liquid-cooled engine to see service during World War II. Versions with a turbocharger gave excellent performance at high a ...

Rolls-Royce Merlin The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litres (1,650 cu in) capacity. Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12, it was later ...

102 and

de Havilland Gipsy Queen The de Havilland Gipsy Queen is a British six-cylinder aero engine of capacity that was developed in 1936 by the de Havilland Engine Company. It was developed from the de Havilland Gipsy Six for military aircraft use. Produced between 1936 a ...

and Gipsy Major. The turbojet collection has some early

centrifugal compressor Centrifugal compressors, sometimes called impeller compressors or radial compressors, are a sub-class of dynamic axisymmetric work-absorbing turbomachinery. They achieve pressure rise by adding energy to the continuous flow of fluid through th ...

designs such as the

de Havilland Goblin The de Havilland Goblin, originally designated as the Halford H-1, is an early turbojet engine designed by Frank Halford and built by de Havilland. The Goblin was the second British jet engine to fly, after Whittle's Power Jets W.1, and the f ...

and

Ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

and the

Rolls-Royce Nene The Rolls-Royce RB.41 Nene is a 1940s British centrifugal compressor turbojet engine. The Nene was a complete redesign, rather than a scaled-up Rolls-Royce Derwent"Rolls-Royce Aero Engines" Bill Gunston, Patrick Stephens Limited 1989, , p.111 w ...

and Derwent. Other turbojet types include the

Rolls-Royce Avon The Rolls-Royce Avon was the first axial flow jet engine designed and produced by Rolls-Royce. Introduced in 1950, the engine went on to become one of their most successful post-World War II engine designs. It was used in a wide variety of ai ...

and

Armstrong Siddeley Viper The Armstrong Siddeley Viper is a British turbojet engine developed and produced by Armstrong Siddeley and then by its successor companies Bristol Siddeley and Rolls-Royce Limited. It entered service in 1953 and remained in use with the Royal ...

. The turboprop engines are represented by the

Rolls-Royce Dart The Rolls-Royce RB.53 Dart is a turboprop engine designed and manufactured by Rolls-Royce Limited. First run in 1946, it powered the Vickers Viscount on its maiden flight in 1948. A flight on July 29 of that year, which carried 14 paying passe ...

, Pratt & Whitney Canada

PT6 The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada. Its design was started in 1958, it first ran in February 1960, first flew on 30 May 1961, entered service in 1964 and has been continuously up ...

and

Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba The Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba is a turboprop engine design developed in the late 1940s of around . It was used mostly on the Fairey Gannet anti-submarine aircraft developed for the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. Design and developmen ...

. The museum also has an Operational Engine Collection, which has a number of engines mounted on running rigs, that are run in regular public displays. They include a range of piston engine types ranging from a 40

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

four cylinder

Continental A40 The Continental A40 engine is a carbureted four-cylinder, horizontally opposed, air-cooled aircraft engine that was developed especially for use in light aircraft by Continental Motors. It was produced between 1931 and 1941. Design and developm ...

up to a 1,450 horsepower fourteen cylinder

Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp The Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp is an American radial engine developed in 1942 to power military aircraft. It is one of the Pratt & Whitney Wasp series of Radial engines. Design and development The R-2000 was an enlarged version of the ...

radial.

Displays

The museum collection has many displays which highlight the aviation history of Australia, Queensland and the local Sunshine Coast. These include

Charles Kingsford Smith Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith (9 February 18978 November 1935), nicknamed Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand. Kingsford Smith was b ...

, Women in Aviation, Pathfinder Force,

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, British Pacific Commonwealth Airlines,

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

, Calair, The

Flight Data Recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has b ...

and the

Royal Flying Doctor Service The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...

Royal Flying Doctor Service

An important part of the development of the remote Australian inland area has been the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), which provides medical support to isolated communities. The Australian Inland Mission Aerial Medical Service, which would later become the RFDS, was established by Reverend John Flynn on 15 May 1928 in

Cloncurry, Queensland Cloncurry is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Cloncurry had a population of 2,719 people. Cloncurry is the administrative centre of the Shire ...

