Where should the Vickers Vimy go?

[Dick Smith]

As everyone knows, it is the 100th anniversary next December of the Vickers Vimy flight from England to Darwin.

I was down in Adelaide over the weekend and had a look at the Vimy. The aircraft is hidden in the side of the overflow car park. It is very difficult to find, and every young Adelaidean I spoke to about the Vimy had no idea even what I was talking about. Here is a link to an article published in the Adelaide Advertiser. (http://rosiereunion.com/file/13.11.18%20Adelaide%20Advertiser%20-%20Dick%20Smith%20furious%20-%20Vickers%20Vimy.pdf)

It appears the airport operator could be interested in relocating the Vimy into their new International Terminal. Also, the South Australian Aviation Museum at Port Adelaide would be interested in having it there.

Another idea would be to set up a Smithsonian type museum in Canberra and have the Southern Cross, the Vimy and our other major aviation icons located there.

What do others think?

[aroa]

The idea of a National Aviation Museum was floated 30 ? years ago. Out of Cantberra, talkfests, promises?? and never any funding or a result either. .Someone else may know more about these past machinations that had no positive outcome.
Now with smaller Museums all over the country..its of benefit to communities there other than the fairyland of Canberra where big bucks can be splashed about...depending on the political idea of the time eg 1/2 billion for War Museum, "Saving" the Barrier Reef etc. Aviation ?? Que ?
The winning flight in the Vimy landed in Oz in Darwin, but their journey terminated in Adelaide.
It used to be readily visible before the Big Dollars from Car parking, and new terminal caused a shift.
Inside the Adelaide Airport terminal, many more people would get to see it, I'd reckon than housed in a CB facility..as yet un-built.
The 'Southern Cross ' at BNE terminal is a bit out of the way..you have to be interested enough to pull off the road and go for a look. Not so many do that.

[Traffic_Is_Er_Was]

you have to be interested enough to pull off the road and go for a look. Not so many do that.
Most visitors were people parked up waiting for a flight to arrive at one of the terminals. Now they wait (and are encouraged to) at the Maccas up the road. The Southern Cross is almost impossible to actually drive to these days, unless you already know where you are going. No signage, and only one, now effectively by-passed, road that has the entrance off it.

[Fris B. Fairing]

Probably the opportunity to create a National Aviation Museum has been lost. Any government money that might be available for such a project would be better spent on the existing aviation museums. The groups that run these museums have achieved remarkable results with minimal resources and they don't waste money on glossy brochures. By fostering the development of existing museums, the aviation history message will reach a greater percentage of the population than will a centralised museum. Unfortunately there isn't much hope for aviation museums when our government is pushing nonsense like this:

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/800x868/sex_abuse_museum_b524ab8895fd3351d1a1768d3e0f8aa0e48abc90.jp g

[Stationair8]

Why not put it at Temora?

Dick, with your media contacts and people you know it would be good to get a documentary made on the 1919 flight to go either on the big screen or TV.

What happened to the Vickers Vimy, that Lang Kirby flew back in the early 1990’s?

[harrryw]

Most visitors were people parked up waiting for a flight to arrive at one of the terminals. Now they wait (and are encouraged to) at the Maccas up the road. The Southern Cross is almost impossible to actually drive to these days, unless you already know where you are going. No signage, and only one, now effectively by-passed, road that has the entrance off it.
It used to be the main road in to the airport which I went along every shift going to the Met Office. It was a beautiful site then and deserves to be better placed. I guess people forget he flew that flight but was not allowed to fly the race as the RAC was sure he would not be able to read the map.

[Beez51]

Lang Kidby flew the last arriving Vimy. Very much an epic flight.

[TBM-Legend]

Dick, the conservation of our great aviation icons, the Southern Cross and the Vimy is nothing more than a national disgrace. I visited the KIngsford Smith memorial the other day and the airconditioning for the aircraft was still not working and no one cares.

These icons need to be housed in a purpose built fully maintained facility for all of the public to see and understand their contribution. A real National Aviation Museum in Canberra is needed now to hold these artifacts. Great to see $550M being spent at the AWM but nothing for aviation. Frankly the RAAF MUseum buildings are a ramshackle collection and other bigger exhibits outside next to Port Phillip Day. Guess what they'll be corroded junk in 10 years and then disposed of..

[Traffic_Is_Er_Was]

Probably the opportunity to create a National Aviation Museum has been lost. Any government money that might be available for such a project would be better spent on the existing aviation museums. The groups that run these museums have achieved remarkable results with minimal resources and they don't waste money on glossy brochures. By fostering the development of existing museums, the aviation history message will reach a greater percentage of the population than will a centralised museum. Unfortunately there isn't much hope for aviation museums when our government is pushing nonsense like this:

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/800x868/sex_abuse_museum_b524ab8895fd3351d1a1768d3e0f8aa0e48abc90.jp g
Off-topic, but what exactly will the exhibits comprise of?

[Centaurus]

The Lockheed Hudson which is situated inside the Canberra Airport Terminal is in the perfect position. It is away from the weather. Use that as an example of where to put the Vimy in the Adelaide terminal?

[gileraguy]

The Adelaide terminal moved, but the Vimy didn't. It's dedicated building was adjacent to the original terminal.

If the millenials had a computer game of the great air race, they might know about it....

Also, there's a Bristol Monoplane M1 Sout (the only survivor in the world) in a little town called Minlaton in country SA that should be moved to a better location too...

