• Werribee's B-24 Liberator during an Open Day in 2005. (Mark Tylinksi)
    Werribee's B-24 Liberator during an Open Day in 2005. (Mark Tylinksi)
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A land transfer to the B-24 Liberator Memorial Restoration Fund has secured the future of Australia's only surviving B-24 and the hangar in which it sits.

Since 1993, the aircraft has been under static restoration on the old Werribee airfield site in Melbourne's west, land that is controlled by Melbourne Water.

Last Monday, the Victorian Goverment transfered the land to the B-24 group, paving the way for the site's aviation heritage to be preserved.

“The agreement will see Melbourne Water transfer approximately 1475 hectares of land through the State to the B-24 Fund, pending a works permit being issued by Heritage Victoria,” said Minister Responsible for the Aviation Industry, Gordon Rich-Phillips.

“On the site is a unique aircraft hangar dating back to World War II. The hangar has a timber roof truss construction with short unseasoned timbers, which was developed at the time due to the shortage of building materials during World War II.

“I am pleased to be a part of the preservation of this historic hangar and welcome the continued restoration of the B-24 Liberator as an important and proud piece of Victoria’s aviation heritage."

The eventual home for the aircraft post-restoration has been a matter of conjecture for many years. The local council, City of Wyndham, was keen to keep it within their boundaries, which hinted at a home at Point Cook. It is thought the cost of erecting a hangar on the RAAF base was an obstacle that could not be overcome.

With this land transfer in place, the aircraft should now be able to stay where it is permanently.

Restoration on the B-24 Penelope II began in 1988, when former Liberator crew members Eric Clark and Bob Butler realised that there was no surviving B-24 in Australia to commemorate the role the aircraft had in defending Australia in World War II

 

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