Old maps/pictures

[major_tom]

Currently in search of some nostalgia. Does anyone have scans of old WAC's or VTC's? Just curious, id imagine back 'in the day' the melbourne VTC would look pretty plain.

[sixtiesrelic]

What about 1944 mercator charts. I've got some of them.

[compressor stall]

I can't beat 1944, but I have a WAC chart here from 1974.

You can't have it though as it's in my Navbag. I'm using it tomorrow. :eek:

[outnabout]

I've got a guide to navigation from the 1920s (it was my grandfathers).

It's more of a pamphlet, than a book. Gives a very good description of time/distance, and dead reckoning. The final chapter is about three paragraphs, along the lines of - if lost, land. Ask someone, or read a roadsign. Locate that spot on your chart, and take off to continue your journey.

[tinpis]

The old 60's SHELL ROAD MAP book was a beauty. I think they took their plates from WAC chart. Was all that was required and didnt blow out of Tiger Moth just when you was getting it sorted the correct way up.

[UnderneathTheRadar]

I have no idea where it came from but I have (not with me) something like a 'long range overwater navigation chart' for the pacific - probably dates from the 60's or so - and it's in perfect nick.

I've seen WACs about as old as Stallie's - except they were so worn out you couldn't see most of the features....

[Brian Abraham]

WACs Adelaide November 1959, Melbourne September 1961

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m56/babraham227/z047.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m56/babraham227/z046.jpg

[major_tom]

@ Brian, thanks for sharing :)

Anyone else wanna scan some in? :8

Class G/rural is pretty empty in Australia - would have been amazing to fly back in the 50/70's.

[major_tom]

ahh yes, i still use the old shell maps for driving today - starting to disintegrate now:}

[Capn Bloggs]

i still use the old shell maps for driving today
You should get a Tom, Tom! ! :E

[compressor stall]

I've seen WACs about as old as Stallie's - except they were so worn out you couldn't see most of the features....

Does that really matter when they look like this? :} (The blue line is the 1500' contour)

http://www.remoteadventures.com/webpics/emptymap.jpg

[Brian Abraham]

Well I'll be snowed.

[Stationair8]

I take it that Fishermens Bend is one of the airports in the CBD area, what is the one due west of Essendon airport?

Look at YMMB out in the country!

[John Eacott]

I take it that Fishermens Bend is one of the airports in the CBD area, what is the one due west of Essendon airport

Melton.

An old VTC would be revealing: how did we manage with the zone boundary along the beach all the way down by Middle Park/Albert Park and east to Nunawading, the VFR route along the Western Highway with the strobes to guide you, no access through Laverton/Pt Cook airspace without a week's notice and a letter from the Queen Mum :=

[emeritus]

JE..

How true. The whole of the western side of Port Phillip seemed a no go area during the week.

Flew into Fishermans Bend in Nov of 62. I think at that stage it did not seem to exist officially. I recall that the eastern end of the East/West runway ended at a factory wall and was the only useable strip. Once construction of the Westgate Bridge got well underway the airfield became a big construction site and ceased to exist.

Still got all my WAC charts from GA days. As mentioned elsewhere the Shell road maps were considered a valuable addition to the nav bag.

Emeritus.

[major_tom]

would be nice to see an old VTC is anyone got them? :)

[GAFA]

Would be nice to see some old airport charts from DAPS. All the major airports have gone through some big upgrades over the last 20 to 30 years and in the case of Brisbane a new airport. Comparing the old with the new would be good.

[Fantome]

All the old charts, letdown plates, aerodrome diagrams and AIPs are held in the Airways Museum on Essendon Airport. (Indispensible next time you want to make a VAR approach to Wagga or Launie or wonder where the flare paths will appear on Sydney - Water i.e. Rose Bay or you need to divert into Redland Bay.)

Roger Meyer is the head sherang at the Airways Museum. (One of nature's, Roger.) There's always a few of his trusty lieutenants helping. They are only too happy to dig out anything at which you may want to have a butchers. Across Matthews Ave is the TAA Museum run by Jim Meehan. Fascinating place too. Allow a few hours at either establishment.

