South Australian Aviation Museum in Port Adelaide, South Australia | Museum

South Australian Aviation Museum

Locality: Port Adelaide, South Australia

Phone: +61 8 8240 1230

Address: 66 Lipson Street 5015 Port Adelaide, SA, Australia

Website: http://www.saam.org.au

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• Non-profit organisation
• Arts and entertainment
• History Museum
• Museum

25.01.2022 Our Tours & Events Manager John Jefferson arranged for this lovely couple to have their wedding photos taken in Hangar 1 yesterday. Our very best wishes to you both for a long and happy life together!

23.01.2022 Marion Flak is pretty excited about the progress he and Jim Piscioneri are making getting the engine connected on the SAATAS engine test rig. Exhaust manifolds have been set up for the Lycoming, plus fuel tank, battery and leads. Jim's got the engine turning over already...well done fellas!

22.01.2022 The Aero 145 VH-WWC/ZCL wings are just about finished and ready for the rego decals being made up by Sign Lab.

22.01.2022 Marion Flak and Jim Piscioneri took the SAATAS engine test rig out yesterday for a trial run if the Lycoming 540. It some doing, but they got it running... back to the workshop for some tuning...

21.01.2022 SAAM's shop is chock-full of new stock including a new range of Sluban ModelBricks aircraft models. We also have the usual huge array of Airfix and other manufacturers' kits for serious modellers. There are all sorts of souvenirs, toys and books - so if you're wondering about Christmas gifts for all ages, come and have a look!

21.01.2022 SAAM updated our Guidebook earlier this year - now 50 pages of photographs and histories of all the significant aircraft and displays in our collection. And it tells you all about the Museum and how it was founded 36 years ago! Buy one next time you visit, or you can buy it online and we'll post one out to you. Just click here: http://www.saam.org.au/sales/

20.01.2022 Planning to visit us before Christmas?? If so, don't forget the Lipson Street gate is closed for roadworks until Boxing Day. Here's a pic of the back entrance off Bedord St just between Bower Cr and Perkins Drive. There's a map posted on the Lipson St gate and we've signed the temporary entrance...so you won't have trouble finding it. We've added a few pics of the works in progress...

19.01.2022 Jean was excited to see two men on their hands and knees scrubbing a floor today! They are Robin De Vore and Derek Dominish preparing the newly completed engine workshop floor for painting. And that's Peter Page - as handy with a roller as he is with a spray gun - finishing the painting. Nice job.

19.01.2022 Great to see HARS's progress on the Southern Cross replica restoration. The late Paul Daw landed it with minimal damage after losing a mainwheel at Parafield back in May 2002, and Arts SA subsequently negotiated an agreement with HARS to restore and fly it. I think the agreement included provision to exhibit it periodically in SA... Thanks AHSA/HARS for the post.

18.01.2022 Here's the promised Nev Hardy video contributed by Chris Doudy of Aero 145 VH-DUH taking off from Neptune Island, Nev Hardy was on Neptune as part of the Telecom tean servicing the lighthouse comms equipment. VH-DUH is still flying in NSW and is a sister-ship to VH-WWC restored by Chris and SAAM volunteers and now on display in Hangar 1.

18.01.2022 SAAM IS OPEN AT 10:30am THIS MORNING! We are back to COVID normal so c'mon down and visit! COVID-Safe plan is in place with scads of sanitiser and frequent cleaning - all you have to do is maintain your 1.5m social distancing!!

18.01.2022 This is a big pictorial issue download it here: http://www.saam.org.au/wp-conte/uploads/2020//PM-Oct20.pdf or go to the newsletter tab to browse past issues. This month President David Byrne reports on new displays; Sean Zhang sent a story and photos of his visit to the Alice Springs aircraft storage facility and museum; Ivan Leatherland updates us on Anson restoration progress; Chris Doudy contributed a 6-page photo-retrospective on the Aero 145 restoration, Nigel Daw reported on the Anson Crash Memorial unveiling at Loxton earlier this month; and Gary Petts continues his lavishly illustrated Aerial Photography history. You’re going to enjoy this one!!

18.01.2022 New-ish member John Fazakerley repaired and inflated our Orion life raft yesterday. It's a great addition to the Orion display in Hangar 2 - you can see it under the aircraft. Well done John!

18.01.2022 Thanks to the Air Force Association - SA Division for this profile of Rex Wilson, killed in action aged only 22. Lest we forget.

18.01.2022 Cameron Simister and his partner Danielle visited yesterday. Cameron is a FLTLT navigator on the P8 but previously clocked up hours on our AP-3C A9-756. We just had to get a photo of him and Danielle in the navigator's station!

17.01.2022 Laurie's pusher was getting a workout again - Here's a happy pilot and we're happy he was into the shop too! We are a self-funded not-for-profit organisation and our shop as well as your door entry is a vital source of funds for us. The last picture is of Laurie hard at work making another pusher for the fleet!!