. Flynn had a vision to use radios and aircraft to connect doctors and patients in remote locations. He engaged

Alfred Traeger Alfred Hermann Traeger (2 August 1895 – 31 July 1980), known as Alf Traeger, was an Australian engineer and inventor, chiefly known for the development of the pedal radio. Early life and education Traeger was born at Glenlee, near Dimboola ...

to develop suitable two-way radios which used a pedal generator to provide reliable power and the service took flight using a de Havilland DH-50 aircraft leased from Qantas which is another Queensland icon. The RFDS continues to operate a fleet of over 60 aircraft across every State of Australia. The Queensland Air Museum's RFDS display includes two DHA-3 Drover aircraft used by the RFDS and an example of a Traeger radio. The Drovers, VH-FDR named John Flynn after the founder and VH-FDS named Norman Bourke, were used by the Queensland Section between 1951 and 1968.

Calair Skyfox

As a tribute to the local aircraft producer Calair Corp / Skyfox Aviation the museum has a major display, which features a CA21 Skyfox aircraft representing the prototype VH-CAL. This aircraft is restored using parts from several Skyfox aircraft with the wing being from the original aircraft. Calair Corporation was created in October 1989 to produce a derivative of the Denny Kitfox at Caloundra Airport. The aircraft to be known as the Calair CA21 Skyfox was a two-seat high-wing

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

with a tail wheel

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

for use in the training and recreational flying market. A number of changes were made to the Kitfox design to increase the loaded weight, which brought it up to the Australian CAO 101-55 standard. This allowed it to be commercial produced and be used for general aviation pilot training and it was the first aircraft in Australia to be so certified. It was powered by a 2.1L, 58.2 kW (78 hp) Aeropower engine built in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, which was essentially a Volkswagen adaptation. 33 CA21s were produced between July 1990 and August 1991. In 1991 the company was sold and the name was changed to Skyfox Aviation Ltd. Production then switched to the CA22 which incorporated numerous changes including a change to a

Rotax 912 The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, late ...

engine. A total of 61 were produced at which time it gained certification under the European Joint Airworthiness Requirements for Very Light Aircraft (JAR/VLA), the first Australian aircraft to do so. The next 10 aircraft produced after the certification in June 1993 were designated CA25. The final stage in the development of the Skyfox was the production of a model with tricycle landing gear to better cater for the pilot training market. This was called the CA25N Gazelle and would take over the production run. A total of 66 would be completed before production ceased in May 1998 when the company under financial difficulties was placed under voluntary administration.

Pathfinder Force

During World War II the British Bomber Command was engaged in night time area bombing of Germany. In 1942 these operations were resulting in an aircraft loss rate of between 4 and 5 percent and only a third of the aircraft were able to drop their bombs within 5 miles (8 km) of the target. In an effort to improve the accuracy the Pathfinder Force was created on 15 August 1942, under the leadership of Acting

Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

Don Bennett, who was born in

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

. The specialised squadrons in the Pathfinder Force had aircraft that were crewed by experienced crews who would lead the main bomber force to locate the target and mark it with flares. This would give the bomber force coming in behind an improved chance of dropping their bombs in the right place.Royal Air Force web site. http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/bombercommandno8group.cfm Retrieved 28-7-2013 To commemorate the Pathfinder Force the museum has a large display, which was established and maintained in conjunction with the Pathfinder Force Association of Australia. It includes uniforms, memorabilia, models and a reproduction of Don Bennett's office which contains many of his original possessions. The display is located adjacent to the F-111 strike aircraft which provides a link to the modern air force.

