Bellman Hangars

[cogwheel]

A small group of aviation history buffs would like to collect information and pictures relating to the 300 odd Bellman hangars that were built during WWII and moved about since. I recall the ones at Moorabbin were moved, I am told from Tocumwal and there are many others still about and in use.
Any history, locations and pictures appreciated.
Cheers:ok:

[gerry111]

Cogwheel, From more recent GA trips, there's one at YTEM. (It's used as a gliding club hangar.) Also one at YPIR and another at YBKE.

The Bellman hangars used similar technology to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They were built out of many small components like a Meccano Set.

[Awol57]

One out at Cunderdin in WA. Was used by Dunn Aviation a few years back

[DancingDog]

The one at Kingaroy is actively used by the gliding club there.

[djpil]

Just a very quick response, will do better another time. I haunt Moorabbin and will be at Tocumwal next week.

10 or 11 Bellman hangars at Moorabbin - you can see some at Moorabbin | Moorabbin Airport (http://www.moorabbinairport.com.au/)

One at TOCUMWAL AVIATION (http://www.tocaviation.com.au/restoration.html)

Not sure if you can access the following photos from Facebook - try opening in a new tab?

https://www.facebook.com/Ozaeros/photos/a.506855252838896.1073741829.503708303153591/509898085867946/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/Ozaeros/photos/a.504295229761565.1073741828.503708303153591/512126015645153/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/309601965884153/photos/a.309626565881693.1073741828.309601965884153/309626605881689/?type=3&theater

Also 3 of these very big old hangars at Toc:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=967540876701670&set=pb.100003373011639.-2207520000.1477501713.&type=3&theater

Been a while since I was at Ballarat, a few Bellmans there too.

[kaz3g]

Don't forget the Werribee airfield which was part of RAAF Williams at Laverton and the B24 project.

Well worth having a look at this big bird and the other exhibits this small band of volunteers has assembled.

Kaz

[Stanwell]

cogwheel,
While I don't put too much store in what I see on Wiki, there's a surprisingly detailed rundown on Oz Bellmans on there.
Much of what's said there was pretty right the last time I looked, anyway.
Worth a check-out, perhaps?

[CharlieLimaX-Ray]

Bellman hangars at the following locations,
Mildura,
RAAF Point Cook,
Mount Gambier,
Wynyard(relocated from Western Junction after WW2),
Devonport(relocated from Western Junction after WW2),
Launceston(RAAF EFTS base WW2, then post WW2 hangar taken over by Tasmanian Aero Club and later used by Airlines of Tasmania),
TAA air freight hangar at Launceston,
Essendon(near the old Vic Air Ambulance base),
Narromine,
I have seen one or two used in industrial areas as well.

[Bad medicine]

There's definitely one at Toowoomba

[tail wheel]

There was a Bellman Hangar at Goroka in PNG but recently demolished for Terminal extensions.

There was a Bellman Hangar in Madang in PNG, guess it is still there?


djpil

You can't link Face Book images to PPRuNe (or any other web site I suspect?) as they are not in a photo file format.

[Seagull V]

Good subject for a history study Cogwheel.
Australian aviation, military, airlines, GA and Sport and Rec owe a lot to the legacy of the Bellman hangar.
There is a good deal of stuff in Vol 1 of a book about ComEng by John Dunn ISBN 1877058424. Can be viewed on line at the following link. Look at pages 67 to about 70.
Comeng: A history of Commonwealth Engineering: Volume 1: 1921-1955 (https://books.google.com/books?id=yJXEiRvswoIC&printsec=frontcover)


There is also some info at http://www.asha.org.au/pdf/newsletters/ASHANewsletter37-2_2007.pdf

Several of the Bellman Hangars at East Sale appear to have been joined end to end in pairs to make longer hangars.
There is a Bellman at Waikerie, which DCA "gifted" to the gliding fraternity to facilitate the holding of the World Gliding Championships there in the 1970s. Seems Sir Donald Anderson, then director General of DCA was an old Waikerie lad. I understand that it was brought from Mount Gambier.

[Hasherucf]

Charter company in Kalgoorlie has a Bellman Hangar. Seen a photo of a Boomerang flying through it.

