South Australian Aviation Museum

29/08/2026

Stefan Kosak, who "stars" in our video documentary accompanying our RFDS display visited us today. His horrific accident in the heart of the Gibson Desert and subsequent extraction by the RFDS from Kiwirrkurra, 850km west of Alice Springs, is described in the video. The accident is vividly depicted using AI imagery created by SAAM volunteer Steve Turner.
Come and see it!!

16/08/2026

During opening hours at SAAM, we are now also opening the compound between the car park and Hangar 1, allowing our visitors to now get up close to the RAAF memorial and our F-35 A35-000, which also has a new information panel giving the history of the Iron Bird. So next time you visit, you can get a look at Iron Bird without a cyclone fence in the way.

13/08/2026

Several recent messages have asked about the progress of our Dassault Mirage IIID is going. Well team leads Phil Henning and Jim Rogers, leaning on the fence (who worked on the instrumentation), have been making nice strides towards getting one of the most beautiful (looking) aircraft to grace Australian skies, into display condition.

We have a new pilot in the rear seat and note the progress on instrumentation in both cockpits...and if anybody has a Mirage helmet they'd like to donate, we would be very grateful!

12/08/2026

As the sun rises over SAAM this morning, volunteer member, Laurie English, finalised some major mods to our P51"Desert Rat". The attached images show Laurie recharging its new electrical system that provides engine start, prop rotation and lots of engine noise. Next a smoke generator??? The kids love it!

Images by Mike Milln.

11/08/2026

Looking for something to do this weekend after visiting SAAM? How about setting a date to visit our sister museum at Port Adelaide, the National Railway Museum, for the centenary celebration of Webb’s Locos, an event that includes several Model Railways. The event runs Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th Aug between 10am and 4:30pm.

09/08/2026

An interesting update to our restoration projects. The July issue of Aeroplane has a great article on our restoration of the Fairey Battle, a taster in the attached images (I didn’t put in images of the full article for copyright reasons), giving a history of the RAAF’s operations of the type, the reason our aircraft crashed, how it was recovered, and its journey back to looking like an aircraft today. I have also added some up to date images of where the team is up to with the wings.
In other exciting news, the team working on the Avro Anson has completed stenciling the outline of all the aircraft markings in preparation for the last bits of painting. The project is getting so tantalisingly close to completion.

01/08/2026

07/07/2026

School holidays are a great time to come down to Port Adelaide and visit the three museums there. The National Railway Museum has a Family Fun Fair over the 16th to 19th of July, so please add this to your list of activities for the family to enjoy these holidays.

06/06/2026

Today, the South Australian Aviation Museum was visited by a man who had a very close relationship to one of our biggest draw cards, the mighty F-111, A08-132. Air Vice-Marshal Mark Skidmore (Retd) joined the RAAF in 1977, and after completing flight training and gaining his wings, was posted to RAAF Amberley, flying the F-111. In 1985, he was sent to the United Sates Naval Test Pilot School, and on completion, was posted to ARDU at RAAF Edinburgh where he flew the two fastest aircraft ever operated by the RAAF, the Dassault Mirage (an example of which is on display in Hangar 2), and A08-132. This is significant, because AVM Skidmore was also involved in flying one of the slowest aircraft built for the ADF. On the 11th of September, 2013, AVM Skidmore flew the replica Bristol Boxkite at Point Cook, before the aircraft was displayed at the Centenary of Military Aviation Air Show 2014.
Today, Mark was re introduced to one of his previous mounts, and our Vice President, Nigel Daw, asked Mark to sign his name in the nose wheel well. Thank you AVM Skidmore, hope to see you again soon.

23/05/2026

History Month activities at SAAM culminated today with a full house, more than 60 people, captivated by the history of RAAF Mallala as presented by Greg Weller. It is easy to forget that Mallala was such an important part of the Empire Air Training Scheme during WWII (Number 6 Service Flying Training School) and continued on as a major RAAF base supporting UK-Australia operations at Woomera. It was not until RAAF Edinburgh was opened in 1954, that operations were slowly wound down, and in May 1960, the base was finally closed. Today, Mallala is better known as a motor sport park.
At the end of the presentation, those attending were offered a close up look at our Avro Anson, EF954, which operated with 6SFTS during the war, and is now nearing the completion of a 40+ year restoration.
Many thanks to Greg for a fascinating presentation, and thanks to all who attended.