Aircraft on display

As of March 2018. # Auster J/5G Autocar, VH-BYP # Auster J/5B Autocar, VH-KCL # Avions Max Holste MH.1521M Broussard, VH-HFA # Anson Mk 1, VH-BIF # Anson Mk 1, MG222 # Beagle B.206-S, VH-UNL # Beech C18S, VH-CLG # Beech E18S, N3781B # Beech P35 Bonanza, VH-AWC # Beech 200 Super King Air, VH-FII # Beech 2000A Starship, N786BP # Bell UH-1H Iroquois, A2-310, Australian Army # Bell 206B-1 Kiowa, A17-012, Australian Army # Bensen B-8M Gyrocopter # Bristol Bloodhound Mk.I # Bristol Scout D, 8976, AFC (replica) # Broome Lebeau, 10-0046 # Calair CA21 Skyfox, VH-CAL # Cessna 336 Skymaster, VH-CMY, ANSETT-MAL # Cessna 402A, VH-DZY, Bush Pilots Airways # Chrislea CH.3 Super Ace, VH-BRO # Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-6 Wackett KS-3 Cropmaster, VH-AJH # Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-16 Wirraway Mk.III, A20-652, RAAF # Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-18 Mustang Mk. 23, A68-201, RAAF (replica) # Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-25 Winjeel, A85-410, RAAF # Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-27 Sabre Mk.31, A94-935, RAAF # Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-28 Ceres, VH-CEU, cockpit only # de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth, VH-BKS # de Havilland DH-100 Vampire F Mk.30, A79-476, RAAF # de Havilland DH-104 Dove Mk.1, VH-MAL ''Rai'', Mandated Airlines # de Havilland DH-112 Sea Venom FAW Mk.53, WZ898, RAN # de Havilland DH-112 Sea Venom FAW Mk.53, WZ910, RAN (stored) # de Havilland DH-110 Sea Vixen FAW Mk.2, XJ490, RN # de Havilland DH-110 Sea Vixen FAW Mk.2, XJ607, RN (nose section) # de Havilland DH-114 Heron 2D/A1, VH-KAM, Airlines of Tasmania # de Havilland DH-115 Vampire T Mk. 35A, A79-828, RAAF # de Havilland DHA-3 Drover Mk.3, VH-FDR ''John Flynn'', Royal Flying Doctor Service # de Havilland DHA-3 Drover Mk.3, VH-FDS ''Norman Bourke'', Royal Flying Doctor Service # de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk T Mk.10, VH-RVV, Royal Victorian Aero Club #

de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou The de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou (designated by the United States military as the CV-2 and later C-7 Caribou) is a Canadian specialized cargo aircraft with short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability. The Caribou was first flown in 1958 a ...

, A4-173, RAAF #

, A4-159, RAAF (nose section) # Douglas DC-3-194B, VH-ANR, Ansett Airlines of NSW # Fairey Gannet AS Mk.1, XA331, RAN # Fokker F.27 Friendship Mk.400, VH-FNQ, Ansett Airlines # General Dynamics F-111C, A8-129, RAAF # Government Aircraft Factories Canberra B Mk.20, A84-225, RAAF # Government Aircraft Factories Jindivik Mk.3B, WRE-601 # Government Aircraft Factories Mirage IIIO(FA), A3-16 # Government Aircraft Factories N22B Nomad, VH-BFH # Government Aircraft Factories Turana, P1-019 # Gloster Meteor F Mk.8, WA880, RAF (painted as RAAF A77-721) # Armstrong Whitworth Meteor TT Mk. 20, WD647, RAF # Grumman S-2A Tracker, 133160 # Hawker Hunter F Mk.4, XF311, RAF # Hawker Hunter FGA Mk. 74BS, 533, Republic of Singapore Air Force # ICA-Brasov IS-28M, VH-GRK # ICA-Brasov IS-29D, VH-GWC # International Model Aircraft Towed Glider Mk.2, Identity unknown #

Kawasaki KH-4 The Kawasaki KH-4 was a light utility helicopter produced in Japan in the 1960s as a development of the Bell 47 that Kawasaki had been building under licence since 1952. The most visible difference between the KH-4 and its forerunner was its new ...