[Beef Noodle]

Yep, we've got one here in Toowoomba. Darling Downs Aeroclub owns it. Not sure how up to date this is but:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellman_hangar#Bellman_hangars_in_Australia

[Styx75]

Does anyone know of the older hangers at Camden are Bellmans? Often wondered but had no one to ask :-}

[catseye]

Styx,
the green hangar at the end of the driveway predates ww2 i believe. The next 5 leading upto Curtis Aviation and Gostner's are bellmans. the rest are new build.

[gerry111]

There's still Bellman hangars at RAAF Richmond and the former RAAF Laverton. As kaz3g correctly identifies, the latter is now part of RAAF Williams.

[Clinton McKenzie]

I'm pretty confident that Southwest Aviation's hangar at Cootamundra is a Bellman. You've seen it first hand a few times, GIII. Thoughts?

I'm less confident on this one, but my recollection is that one of the hangars at Cobar is a Bellman.

I was depressed to see the condition of the strip of Bellmans on the southern side of Point Cook a while ago. Absent preservation action in the interim, I reckon the salt air would have just about eaten them by about now.

[gerry111]

I agree with you Clinton. That certainly is a Bellman at YCTM.

From Wiki:

"Four imported UK manufactured examples on the Southern Tarmac at Point Cook (RAAF Williams) These are believed to be the only examples supplied from the UK surviving in Australia."

[roundsounds]

Styx,
the green hangar at the end of the driveway predates ww2 i believe. The next 5 leading upto Curtis Aviation and Gostner's are bellmans. the rest are new build.
There are actually 6 Bellaman hangars at Camden, there were 7 but one was removed 1950's from where the BP bowser is located. The Hangar backing onto the two original prewar hangars is a bellman too.
1. Airborne op's hangar
2. Airborne aircraft storage hangar
3. Camden Aviation
4. Air League / Ray + Jay Ekinci
5. Delta AV/Curtis Op's
6 Curtis aircraft storage hangar

[601]

Yep, we've got one here in Toowoomba. Darling Downs Aeroclub owns it

It was moved from Okay to Toowoomba when the DDAC moved from the Bridge St side of the aerodrome.

Sir Donald Anderson ran the Department, and on a visit to Toowoomba, the then President Jack Kelly pointed out to Sir Donald that the Aero Club needed a hangar on the southern side of the newly constructed runway; and it so happened there were plenty of hangars at Oakey. The Department owned the Oakey Airport which had been a major RAAF Base during the War.

In the mid sixties, Sir Donald arranged for the sale to the Aero Club, for the price of 1 pound; one of the Bellman hangars at Oakey, on condition that the Aero Club pay for the removal and reconstruction. Jack Kelly was a builder and arranged just that. The Aero Club constructed the Bellman hangar on the southern side of the Airport in the new Mutze Street, off Greenwattle Street. Not long after the money was found to build a small brick building for its Club rooms on the eastern side of the hangar, having already constructed a lean-to on the western side which contained office space and instructors' rooms.

[Centaurus]

re Camden hangars. I worked there in 1948 as a 16 year old helping to load newspapers and lay out kerosene flares for the early morning departures of the Sydney Morning Herald Flying Services Lockheed Hudson and DC3 freighters. I recall one of those hangars had a Vultee Vengeance and I think an ME 109 (Luftwaffe fighter) in storage in that hangar.

Haven't a clue what type of hangars were there. In the main Herald Flying Services hangar which had a smaller hangar built on to it, there was a dreadful accident (1950?) when the pilot of the DC3 taxied slowly into the main hangar then swung around on one wheel 180 degrees to park facing outwards towards the tarmac.

He stopped the DC3 and cut the engines. An elderly cleaner called Tony (Pinner or Pinter?) who was always rushing everywhere ran under the wing of the DC3 to place chocks under the main wheels. He must have misjudged his position and either stumbled or ran into the arc of a slowing down propeller. That was the ever so sad end of poor old Tony, a lovely old bloke so keen and enthusiastic for his age. He should have waited for the propellers of the DC3 to stop before inserting the big chocks.

But as I said he was always rushing around doing his various chores in the hangar.

[jamsquat]

Several Bellman hangars at Moorabbin have recently been condemned due to structural issues with the door frames. Seems the south facing openings have rusted to the point that it's too dangerous to open them. MAC have stated that they won't be repaired due cost. In fact the latest airport master plan released last month talks of "consolidation" of hangars to open up new parking areas due to the "shrinking" of the airside component of the airport.

