“Buffs and Pigs”
the official members newsletter of
JULY 2013
AHSNT OFFICE BEARERS / IMPORTANT DIARY DATESPRESIDENT
Tony Simons
0427 187 356
8931 2576 (H)
SECRETARY
Julie Mastin
8946 6835 (W)
TREASURER
Ken Lai
ARCHIVIST
Craig Bellamy
0403 872 205
8985 4881 (H)
/ Vice-PRESIDENT
Craig Bellamy
0403 872 205
8985 4881 (H)
PUBLIC OFFICER
Kay Goon
0418 527 416
CURATOR
Alan Cairncross
8927 3273 (H)
GENERAL MEMBER
Richard Spillett
/ Tuesday August 13th AHSNT Committee Meeting
Sunday August 25th Official function at AAHC to hand over the F-111
Tuesday September 3rd Annual General Meeting
Tuesday September 10th AHSNT Committee Meeting
Tuesday September 24th AHSNT Members Meeting
December (TBA) AHSNT Members Christmas Dinner
EVENTS IN AVIATION HISTORY (JUNE)
12th June 1944 the first V1 Flying Bombs (Fieseler 103) land on English suburban areas
20th June 1951 the Bell X-5 makes its maiden flight - the first aircraft to fly with variable geometry wings
15th June 1946 the US Navy’s flying demonstration team gave their first public performance – they would go on to become what we know today as the “Blue Angels”
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
F-111 ARRIVAL
Well, the moment we had all been waiting for finally came to fruition.
Sunday 16th June saw the arrival of our F-111, A8-113, at the Heritage Centre.
Support trucks arrived on the Friday carrying assembly equipment and some additional display items, including under rear stabilisers, rear fin, wing pylons, a fuel tank, bomb ejector rack and crew module parachute.
The aircraft itself, along with the wings, arrived slightly ahead of schedule and what a grand sight it made as the trucks pulled into the grounds of the Heritage Centre.
A large number of members and fifty odd visitors were on hand to welcome the aircraft as she was rolled into the hangar on the back of the delivery trailer.
Construction took place on the hardstand on the Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday saw the assembly crew give the aircraft a final clean and polish before she was placed in her ultimate display position in the hangar.
Good support was received via all forms of the press and hopefully this will encourage good visitor numbers, especially with school holidays upon us.
My thanks go to all members of the current and previous committees who were instrumental in completing the demanding tender tasks required to secure the aircraft.
Special thanks to our Curator, Alan Cairncross, who played a considerable role in the completion of tender documentation.
Next on the wish list – a retired F/A-18, which we understand will be coming up for disposal in 2015.
Richard Spillett has a terrific time delay photography sequence, showing construction activity over the three days the RAAF spent assembling our aircraft. Links will be placed on the website for members to access.
Some photos from the arrival day are shown below
OFFICIAL HANDOVER FUNCTION
An official function to mark the handover of the F-111 from the RAAF to the AHSNT will take place at the Aviation Heritage Centre on Sunday 25th August at 1100.
A short ceremony will take place, followed by nibbles and refreshments.
All members are encouraged to attend.
The Committee has extended an invitation to RAAF Heritage Branch, the Hon Matt Conlan, Minister for Tourism, the Hon Mike Kelly, Federal Minister for Defence, the Lord Mayor and representatives from the RAAF base Darwin and Tindal.
MEMBERS MEETINGS
The March member’s meeting was attended by five committee members and four general members.
A robust discussion was held regarding the proposal to dispose of Society assets.
No resolutions were made and the Committee will ensure members are provided with further information regarding the reasons for proposing disposal so that more discussion can be held at future Members Meetings.
The members meeting on the 25th June 2013 was attended by three committee members and one general member and, in the absence of a quorum, no business was transacted.
The next members’ meeting will be held on Tuesday 24th September.
I still have concerns over the attendance at members meetings. I have been asking for some time if members have any thoughts on how the meetings should be conducted, but to date I have received very little feedback.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Members are reminded that the Society’s Annual General Meeting will be held at the Aviation Heritage Centre on Tuesday 3rd September commencing 6pm sharp, to be followed by nibbles and drinks.
Business to be transacted at the AGM will be :-
1) To confirm the minutes of the preceding AGM
2) To receive from the Committee, auditor and members of the Society, reports upon transactions of the Society during the last preceding financial year
3) To elect the Officers of the Society and the Ordinary Committee Person
4) To appoint the auditor and determine remuneration for auditors services if any
5) To determine remuneration of members of the Society
Nominations for committee positions must be lodged in writing with the Public Officer or Secretary by Friday 30th August 2013. Nominations are called for the following positions :-
1) The President
2) The Vice-President
3) The Treasurer
4) The Secretary
5) The Curator
6) The Public Officer (who is a person resident in the Northern Territory) for the purposes of the Associations Act section 27(2)
7) Historian (otherwise known as the Archivist or similar term as approved by the Committee)
8) A general member
FINANCIAL MATTERS
After tracking reasonably well for most of the year, results to the end of May were disappointing. Results for June were exceptional; however we finished the year with a loss approaching $60,000.
This is on par with the result from last year.