From Airways Museum website -

Roger Meyer OAM (1942- )

Roger Cordt Meyer joined DCA on 3 February 1960 as a Radio Technician-in-Training. There were eight trainees in the intake, of whom six completed the five-year apprenticeship.

After qualifying, Roger was appointed to the Radio Installation Section (located in Second Avenue, on the western side of Essendon Airport). His first task was the installation of the new Route Surveillance Radar (RSR) and Area Approach Control Centre (AACC) at Melbourne Airport. After a few months of this work, he was asked to go to Regional Office (123 Latrobe Street) to assist the Engineers by designing radio circuits and undertaking small-scale installation projects.

Roger discovered an aptitude for design work and project management, and this progressed to undertaking larger scale projects, which ultimately included Control Towers, radar operator consoles, communications equipment, search and rescue centres, training simulators, and a many, many smaller scale projects. In this capacity, Roger worked closely with air traffic controllers in the writing of Facility Schedules (operational documents which stipulated additions and changes to ATC facilities, with engineering concurrence).

In 1974, Roger heard of the Head Office decision to formally establish a collection of redundant radio and ATC equipment as the foundation of a Museum. They were seeking a Custodian, and Roger offered his services.

When Head Office relocated to Canberra in the early 1980s, the key H.O. people involved with the Museum retired (Ron Rye, George Brown and Eric Anderson), and by default the Museum became the responsibility of the Victoria/Tasmania Region. It survived several cost-cutting purges and, by constantly scrounging funds, and by the goodwill of field staff at Essendon Airport, the museum survived. Roger was allocated 5% of his working time to manage the Airways Museum.

In 1982, the Department of Transport announced that an Historical Society was to be formed, to connect the great amount of historical interest from the public with the wealth of historical knowledge within the Department. Each Region was asked to appoint a volunteer to set up a local Division. Roger offered, and was soon appointed as Secretary of the Victoria/Tasmania Division. Divisions in SA/NT, WA and the ACT were also established, but never in NSW or Queensland. In time, the ACT Division folded, and the Vic/Tas Division (by default) took over responsibility for Tasmania, Victoria, NSW and Queensland.

The Civil Aviation Historical Society (CAHS) battled on through the 1980s, during which time the Harper Lectures, the Johnston Lectures and the DCA 50th anniversary were among the highlights. In June 1999, the Historical Society moved its base from the city to Essendon Airport where it is now co-sited with the Airways Museum. Since then, the Society has grown in stature and outreach. Click here to see a photo of Roger with some of our distinguished guests.

Roger Meyer retired on 6 October, 1999, as a Middle Manager (Technical Specialist) after 39½ years service. Roger was also Secretary of the CAHS from 1983-1999 and has been President since then.

Roger Meyer was awarded a well-deserved Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours "for service to the community through the preservation and recording of Australian civil aviation history".

[emeritus]

I still have all my WAC charts from GA days.

I also have a RAAF mercator chart from WW2,a first edition WAC chart for TAS and an early style NDB chart/Landing Chart for Portland from '66.

I have not yet worked out how to post pics on Pprune so if some one would do it for me I can email copies to them.

TIA...Emeritus

[outnabout]

Capn Bloggs - Tom Tom = Sh!t, Sh!t, (in my experience)..

[dogcharlietree]

This site used to have some good material petan.net - Aviation in Australia (http://www.petan.net/aviation/index.htm)

[major_tom]

I still have all my WAC charts from GA days.

I also have a RAAF mercator chart from WW2,a first edition WAC chart for TAS and an early style NDB chart/Landing Chart for Portland from '66.

Now a WW2 mercator, or 1st ed Tassy chart would be nice :ok:

If your trying to upload pics you could always post it on tinypic.com then post the link? :confused:

[Stationair8]

Notice the ALA's at Lillydale, Tyabb, Berwick and Tooradin aren't shown.

