South Australian Aviation Museum

10/10/2026

Following on from our past posts regarding the restoration of Fairey Battle N2188, the following article may be of interest to many of our readers.

Regarding the "Workshop" article in the July 2026 issue of Aeroplane and the restoration of RAAF Fairey Battle N2188 at the SAAM following an accident.

The article recorded the Fairey Battle's emergency forced landing when operated by No 2 Bombing and Gunnery School from Port Pirie, South Australia on the 7th May 1943 and quotes the pilot mentioning he had three trainees onboard, one of whom was named as "Sharples".

I accessed the NAA service records and found there were several people with the surname Sharples, however when reading Reginald Alfred Sharples service record discovered that he was the Sharples mentioned in the article.

R A Sharples service records state that he was posted to No 2 BAGS at Port Pirie on the 1st May 1943 and was on No 32 Air Gunners Course from the 3rd May 1943 to the 26th May 1943.

After surviving the emergency forced landing R A Sharples was unfortunately killed in November that year in the crash of RAAF Bristol Beaufort A9-350 in NSW.

Beaufort A9-350, operated by 32 Squadron RAAF Camden, was on a night cross country flight on the 18th November 1943 when it crashed into Saddleback Mountain at Foxground, four miles west of Kiama, in bad weather while returning to Camden (while the bodies of the five men were recovered, the aircraft was abandoned, and its remains are still there today).

The crash killed the five airmen onboard A9-350, Pilot Flight Sergeant Ronald Cecil Christie 410630, Wireless Air Gunner Sergeant Francis Nelson Fanning 419465,
Navigator Sergeant Douglas Reginald James 418721, Wireless Air Gunner Sergeant Reginald Alfred Sharples 419226 and a non member of the crew from 73 Squadron RAAF Nowra, who was a friend of the pilot and onboard the flight for experience - Navigator Pilot Officer Harry Sydney James Terrill 419426.

Reginald Alfred Sharples is buried in the Camden War Cemetery.

Attached is a photo of R A Sharples, records of his posting to No 2 BAGS and completion of No 32 Gunnery Course, records relating to the crash of Beaufort A9-350 and details of his burial in the Camden War Cemetery.

Article by Graeme Kenderdine

09/10/2026

To whet your appetite for the Open Cockpit and Engine Run Day on 25 October, have a look at the video on this link.

A quick reminder to make sure that you have Sunday 25 October block...

03/10/2026

A quick reminder to make sure that you have Sunday 25 October blocked out so that you can attend the South Australian Aviation Museum’s Open Cockpit and Engine Run day.

Doors open at 10am (closes at 4pm) with SAAM volunteers waiting to guide you through the cockpits of:-
Douglas C-47 Dakota,
Lockheed AP-3C Orion
de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou
Fokker F-27 Friendship, and the
General Dynamics F-111 (visitors will be able to get up close to the F-111, but not actually sit in the seats due to safety concerns).

We will also be having three runnings of some of the engines that we have. We are currently planning to start the Rolls Royce Merlin and Kestrel, the Siddeley Lynx and Cheetah and the Pratt & Whitney R-1340 (old smoky). Run times will be announced over our PA on the day.

In addition to the aircraft and engines, we will be having a sausage sizzle (fancy sausages in bread- with onion), there will also be a coffee and an ice cream van. There will also be a giant second hand book store in hangar one.

Address: 16 Bedford Street, Port Adelaide


Entry prices
Entry tickets are purchased at reception.

Adults
$17

ADF Personnel and Veterans
$8.50

Concession
$12

Children (5 to 15)
$7.50

Family (2 adults, up to 3 children)
$41.50

Children under 5 years, accompanied by a family member
Free

See you there

02/10/2026

Today, SAAM, in partnership with the Air Force Association (South Australia) held a service to commemorate the lives of PLTOFF Murray Henzell and FLTLT Neil Chisholm. Both Hess men sadly lost their lives 70 years ago after the Gloster Meteor T.7 they were operating crashed on the Woomera Weapons Range, between Evetts Airfield and the main Woomera airfield on 28 September 1956. We also commemorated the passing of Weapons Research Establishment (WRE) employee, Mr J.E. lister who was fatally injured in a ground accident while working on a CAC Sabre on 20 April of the same year.
Family members of both PLTOFF Henzell and FLTLT Chisholm were in attendance and participated in the ceremony including the laying of wreaths.
Our thanks go out to the current and former members of the RAAF and the RAAF Cadets who also participated in the ceremony, making it a memorable event.

26/09/2026

The Air Force Association (SA Division) and South Australian Aviation Museum will be co-hosting the 2026 SAAM Air Force Memorial Commemorative Service on Friday 2 Oct 26 at the SAAM Air Force Memorial, Port Adelaide.

Located at SAAM and dedicated last year, the Air Force Memorial was a collaborative project between AFA-SA, RAAF Edinburgh and SAAM to honour those Defence personnel who have lost their lives in military aviation accidents in South Australia or related to RAAF Base Edinburgh units since World War 2. The memorial’s plaque lists 13 such accidents with 23 Defence personnel paying the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their nation.

This year we will be particularly acknowledging the loss of PLTOFF Murray Henzell and FLTLT Neil Chisholm, who were killed when RAAF Meteor T.7 A77-2 / VW410 crashed seventy years ago on 28 September 1956 at Woomera.
Medals/Decorations may be worn. Wreaths/Tributes may be laid at the Memorial during the service.

The Air Force Association and SAAM will be hosting a morning tea for attendees in Hangar 1 at SAAM.

Parking will be available on the grassed area at the rear of the Museum.

