Recently (at the time of writing) Harrison went to the Aviation Heritage Museum near where he lives. He also took a lot of photos and has this neat site now, so he’s going to make a post out of it.

But first, that’s enough third person, I very much like this museum, having been there a number of times during my youth. But this was the first time with my camera (and the first time in many years), hence I chronicled the occasion more than I normally would.

Before that though, the family and I met up with an old family friend for lunch at a seafood restaurant (my favourite type of food). I ordered a nice big pot of chilli mussels, and below you can see the aftermath of this.

Anyway, to the planes. So the first one is actually not even inside the buildings. Placed up on a pole in front of the museum is this replica Supermarine Spitfire.

There are also a couple more vehicles outside on the ground as you approach the entrance. I’m not sure if there’s anything interesting about the helicopter, but the plane was actually recovered from underwater after an emergency landing at a beach.

As we move inside we get one of the most impressive aeroplanes right off the bat- a PSB-SA Catalina. This is actually the biggest plane they have there, and there are an abundance of great angles to get a picture of it.

Suspended just above and off to the side of the tail of the Catalina is a 5/8ths-scale replica of of Hawker Hurricane, built by a community member past (also visible in better lighting in the bottom left image above).

Around the floor space is a smattering of smaller planes, including an Auster J-5 Adventurer.

Replica Sopwith Camel (for the Snoopy fans)

A CAC Wackett VH-AIY (don’t know much about this one. Sorry about darkness. Lotta backlighting in here).

And along with a few less famous aeroplanes, the first hangar also houses a Bell UH-1H Iroquois “Huey” of Vietnam War fame.

We now move on to the newest addition to the museum. Between the two long-standing hangars is a new shelter area dedicated to a couple of modern jet planes.

The first is a Panavia Tornado GR4.

And the second is a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. This one was a research model that tested programs and other equipment out, and has been visited by some of the very people that once flew it.

It’s really cool to see some modern aeroplanes make it to the museum as well. My memory fails me, but the staff member there mentioned that one of these was the only one in the southern hemisphere.

And I never realised just how big they were. And that doesn’t just apply to these jets too. It was often hard to get all of a plane into shot. Maybe I need a wide-angle lens.

Anyway, let’s move onto hangar two, where my favourite plane of all is, the one I can be seen sanding in front of in the featured image for this post, the Avro Lancaster.

Along with the photography help from a nice staff member, I also got numerous shots of this impressive plane myself (or at least what I could fit into the shot).

As a cool tidbit of information as well, this is one of only 17 remaining Lancasters in the world, and one of only two in Australia. It’s been with us since 1962, believe it or not. And an extra piece of trivia for a large majority of my audience, most of the 15 Lancasters outside Australia can be found in Canada.

Of course, there’s many more awesome planes in the building.

Douglas C-47 Dakota

Percival Proctor MKII

Wirraway MKII

De Havilland Tiger Moth (that yellow biplane in the back there)

There’s also this neat F-111 cockpit ejection module. I’ve always had a soft spot for the F-111 after seeing it at an air show when I was very young.

And plenty more that didn’t have angles conducive to good photography (or I just missed them. Sorry). But I do have an extra treat for you. Hangar two features an elevated walkway, allowing me to get some shots from above to show off.

The Dakota from a semi-frontal view (and an Avro Anson poking in from the bottom).

An awesome shot showing off the yet-unseen Canberra MKXX (top left), Supermarine Spitfire MKXXII (bottom right) and Aermacchi MB 326H (the only one left in the image).

And lastly, a few more of the Lancaster for good measure.

I hope you enjoyed this photo showcase. There was so much more I could have got pictures of too. Cabinets of small scale models, all manner of historical artefacts (including some WWII German ones) and even some space exploration exhibits. I photographed a few of the most interesting ones, which you can see below.

But the planes were the highlight for me, and the most rewarding to photograph (even though I wasn’t even able to get photos of every single one). So which was your favourite? Let me know down below.