What is the ALA shown on the northern side of the train line running down to Wonthaggi?

[emeritus]

S8....That was,I think Catani. It was abandoned by the late 50's . I suspect it was only used as a satellite/emergency strip.

It can still be seen on Google earth if you look in the right spot.

With the exception of Berwick. the other strips you mention did not exist in the late 50's. At that time pretty near all the aerodromes in use were either early DCA or wartime aerodromes.

Emeritus

[Brian Abraham]

Posted on behalf of emeritus.

Hobart Chart is dated Sept 1955, Darwin chart Dad souvineered this during the war. He was ground crew in a RAF spitfire sqn and they used to deploy to Truscott and Kalumbaru on a rotating basis as the Japs used to cross the coast SW of DRW to avoid the DRW defences.


http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m56/babraham227/m1.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m56/babraham227/m2.jpg

[sixtiesrelic]

When I get a chance I'll scan a couple of mine.
The one to the west of that Darwin chart above was a different scale .... something like 1: 1,3000,000.
I looked into that discrepency when a couple of us were rehashing the reasons for a Guinea Airways Lockheed14 crash near Pine Creek during the war. The aircraft flew close to the edge of the charts and there could have been a lot of confusion with mapreading in a dark cockpit in the blacked out North... Japs had done some visiting on a number of occasions recently.

It's a great example of blaming the captain... he's dead.

They conveniently swept the investigation under the carpet of wartime secrets which were released about five years ago.

It was a perfect example of chain of events or holes in the cheese, where many living made a silly little mistake and twelve men died.
Basically, the aircraft took off at Archerfield at 0622EST and ploughed in with almost empty tanks in rain and thunderstorms while trying to do a crash landing in the dark at 2128 CST. Yeah! they'd landed three times to refuel on the way. The second pilot had done 135, 127 and 107 hours in the previous months. 'Wartime you see'.

They got a lot of wrong information that had everybody certain they were flying back and forward over Darwin when they were over a hundred miles away.

[Dora-9]

Emeritus,

According to my 1945 RAAF Aerodrome Guide that's Monomeith.

[LeadSled]

Folks,
Not quite maps and charts, but I have a pristine copy of the 1937 Air Navigation Regulations complete, runs to all of about 30 or so pages --- bought at auction, including the receipt and name of the original purchaser, the receipt for the grand sum of two shillings and sixpence.

I showed then to Bruce Byron on one occasion, with the suggestion that the thousands of pages of regulations we now have, have not made any material difference to air safety.

In fact, there is scant evidence that the ballooning of the volume of the regulations has the slightest effect on air safety outcomes, except for stiffing of aviation activity and growth ----- if you ain't flying, you ain't going to have an air accident, are you??

Tootle pip!!

[dhavillandpilot]

Have on my wall at home a map from the 1930's air race England to Australia. Included with it are all the names of the entrants with someone crossing out those who didn't finish. I'll try and post a copy tomorrow.

[major_tom]

According to my 1945 RAAF Aerodrome Guide that's Monomeith.

So i guess at some point monomeith was abandoned, and up came tooradin?

[emeritus]

Sounds like it was called Monomeath. I always referred to it as Catani for some unknown reason. It is slightly closer to Monomeath.

For those interested its co ords are

S38 deg, 12' 48.79"

E 145deg, 34' 00.54"

It is still visible, but only just, on Google Earth.

Emeritus.

[emeritus]

Sixtiesrelic...

Interesting comment on the scale. I checked the chart and it is 1:1,000,000 however I had never noticed that the scale on the LHS is in kilometers !

Why in hell would the mapping people do that?

Great way to set someone up.

Brian Abrahams...

Thanks muchly for posting. Will someday get around to sorting out posting.

Emeritus

[major_tom]

It is still visible, but only just, on Google Earth.

looks like an old 36/18, 27/09

anyone know the coordinates of the old french island ALA?

[sixtiesrelic]

Different scale side by side 1944 maps.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g32/sixtiesrelic/3Diffscalejoiningmapsa.jpg