17.01.2022 Chris Doudy sent us this 2min video of Commodore Aviation Aero 145 VH-DUH landing on Neptune Island. The aircrat landed uphill and took off downhill, and there wasn't much strip to spare. We'll post Chris's video of the take off another time. DUH was acquired by Chris's father Jack Doudy in 1966 after being ferried out to Australia in 1960 by Keith and Peter Virtue and then several ownership changes. Jack rebuilt it in Port Lincoln in 1966/67 and it returned to service in Mar...ch 1967. Sadly Jack was killed in a car accident in 1968 and the aircraft was struck off the register in April 1969, but was reregistered in Feb 1972 and painted in the two-tone blue colours that you can see on sister-aircraft VH-WWC now on display at SAAM. Chris didn't date the video, but going by the paint scheme it looks to be post 1972 when Ron Fuller was operating. Maybe Chris can clarify?? See more

17.01.2022 Thanks to RAAFA SA

17.01.2022 Lest we forget. Today is the 50th Anniversary of the loss of Canberra bomber call sign Magpie 91 and its crew of FLGOFF Michael Herbert and PLTOFF Bob Carver over Vietnam. You can read about it in GPCAPT Greg Weller's profile here: www.saam.org.au/history/post-world-war-ii/ and come and see our Vietnam War display in Hangar 2 that includes a video of RAAF action in Vietnam and the Magpie 91 story and the nose section of Canberra WD954 trainer. Canberra B2 WK165 in its Woomera colours is on display in Hangar 1.

17.01.2022 Andrew Clough, son of the late Graham Clough - the last president of the Royal Aero Club of SA - has donated a treasure-trove of club documents and artefacts his father had stored after the club folded. It's going to be a huge job to go through and accession the material to our already large collection of club memorabilia - but what a rewarding job it will be! Our very grateful thanks to Andrew for the donation. Here's small sample - a 1970 postcard from Jean Batten to the club thanking them for a presentation tray. Jean was an English-born NZ aviatrix who beat Amy Johnson's UK-Australia record in 1934, established a UK-Brazil record in 1935 and became the first person to fly UK-NZ in 1936. She joined a very long list of aviation celebrities to visit the club!

17.01.2022 Tommy White wasn't South Australian - he was a Victorian - but he was co-founder with Henry Petre of the Victorian Aero Club in 1914. That led to the post-war national aero club movement that included the Australian Aero Club - South Australian Section, which was formed in 1926 at Albert Park. It became the Royal Aero Club of South Australia that was the centre of civil aviation development in SA for so many years. Thanks AFA SA for your post.

17.01.2022 Thank you Air Force Association - SA Division. SAAM's History Group chairman, Peter Ingman, has written a history of 2BAGS Pt Pirie as one of a series of profiles of SA WWII EATS bases. You can read it on our website here: http://www.saam.org.au/download/raaf-at-port-pirie-history/ Lest we forget.

17.01.2022 Thanks to Lainie Anderson of EFC for this post on Frank Brigg's epic Melbourne-Perth flight 100 years ago. Our much-missed History Group member and author Chas Schaedel wrote a profile of Frank, whom he called 'the forgotten flyer', in July 2018, just 7 months before he died. You can download it here: http://www.saam.org.au/download/frank-briggs/ The profile is full of interesting information about Frank's RFC/RAF days, his return to Australia, his flying in the first Adelaide aerial derby in Sep 1920 in which Harry Butler just beat him, his role as the first or one of the first 'corporate pilots', when he took up the role of pilot for Sunraysia dried fruit mogul C.J. de Garis - and more. In fact de Garis accompanied him with mechanic O.J. Howard in the DH4 on the epic Melbourne-Perth flight...

17.01.2022 Here's a profile from the prodigious output of the Air Force Association - SA Division of the tragic 1953 crash of the Bristol freighter at Mallala. Lest we forget. You can also access Peter Ingman's No6SFTS Mallala wartime history on our website here: http://www.saam.org.au/download/no-6-sfts-mallala/ And if you'd like to learn more about the Bristol Freighter, we also published a very interesting article by ex-TAA Captain Ron Austin in our May newsletter about the aircraft in service in New Guinea. You can download it here: http://www.saam.org.au/wp-conte/uploads/2020//PM-May20.pdf

16.01.2022 Ivan, Roger and Robin have got the engine shed roof started - hot work yesterday!

15.01.2022 Here's Marion Flak displaying the SAATAS engine test rig today after the achievement of another milestone - the mounting of a 6-cylinder Lycoming. It was a team effort as usual. Marion made the brackets with welding by Graham Oster, Peter page painted them and Jim Piscioneri is setting the engine up to be run from the cab. We expect it will be a feature of our future engine runs!