Some notable results from the financial report include:
- An increase in admissions of $4,000 (new admission charges have only applied since January)
- An increase in shop sales of $32,000
- A decrease in workshop expenses of $14,000
On the flip side :-
- Bank interest decreased by $6,000
- Power and water charges were up by $10,000
- Sales of Darwin’s Air War decreased by $9,700
- Advertising costs increased $10,000 (this included a reprint of museum brochures and the new television advertisement)
- Capital expenditure on new lawn mower and museum wall panelling $9,000
- Cost of goods sold increased by $38,000 (but this is reflected positively in stock on hand figures)
The Committee is considering a number of measures to reduce costs and improve revenue.
Matters under consideration include :-
- the use of volunteer staff on a rostered basis to supplement the paid staff
- a review of advertising to ensure we focus on those areas providing demonstrated returns
- approaching NT Government for funding to support operations at the Heritage Centre
- approaching NT Government for some means of relief from power and water increases
- the Museum Supervisor has established direct links with wholesalers, thus reducing the cost of some stock in the museum shop
- review of banking arrangements to see if better rate of return can be achieved by consolidating some of the bank accounts and deposits
MUSEUM MOMENTS
OPEN COCKPIT DAY
The annual open cockpit day, was held on Sunday the 28th April and by all accounts the event was a major success with good attendance and, more pleasingly, good visitor feedback.
My thanks are extended to all those where were involved in organising the event and managing the happenings on the day.
HERITAGE CENTRE UPGRADES
The workshop crew have been busy installing panelling in the corner of the hangar where the F-111 is relocated. The end result is quite pleasing and improves the overall brightness in the area.
Panelling will gradually be extended across the northern wall.
Panels have been pre-cut and pre-painted, thanks to Brian T for his planning efforts.
Work to be done involves cleaning and painting the existing pillars then installation of new panels.
This will be a big job and will take up to three or four months to complete.
I am sure that the crew would appreciate members offering a hand. Contact Ken Lai, Richard Spillett or Brian Thompson (8981 6901) if you would like to lend a hand.
The end result will improve the overall look of the area, as well as provide space to hang display material to enhance the exhibits located in the area.
STAFF CHANGES
After many years of service to the Society as a volunteer member, and more lately as a staff member, Neil Bywaters has decided to retire from full time work. Many thanks for your service Neil – the Society will be making a special presentation to Neil shortly. Members will be advised of the time and date, so they can come along and show their appreciation of Neil’s efforts.
Bronwyn Cox has also left us – thanks also to Bronwyn for her efforts during the time she spent with us.
Bill Morgan has been appointed full time to replace Neil and Brownyn.
Bill has a good background in aviation related matters and has settled in very well. Welcome aboard Bill.
THE RADIO DISPLAY CABINET
Our resident electronics guru, Fred Franklin, has been busy tidying up the radio display cabinet.Structurally, the large cabinet is in pretty good condition. However, the lights are old and worn out and the white plastic diffuser panels have discoloured to an opaque brown and are breaking up and falling in on the display. / After a discussion at a recent meeting it was agreed to upgrade the lighting. The museum payed for the fluorescent lights and Fred contributed reflectors, cable and carried out the installation and testing.
The modern fluorescent lights very energy efficient, brighter and radiate very little heat.
The end result is that the new lights make the display look quite professional. The new lights also show up the dirt very well, so a good scrub was given to the glass doors and shelves as well as the equipment on display.
Now it looks very good – thanks Fred.
WORK STANDS
AirNorth have generously offered to donate some second hand aircraft work stands. An assessment of their suitability will be undertaken to see if they can be used for access to the F-111 and other aircraft in the Heritage Centre.
NATIONAL SMALL MUSEUMS CONFERENCE
AHSNT is a member of the National Small Museums Group and will be hosting the annual conference over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of September.
Full agenda for the meeting on the Saturday is yet to be determined, however we will be entertaining our guests on Sunday, possibly with a visit to Adelaide River, the airstrips alongside the Stuart Highway, concluding with a dinner at the Heritage Centre.
I will provide further details as the agenda becomes clearer.
QANTAS AIRCRAFT TUG
We were recently approached by QANTAS to see if we would be interested in accepting a donation of one of the retiring 40 tonne aircraft tugs.
We are advised that the tug is operational, but a small defect has rendered it unsafe to use for pushing back the larger aircraft.
WORKSHOP WANDERINGS
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA FUNDING FOR A SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENT
Cathy Day attended the Heritage Centre and workshop as part of the significance assessment process.
Some very positive comments were received along with some suggestions for improvements we could consider for some of our displays. A formal report is due shortly, and I will provide details in the next newsletter.
BELL 47
Some runs on the board at last for the Bell !!
Ken has completed painting the main cockpit and this was re-joined to the engine frame.
Tony, Ken and Richard completed the installation of the flight control systems and, to our surprise, all the hydraulic systems function as planned.
Some “lost” parts were recently rediscovered – importantly, one of these cables was used to control the engine cooling system and the other to manage the fuel mixture/richness.
Both have been temporarily installed, but will require some cleaning up before permanent installation.
Who said building models in 12 inches to the foot scale couldn’t be fun.
Tony Simons
Editor
*F-111 photograph Courtesy of the RAAF and Mick Raftery
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