[SS-Traveller]

Point Cook is the birthplace of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) as well as the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The RAAF Museum was established in 1952 at Point Cook as a repository for the preservation of aircraft, documents and memorabilia, and was opened to the public in 1972. There is a huge assortment of aircraft & memorabilia in the museum dating as far back as 1914. The museum was placed on the National Heritage List in October 2007. There are almost 30 aircraft & helicopters on display in the museum's hangars, with several others displayed externally.







Entry to the museum is free on production of a photo ID. My daughter and I drove there on a bright and sunny day, and were a little apprehensive about whether non-Australians would be allowed in, but the guards at the entry point just checked our driving licences, issued us a visitor pass, and let us in.

[SS-Traveller]

There are several hangars which are part of the museum, and these are designated as:

1. The Training Hangar
2. The Technology Hangar
3. The Display Hangar 180
4. The Strike / Recce Hangar; and
5. The Restoration Hangar

The Training and Technology Hangars are part of the main museum building, which also houses an interesting collection of photographs, flags, ordnance and displays of other memorabilia.





























The interior of a Hercules replicated


A look at some of the other hangars:

[SS-Traveller]

The Training Hangar:

The Pie Cart




The de Havilland DH82A Tiger Moth, and behind and above, the CT4A Airtrainer










The CT4A Airtrainer


The Maurice Farman Shorthorn


The Aermacchi MB 326H (above), and the de Havilland Vampire T Mk 35 (below)










Avro 504K




CAC CA-25 Winjeel Trainer (1955)

[SS-Traveller]

The Technology Hangar:

The de Havilland Vampire F-30 and its Hawker Siddeley Adder Jet Engine








The Supermarine Seagull V / Walrus




The Douglas A-20C Boston




The Bell UH-1B Iroquois. This particular helicopter was involved in the Battle of Long Tan, Vietnam






The Dassault Mirage IIIO






The Royal Aircraft Factory SE 5A






A Royal Aircraft Factory BE 2a replica

[SS-Traveller]

After going through the fascinating main building of the museum, we stepped outdoors for some coffee and sandwiches at the little cafeteria, enjoying the bright winter sunshine and the sight of the gigantic de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou.









Some young visitors are also enjoying their winter school break and the sunshine to the fullest. Maybe that is where the term "hanging out" came from!


Behind the main building is the runway, where an interactive flying display was held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays (we were there on a Thursday). The Air Force’s premier aerobatic team, the Roulettes, would perform amazing manoeuvres over RAAF Base Point Cook in Pilatus PC-9 aircraft as part of an interactive flying display starting from 1:00pm. Unfortunately for us, we discovered that the flying display had been recently stopped by Australian civil aviation authorities over safety concerns. However, a few restored aircraft are flown at these times for the enjoyment of the visitors.

[SS-Traveller]

Other outdoor displays included:

A Bristol Freighter and a pair of Lockheed Hercules C130E & C130H




A Hawker Siddeley HS748


...and a Bristol Bloodhound Missile & Launcher

[SS-Traveller]

The Restoration Hangar:













We couldn't identify the different aircraft in various stages of restoration, and all we could do was watch from a high gallery. Members please pitch in if you can.

[SS-Traveller]

The Display Hangar 180:

This is a large hangar with about a dozen aircraft in it, with a raised viewing platform, so it wasn't possible to get up close to the exhibits. I have labelled the aircraft (and a fire tender) on display there.













The reason the Cessna Bird Dog bears the insignia of the US Air Force, and not of the RAAF:

Although the Bird Dog was never operated in RAAF Service, 36 RAAF fighter pilots were attached to the USAF between 1966 and 1971 to serve in the Forward Air Control (FAC) role during the Vietnam War. Many of these pilots flew the Bird Dog on this hazardous duty, and 15 were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The RAAF Museum's aircraft represents this important part of the RAAF's history.

[SS-Traveller]

And finally, on to the Strike / Recce Hangar:



The English Electric / GAF Canberra Mk20 and its Rolls Royce Avon engine






The General Dynamic F-111G, a recently-retired swing-wing strike aircraft, and its armament






The McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom with its General Electric J-79-GE-17 turbojet engine




More information about the museum is available at their website.

[SDP]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Dieseltuned]

Thank you for sharing this. I visited this place in April/May 2018. Its a hidden gem and you get up close view of the air show with very less crowd. Those vintage fighters have been maintained well to fly out twice a week for the show.

Just an FYI. The nearby Avalon airport also had an Air show in March 2019

Regards
Diesletuned

[V.Narayan]

Thankyou for putting together this delightful thread and those neat photographs. With no disrespect to the IAF I can't understand why their museum at Palam can't be done like this (funds?) And why all those aircraft have to be caked with dust. The Bristol Freighter and Supermarine Walrus are very rare now even by museum piece standards.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

With no disrespect to the IAF I can't understand why their museum at Palam can't be done like this (funds?)

Same thoughts here sir. Besides visiting the Smithsonian aviation museum in the US many times, I once visited the New England Air Museum (Connecticut, US) on Veteran's day in 2017 and got to sit in the cockpits of F-104 and a Super Sabre. What's more, the actual airmen who had flown those jets were seated nearby to weave tales of their exploits with those machines. I paid a neat sum of money for that experience!

I often find myself thinking why the IAF cannot do the same...

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Same thoughts here sir. Besides visiting the Smithsonian aviation museum in the US many times, I once visited the New England Air Museum (Connecticut, US) on Veteran's day in 2017 and got to sit in the cockpits of F-104 and a Super Sabre. What's more, the actual airmen who had flown those jets were seated nearby to weave tales of their exploits with those machines. I paid a neat sum of money for that experience!

I often find myself thinking why the IAF cannot do the same...

I visited the IAF Museum at Palam a few years back, one of the people at the reception was an ex-Mig-27 pilot. Unfortunately he was not the kindest person there but I recognised his occupation by his flight suit and the Mig symbol on it. I was able to get some information about his about career in the IAF and the bases he served at.

Coincidentally I have also visited New England Air Museum (Connecticut, US) as a child in the late 1980s and relatively recently in 2014. I think its all about the funding, some of the planes in the 1980s were in horrible condition and left to rust outside the hangers. Later they were restored and new bigger hangers built and put on display indoors.

[skanchan95]

Beautiful photos SS-Traveller. Thoroughly enjoyed going through them.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Thankyou for putting together this delightful thread and those neat photographs. With no disrespect to the IAF I can't understand why their museum at Palam can't be done like this (funds?) And why all those aircraft have to be caked with dust. The Bristol Freighter and Supermarine Walrus are very rare now even by museum piece standards.

Agreed. Its purely because the babus & the political class simply do not value the sacrifices the fighting men make daily.To a great extent, ignorance in military matters and lack of will to maintain them also is responsible for such a sorry state of our military museums. They do not realise the value of preserving our military heritage and the historical significance these machines hold.

It is kind of sad that we do not have any fully restored examples of the first supersonic jet that served with the IAF - the Type 74 MiG-21F-13.

Recently I saw a Polish friend posting pics of an aviation museum in Krakow, Poland. I was simply blown by the care and attention that old military aircraft have been given in such a small country like Poland. There were beautifully restored Iskras, Harriers, MiG-21s, and an actual Spitfire that flew with the famed 303 RAF Polish Sqdn in WW2 with etc. While, we, as a country that has such a rich military heritage, have left jets to rot in museums, parks and roundabouts with other than a few exceptions, absolutely no maintenance at all!!!!

I hope some day the thought changes.