14.01.2022 What a good idea - thanks NRM!!

14.01.2022 Thanks to Air Force Association - SA Division for this further post about the loss of FLGOFF Michael Herbert and PLTOFF Bob Carver in Canberra Magpie 91 on 3rd November 50 years ago. Lest we forget.

14.01.2022 The HMAS Melbourne team continue their fantastic work with the deck markings and lights now done, plus some incredibly detailed 3D-printer modeling by Chris Gaffney of armament and the ship's launch. This model has to be seen to be believed - coming to SAAM early next year. Watch this space!

12.01.2022 Thanks to RAAFA SA for this profile of another gallant South Australian airman. Lest we forget.

12.01.2022 Treasure among Andrew Clough's donation of RACSA memorabilia includes this brass plaque commemorating Jimmy Melrose's 1934 UK-Australia MacRobertson Air Race! Jimmy was a Burnside boy, born in 1913 into a family of prominent SA graziers. He learned to fly at RACSA (actually before it became 'Royal') and achieved his A Licence in 1933. SAAM has parts of DH60M Moth VH-ULO, in which he flew. In Sep 1934 he flew his Puss Moth VH-UQO to England to enter the race - having just ach...ieved a round-Australia record in it that August. He was the youngest of 42 contestants, the only solo contestant and had held his licence only 16 months and had only 200 hours in his log book. He came third on handicap - a remarkable achievement. He went on to establish several more records before his untimely death aged only 23 in the crash of his Heston Phoenix, purchased to establish an air taxi business. You can read Mike Milln's profile of his life on our website here: http://www.saam.org.au/download/jimmy-melrose/ The photos are of the plaque, Jimmy in his Puss Moth, his Heston Phoenix and his huge funeral in Melbourne. See more

12.01.2022 Now Productions is a community youth group based in the northern suburbs specialising in productions and events. Yesterday Joe Russell brought this group of talented young actors (that's Joe hamming it up on the right) to SAAM for some filming of their latest production "Ten Four". Keep an eye on their website https://nowproductionssa.weebly.com/tenfour.html for screening dates - it's going to be a blast!

11.01.2022 Powering ahead with the Anson! That's Steve Hocking working on the canopy, Peter Bolton on the sand blaster and a whole bunch of cowling panels painted by Peter Page. Nice work fellas!

09.01.2022 We had a happy NDIS group from Bedford yesterday - we hope you enjoyed yourselves guys - you looked like you did! Come again soon.

09.01.2022 Please join us in a minute's silence in remembrance at 11am. Lest we forget.

09.01.2022 Sheryn Foord has just generously donated this Qantas B747 bar trolley (fully stocked!) to us. Sheryn is a great friend of SAAM and the Women Pilots' Association member Thelma Pye - so many thanks Sheryn and thanks too to Thelma for making the connection. Qantas offered the trolleys for sale to Qantas Club members after the disposal of the B747s. John Roberts picked up the trolley with a taxi truck - perhaps slightly overestimating the size of truck needed!

08.01.2022 And here's the proof! The Lycoming briefly running yesterday. I'm told it ran better after I left. Typical...

07.01.2022 Here's SAAM member and sparky Tony Harvey working on the Singapore Airlines B747-312 9V-SKP model on Saturday. SQ state manager Hugh Chevrant-Breton generously gave us the model a few years ago and it's been on display under the F-27 in Hangar 1. SQ operated the 300 series between 1983 and 2001 as 'Big Tops'. The model has the port side cut away so you can see the incredibly detailed interior. It was lit with flouros, which were causing heat damage, so Tony is rewiring it f...or LEDs with Stuart Bruce helping. It may be the only 300 series undergoing maintenance in the world right now! There are only 5 still flying - or at least there were pre-COVID - and they are in Belarus, Nigeria and Iran. The series didn't sell well and were soon superseded by the -400 series. We'll do another post when Tony's finished and it's back on display. It is well worth a close look - the interior detail is amazing - right down to wine bottles on the bar and magazines on some of the seats! See more

06.01.2022 Our SAAM in-house artist member Janice Eames painted the Vargas girl nose art on the Badger family's Spitfire UP-O and our life-size mural of Vimy G-EAOU on the Hangar 1 doors. Her latest project was to paint the "Snifter" nose art on a reduced scale P-51 in Wentworth. She researched the original nose art on the 1946 built full-scale P-51 (fourth pic) and had to do some minor mods to fit the replica. There're pics of the Vimy mural and UP-O too... Looks great Janice!.

06.01.2022 Here's a flashback photo of the Epic Flight Centenary Committee from last year, and great news about the Foundation. (That's our president, David Byrne, 7th from the left. You may not recognise him in a suit and tie...!)