Please join us for what will be a special ceremony honouring those who have been lost in the service of our nation in South Australia since the end of World War 2.

The event is open to the public. If you will be coming, could you please RSVP to Annette at [email protected],au

18/09/2026

DAYS 9 & 10 of the Bristol Freighter recovery exercise. Well, that about wraps it up for this part of our adventure.
Thursday consisted mainly of repositioning items such as the port wing (to make more room on the tarmac for base vehicle movement), and consolidating our parts farm to keep all the components safe-er. And as we had a transport aircraft fuselage available, all the smaller components such as engine cowls and attachment point cover panels (those that could be saved in reasonable condition) were tied down inside. We also did a comprehensive cleanup of the tarmac to remove any foreign objects. Once the aircraft was looked after, we returned the scaffolding to the B-24 Memorial and aircraft stands loaned to us by the RAAF Museum were put away.
Today we ensured that everything was tied down and any sharp edges/objects were made safe with coloured tape, rags and yellow & black bunting. Once all our tools were loaded onto the trailer, it was time to bid the old girl farewell, until we come back over to get her loaded onto some trucks, hopefully in the very near future.
Many thanks for following along with our journey, I hope you have enjoyed the posts thus far. Make sure you keep following to get the updates on the big move as they happen.

16/09/2026

DAY 8 of the Bristol Freighter Recovery, a day were the plans of mice and men certainly came to the fore. Removing the undercarriage bracing struts from the landing gear legs was fairly straightforward, however, removing the fuselage end stumped our team big time. Many thanks to those who posted back helpful information, especially to Randy Ransfield, who solved the issue for us. To those who thought the use of extreme violence was the answer, believe me, we thought about it too. Finally The undercarriage on both sides were removed after getting air under the wheels for what was probably the first time since it traveled to Point Cook from Queensland. With the undercarriage gone, the fuselage was lowered onto a mat of pallets which made getting into the fuselage much easier, and safer.

After a late, but well deserved lunch break (thanks for the pizza Des), the task of removing the wing centre section became the focus. Further inspection revealed a number of fasteners that had been missed. This was quickly remedied and the task of pushing out the attachment bolts began. We were all a little surprised at the ‘ease’ at which these bolts came out, and at about 3:00 pm, the lift began. For all the work and preparation the team had put into this major task over the past 10 days, it was actually a bit of an anti climax as to how easily the wing separated from the fuselage. There was just one hiccup when a wiring loom was found holding up the separation, but quick and masterful action from the resident AVTECH, using knowledge gained from years of using AAP 7045 (aircraft electrical handbook - I hope I got the correct reference, which if I didn’t, I will get told😁), hacksawed through the loom and the wing was set free.

Our thanks go out to 1, our fantastic and hugely patient crane operators (if you are in Melbourne, and you need a crane, make sure you contact the guys at Project Cranes and Rigging on 0402 306 880), and 2, everyone (that’s all of you reading this post) who have been supporting us throughout this project, and 3, to Des, Dave and Byron, thanks for all the hours of help you put in to make our working days safe and productive . Although the aircraft is now in the disassembled state that we planned on, there is still a lot of work to be done to get it ready for transport. If anything interesting does occur over the next two days, I will be sure to post😀.

16/09/2026

Anyone know how to remove this bolt from the fuselage side of the undercarriage brace strut on the Bristol Freighter?

15/09/2026

DAY 7 of the Bristol Freighter recovery, and boy, this was a big one. Early start on what at first appeared to be a beautiful day, with the crane from Project Cranes setting up by 8:30. Things were going well with the first wing bolt coming out with a technical tap at 08:50. The next two bolts were out within the next 15 min - but then came the lesson in removing wings from old aircraft. The last pin finally ended its resistance at 11:00, but the wing still refused to separate from the centre section. Turned out that above the jacking point was an additional 4 bolts, and once removed, the wing finally allowed itself to be lowered onto a bed of truck tires. It was at this point that Melbourne showed its true colours, with a temperature drop of 6 degrees, and the heaven’s opening. The weather report said we had small hail, but it looked like snow to us.
Once the skies cleared, and armed with the additional information, the Starboard wing was lowered to the ground within 45 min of the crane being attached.
With the wings successfully removed, time came to work on the engines. Again, the port side was making life difficult, with several of the bolts not wanting to cooperate. A lot of coaxing with a large hammer and drift got the job done, and the engine was upended to secure into our newly manufactured stand. Small adjustments needed to be made, but once done, the stand worked perfectly. Just like its adjoining wing, the Starboard engine’s removal was significantly quicker than the port, so by 3:30pm, both wings and both engines were safely on the ground and ready for the truck when it gets here.
Tomorrow we plan to remove the undercarriage, and if things go well, the wing centre section. Let’s hope things do go well, and the Melbourne weather is a little less recalcitrant 😎

14/09/2026

DAY 6 (well sort of, some work was done over the weekend finishing our engine stands) of the Freighter Recovery, and more noticeable progress. The day started with the removal of the last fillet panels joining the wing centre section to the fuselage.

The next big step was the removal of the vertical stabiliser and rudder. As can be seen from the photos, the stab had to be leaned over to one side. The attachment bolts on the port side came out easily, but the ones on the starboard side were fitted with bushes that required some persuasion and the only way to get room to swing a hammer was to tip it to one side. To ensure safety, this was done very slowly and with three fork lifts involved. In the end, it came down satisfactorily, but again due to corrosion, it took nearly three hours to finally separate the rudder from the fin.

The last jobs of the day was to install the outer wing panel lift attachment points, ready for the crane which is planned to be here tomorrow. Hopefully the weather holds.