[onetrack]

We even had one in Vung Tau - a used, surplus WW2 one from Parkes was dismantled and shipped to SVN in 1966, and put together by 5ACS.
I wonder if it's still there? I have no intention of ever returning, to find out.

Bellman Hangar - Vung Tau - 1966 (https://www.awm.gov.au/search/all/?query=bellman+hangar&op=Search&format=list&rows=20&section%5B%5D=collections)

[LeadSled]

Folks,
Re. the demolished hangar at Camden, that was in the 1970s, in the '60s, that is where I rented space from DCA.
The aircraft collection was the Harold Thomas collection, he was tossed off the aerodrome because the bureaucrats of day did not think an aviation museum was a suitable use for a hangar on an airfield. This wonderful collection is still around, but not open to the
The Australian Aviation Museum Bellman at YSBK will soon be for sale, as the museum moves to Camden, this Bellman is in excellent zero rust condition.
Tootle pip!!

[DeRated]

Bellman at Nhill, still in use.

[Jetjr]

Definitely one in Narromine, wright flyer lived in it until recently, council rent it out
There was a second donated to council in parts, sat in grass for years, rumour says it was sold for scrap, Quite possibly untrue but it has gone

[Stationair8]

LeadSled, what happened to the Mustang( re-engined with a Rolls Royce Dart) VH-UFO that was being restored at Camden?

Is GAM's hangar at Essendon a Bellman hangar?

[Duck Pilot]

The Bellman hangar at Madang in PNG was destroyed by fire in 2011 or 2012 with a few Bandits in it. I think the Government Flying Unit's hangar in POM may also be a Bellman.

Pretty sure GAM's hangar 1 at Essendon is a Bellman.

[Stanwell]

Stationair,
Your question 1: .. Restored and actively flying in the US, making the 'proper' noise, I heard.
LeadSled will, no doubt, be able to add more.

[R755]

Laurie Crowley and his sons erected a Bellman on their property, Victoria Park, which is South of Temora. They stretched it out to 270 feet in length. It was one of the, at least 13 Bellmans, that had previously stood on RAAF Uranquinty. These were auctioned off late in 1963 or early '64.
Although the Crowley family have now sold the property, it can be seen on Google Earth. Using the measuring tool, it is 16.07NM 183.6 degrees from the Temora Aero Club! A few years back, a tornado tore a large chunk out of the roof at the Northern end and twisted the heavy Bellman trusses. Light aircraft parked inside the Southern end were not disturbed!

[Paul O'Rourke]

Broken Hill?

[Fris B. Fairing]

Stationair8

History of Dart Mustang VH-UFO (http://www.adastron.com/adastra/aircraft/mustang/a68-187.htm)

[gerry111]

Air Base Butterworth had a few Bellman hangars. Both 3 Sqn hangars and at least 1 75 Sqn hangar when I was there in the early eighties.

[Clinton McKenzie]

At a classified location in SEA...

A fine Bellman and a fine Squadron.

http://i63.tinypic.com/iw3bib.png

[Ozgrade3]

Ballarat x 4 or 5
Deniliquin at least 2
Bankstown - sure the old Navair Hangar is a Bellman.

[Shaggy Dog]

There is two in Kalgoorlie.
Two in Alice Springs as I recall. One came from Townsite when the Connairways operation was on the North side of the range on the edge of town.. I understand this one came from Darwin prior to Townsite. I was told some of the holes in it were compliments of the Japanese. Then again I was but a callow youth at the time and believed much of what I was told.:)
SD

[RobShan]

At a classified location in SEA...

A fine Bellman and a fine Squadron.


Classified Location? It might have been given away on the Government RAAF Museum website. RAAF Museum: Royal Australian Air Force: No 75 Squadron (http://www.airforce.gov.au/raafmuseum/research/units/75sqn.htm)

[gerry111]

Bugga, RobShan! The secret's out now..

Perhaps someone (from that era) may relate the story about the time 75 Sqn flew 75 Mirage sorties in one day? The much smarter guys, next door at 3 Sqn flew 3 sorties then fired up the bbq..