05.01.2022 Visitors and members please note our Lipson Street entrance is closed until Saturday 26th December while the roadway over the railtracks is relaid. Don't worry though, the museum remains open throughout (except Christmas Day). Just continue down to St Vincent St, hang a right, then hang another right on Baker St then Barlow Tce round to the back entrance. The pictured map is hung on the Lipson St gates...

05.01.2022 Thanks to RAAFA SA Lest we forget.

05.01.2022 Chris Doudy has struck a snag with his Aero 145 VH-WWC restoration - he has 2 starboard ailerons! The aileron rebuild we posted about previously is actually a conversion of one of them from starboard to port - which involves turning over all the ribs and brackets, re-riveting, plus re-shaping the trailing edge... not an easy job. He has also been mulling over the easiest way of re-attaching the wings for static display with the attachment points very hard to access. He decided instead of 4 attachment bolts each side, he would use one top and bottom, each long enough to thread through both brackets. That's Peter Harris holding the bolts he has made up for one side...

04.01.2022 Another sad profile of a South Australian airman and his crew, with thanks to the Air Force Association - SA Division. Lest we forget.

03.01.2022 Here's another RAAFA SA profile, this time about a fatal Mt Gambier 2AOS based Anson. You can read more about Mt Gambier and other SA EATS bases on SAAM's website under the History Group/WWII tab. http://www.saam.org.au/downlo/raaf-at-mt-gambier-1937-1947/ Our thanks again to RAAFA SA. Lest we forget.

03.01.2022 The roof is on! Now have to clad the doors and install bottom runners, then we should be able to get some engines out of the workshop and make some room. Nice work Robin De Vore, Don Raison and Roger Newell yesterday.

03.01.2022 We've loaded 8 more History Group Historic Aviator, Aircraft & Aviation Events profiles on our website! Browse the drop-down menus on our History Group page here - http://www.saam.org.au/ and look for: Brothers in Arms - Herbert & Richard Chester Jim Mollison & Amy Johnson in SA FLGOFF Clive Hill... WWII Radar Units in SA Fuji FA-200 Aero Subaru in Australia 1969 UK-Australia Air Race FLGOFF Michael Herbert Re-enactment of Harry Butler's flight to Minlaton. See more

03.01.2022 What a great story. Congratulation Thelma and thanks to the Air Force Association - SA Division for the post.

03.01.2022 It is 101 years ago today that Capt Henry Wrigley and Sgt Arthur 'Spud' Murphy landed their BE2e at Fannie Bay in Darwin after a flight from Pt Cook. It was the first north/south (actually south-north of course) flight across the continent. They had departed Pt Cook on 16 November and travelled 4,500km in 47 flight hours while assessing landing sites for the Vimy's forthcoming flight down from Darwin. They had planned to be in Darwin for the Vimy's arrival, but missed it by 2... days. Ross Smith and the boys were still in Darwin. however, and Wrigley was able to brief them on their findings. Both Wrigley and Murphy had won DFCs during the War, Wrigley with 3Sqn in France and Murphy with 1Sqn in Palestine. They both got AFCs for the Darwin flight and both went on to distinguished RAAF careers. Wrigley was one of the original 21 officers forming the RAAF on its establishment in March 1921, and he retired as an Air Vice-Marshal in 1946. Murphy was actually an aircraft engineer but had been selected for pilot training in Palestine and awarded a temporary commission as a 2nd Lt. He reverted to Sgt on return to Australia, but rose to Air Commodore by his retirement in 1946. A remarkable pair! Photos from the SLSA's fantastic online collection. See more

02.01.2022 Quinn from Signlab has applied the rego decals to Aero 145 VH-WWC. Chris Doudy now has to re-attach them to the aircraft on display in Hangar 1. Beautiful job.

02.01.2022 Our 'doorman' Tony Fazzalari has finished and installed the perspex door into the BAe146 forward section. As you can see, it gives our visitors a good view into the cabin from the top of the steps until such time as we can open it to visitors again. A really professional job - well done Tony!

02.01.2022 Sorry folks - SAAM is closed to visitors until further notice while we assess the current COVID situation. We will post more information as soon as the smoke clears.

02.01.2022 Back by popular demand! Here's one last very short video of Aero 145 VH-DUH landing on Neptune Island - this time taken from the cockpit. Thanks to Nev Hardy via Chris Doudy.

02.01.2022 Here's an update from the Epic Flight Centenary page on the commitment of the SA Government to G-EAOU'S relocation at Adelaide Airport.

01.01.2022 SAAM's proud that we were able to donate the video to Adelaide Airport Ltd, which was edited for the Vimy Memorial display. It's great to see kids on the trail enjoying the history.

01.01.2022 Heritage Transport Expo at the Port! The National Railway Museum is holding the Expo this weekend 10th/11th Oct, 10:00am-4:30pm - see the poster for details. Why not visit SAAM too? We are at 66 Lipson St behind the Railway Museum - just head for the big Vickers Vimy mural on our hangar doors!