An exciting initiative for Australian aviation is under way with the official launch of the new Australian Aviation Hall of Fame in Wagga Wagga in late August. Justin Grey reports.
The brainchild of Regional Aviation Association of Australia CEO Paul Tyrrell and recently retired Qantas Chief Pilot Chris Manning, the seeds for the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame (AAHOF) were sown in February of this year. Aiming to, “honour the past and inspire the future”, the AAHOF’s vision is to recognise those individuals and organisations whose outstanding contributions have advanced aviation in Australia significantly, and thereby inspiring future generations.
While there’s already a number of very reputable aviation museums throughout the country, the driving forces behind the AAHOF are aiming for something different. As well as its physical facility in Wagga, a comprehensive website will also be developed to act as a virtual hall of fame. And, linking up with the Wagga campus of Charles Sturt University (CSU), the AAHOF will include a national aviation library and in time become a centre for aviation research.
Speaking at the launch, AAHOF Chairman and former Regional Express Managing Director Geoff Breust said that, while the notion of an appropriate aviation hall of fame had been around a long time, no organisation had actually taken up the challenge to bring it to fruition. And the five-member AAHOF Board has grand visions.
“The Board’s clear aim is for AAHOF to be a world class facility – not only in its website but also in the actual physical presentation down the track,” Breust said. “This means a high quality, professional approach – not a volunteer, amateur approach. Our plan includes hiring professionals to carry out the collection, research and compilation of the hall of fame displays. We also demand a world standard in the virtual hall of fame website.”
Manning, who speaks with overt enthusiasm about the AAHOF, believes this is a, “feel-good story in Australian aviation”.
“It is a celebration of people, and as such it is a good story,” he said. “This celebrates people and institutions that are a part of our history – it’s the whole of aviation as opposed to one part. It’s all facets of aviation celebrating – obviously pilots, but also manufacturers, commercial people, even journalists. It’s the whole of aviation, and as such that makes it a lot different to the other offerings. This is the one that ties it all together; I haven’t seen another [aviation museum] that does that.”
Manning said Wagga made an appropriate location for the AAHOF, given it has a good aviation representation on the ground via training facilities (the Regional Express Australian Airline Pilot Academy and Airservices Australia’s air traffic control training at TAFE NSW Riverina Institute), its RAAF presence, and its historical relevance as the birthplace of Kendell Airlines. And the collaboration with CSU on the project was pivotal in deciding on Wagga.
“There are museums done very well in Australia, so we had to put it with something,” he explained. “If you can have it as a research facility and push that then that’s a really good idea. As such, it had to be attached to a university. [CSU] are starting a faculty of aviation, which we’ll assist with. So I see a synergy there – a place that will collect documents from various people around Australia. And Charles Sturt will assist in preserving those documents.”
While nothing can be revealed at this stage, Manning says a number of the initial AAHOF inductees are obvious choices, the likes of Lawrence Hargrave, Bert Hinkler and Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith.
The AAHOF Board plans to launch the virtual hall of fame in mid-2011, followed in mid-2015 by the opening of the physical location in Wagga. An inaugural induction dinner will be held in Wagga towards the end of next year to announce the first inductees. Looking ahead, the AAHOF Board is examining options to secure vital fund-raising.
“Fund-raising is never easy, but I don’t consider that to be impossible,” Manning said. “I’d be disingenuous if I said it was going to be dead easy, but you’ve got to start these things and there’s a great deal of support for it. This is a nice thing.”
For more information on the AAHOF visit www.aahof.com.au.
Subscribe to Australian Flying to read more.
Lawrence Hargrave, left, demonstrates the manlift kites, sling seat and spring balance in parkland behind Stanwell Park beach in November 1894. (Charles Bayliss)