, VH-AHQ #

, VH-HFZ # Lake LA-4-200 Buccaneer, VH-EJX # Lea Kestrel Kermit, 10-001 #

Link Trainer The term Link Trainer, also known as the "Blue box" and "Pilot Trainer" is commonly used to refer to a series of flight simulators produced between the early 1930s and early 1950s by Link Aviation Devices, founded and headed by Ed Link Edwin ...

D4-282 #

Lockheed PV-1 Ventura The Lockheed Ventura is a twin-engine medium bomber and patrol bomber of World War II. The Ventura first entered combat in Europe as a bomber with the RAF in late 1942. Designated PV-1 by the United States Navy (US Navy), it entered combat in ...

, A59-96, RAAF # Lockheed SP-2H Neptune, A89-277, RAAF #

Mohawk 298 Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans *Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people *Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...

, VH-HIX, Queensland Pacific Airways #

Piaggio P.166 The Piaggio P.166 is an Italian twin-engine pusher-type utility aircraft developed by Piaggio Aero. The aircraft model name was Portofino, and is also known as Albatross in South African military service. Design and development The basic P.16 ...

, VH-BHK, (painted as Queensland Airlines VH-PQA) #

Pilatus PC-6 Porter The Pilatus PC-6 Porter is a single-engined STOL utility aircraft designed by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. First flown in 1959, the PC-6 was produced at Pilatus Flugzeugwerke in Stans, Switzerland. It has been built in both piston engine- an ...

, A14-705, Australian Army (nose section only) # Piper PA23-250 Aztec, VH-MBX, (painted as TAA Sunbird Services VH-TGP) # Piper PA25-235 Pawnee, ZK-CEL # Piper PA38-112 Tomahawk, VH-SCK # Pterodactyl Ascender II+, 10-0665 # Rand Robinson KR-2, VH-XXS # Robinson R22 Beta, VH-SBQ # Robinson R44 Raven, VH-RMN (cockpit only) # Seabird Rouseabout Mk. 3, 10-0281 # Seabird Sentinel, VH-SBI # Seabird Sentinel, VH-SBU # Sports Flight Skypup, (identity unknown) # Sud-Ouest SO-1221S Djinn, VH-INP, Ansett-ANA # Aerospatiale SA315B Lama, PK-ZHB # Swearingen SA-226 Metroliner II, VH-BPV, Bush Pilots Airways # Transavia PL-12 Airtruk, ZK-CWX # Vickers Viscount 756D, VH-TVJ, Trans-Australia Airlines (nose section) #

Victa Airtourer 100 The Victa Airtourer is an all-metal light low-wing monoplane touring aircraft that was developed in Australia, and was manufactured in both Australia and New Zealand. Design and development The Airtourer was the winning design, submitted by Henr ...

, VH-CFE # Westland Wessex HAS MK.31A, N7-217, RAN # Wicko Cabin Sports, VH-UPW, (replica) # Winton Grasshopper, (identity unknown) # WSK Mielec SB Lim-2, 636, Polish Air Force

References

Notes

Bibliography

Cameron, Don G. Thirty Years On...Queensland Air Museum Major Collections. Queensland Air Museum, Caloundra QLD Australia, 2005. Cameron, Don G. Thirty Years On...Queensland Air Museum Major Collections Supplementary Material January 2005 to date. Queensland Air Museum, Caloundra QLD Australia. Cameron, Don G. The Calair Skyfox – Origin, Derivatives & Production Lists. Queensland Air Museum, 2009, www.qam.com.au/papers Wilson, Stewart. Wirraway, Boomerang & CA-15 in Australian Service. Aerospace Publications, Weston Creek ACT Australia, 1991. Wilson, Stewart and Pittaway, Nigel. F-111 in RAAF Service 1973–2010. The Story of One of the Finest Strike Aircraft in Aviation History. Aero Australia Special Edition, Chevron Publishing Group, 2010.

External links

Queensland Air Museum home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queensland Air Museum Aerospace museums in Australia Tourist attractions on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland Museums in Queensland Aviation in Queensland