[On eyre]

There is no doubt in my mind that the Vimy should remain at Adelaide Airport.
The ideal location, where I believe there is sufficient room and publicly accessible, is on the plaza area on ground level between the terminal and the passenger drop off and pickup area. A glass sided enclosure, similar to the existing building housing the aircraft, would be a fitting home into the future.

[Flyer517]

I like the idea of a National Aviation Museum, but would it be simpler to take an existing institution like HARS (as an example only), beef up its funding, and transfer these aviation icons there as opposed to creating an entirely new place from scratch? I don't think we have the population to sustain many museums for something like aviation so, maybe it is wiser to do one place really well.

[ACMS]

Send it to HARS....

[PinkusDickus]

AAL took over YPAD and YPPF and paid not a lot to the Commonwealth. Since then they've made a fortune from both airports in the form of fees and charges, but significantly from real estate development bringing in IKEA, Bunnings and a host of other retail outlets. I believe they got a valuable land rezoning at Parafield when the road at the S end took some of the land. The windfall rezoning would give them a benefit North of $100M. My point is, AAL could build a decent display to house the Vimy without blinking at the cost. The could then redevelop the old display building and earn some doolars from that.

South Australians built the Southern Cross Replica which languished in the Hartwig hangar at YPPF for years, and after some underhanded deals it was given to HARS along with the insurance payout to repair it. It's now more than 16 years since the accident and some 12 years since HARS were given it, but is it flying again? I'm dead against the Vimy going interstate, and in particular going to HARS.

A message to Dick Smith. Go and play with you peanut butter, vegemite etc, but keep your nose out of South Australia's heritage. It's not wanted.

[mmitch]

The Vimy Lang Kirby used is in in the Brooklands Museum in the UK. It also crossed the Atlantic and flew to South Africa!
.https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/explore/our-collection/aircraft/vickers-vimy
mmitch.

[Fliegenmong]

Yes....I think the Vimy should probably stay in Adelaide, and it is regrettable how remote the Southern Cross is in BNE now....I've visited many times of course...but it gets harder. I was in Tamworth this time last week and my Son and I stopped to look at the East West Avro Anson...again, not terribly easy to access.

Caboolture, Caloundra & the once a month Amberley Museum are all enjoyable, and after driving to Tamworth not too far from here! .... All very enjoyable little museums!...

[601]

A message to Dick Smith. Go and play with you peanut butter, vegemite etc, but keep your nose out of South Australia's heritage. It's not wanted.

At least by Dick Smith raising the question, something positive may come of it.

[CoodaShooda]

Bring it back to Darwin, where the history was really made.

Either a purpose built display module near the original landing site at Parap, or at our Aviation Heritage Centre.

if the yanks and the RAAF trust us to care for a B52, F111 and P3C, I'm sure we can cope with a bomber from an earlier era.

[Art Smass]

A message to Dick Smith. Go and play with you peanut butter, vegemite etc, but keep your nose out of South Australia's heritage. It's not wanted.

I was getting worried there - a thread opened by Dick with no gratuitous "bashing" of the OP for almost 15 responses :ugh:

[Ovation]

I was getting worried there - a thread opened by Dick with no gratuitous "bashing" of the OP for almost 15 responses :ugh:

And the sixteenth response was from self admitted smart-arse without contributing anything towards the subject?

[cattletruck]

I'm guessing it wouldn't need much of an executive salary cut to house the Vickers Vimy at the entrance of Adelaide airport for the general public to question it's significance in aviation history, it really isn't that big - or are the wrong people in the current job.

[aroa]

I'm with Fris. The/ A National Aviation Collection could only built up by robbing out smaller museums all over Oz for the icons.. Shouldnt happen.
All those regional museums benefit the community... and they continue to pop up... eg Nhill
Here in the deep north, just pressed the starter button see... FNQ Aviation Museum ? Preserve | Inspire | Educate | Restore (http://www.fnqam.com.au) Where there a will there's a way.!
And there's some very interestng WW2 wreckology and histories here to be told as well as pioneering aerial agriculture, heli-mustering, McDonald Airways, Bushies/BPA and much else.
Building better regions is the go..Cantberra already has loads of venues.

[cooperplace]

Dick's right to point this out. Almost no-one knows about the Vimy. I live in Adelaide and I'm one of the few who knows about the 15-minute (or similar) free parking spaces -about 3 of them- adjacent to the Vimy. I take visitors to see it and tell them the story, as best I can. I think it should stay here, but with better marketing. Better signage and more free parking spaces nearby would be a good start.

[Pinky the pilot]

I'm guessing it wouldn't need much of an executive salary cut to house the Vickers Vimy at the entrance of Adelaide airport for the general public to question it's significance in aviation history, it really isn't that big - or are the wrong people in the current job.

Second the quote above. With emphasis on the last nine words.

[cooperplace]

Second the quote above. With emphasis on the last sentence.

hard to tell what you mean there, as you're quoting a single sentence.

[Pinky the pilot]

You have a point, cooperplace. Post suitably edited.

[Art Smass]

And the sixteenth response was from self admitted smart-arse without contributing anything towards the subject?

18th actually

AS

[cooperplace]

I'm guessing it wouldn't need much of an executive salary cut to house the Vickers Vimy at the entrance of Adelaide airport for the general public to question it's significance in aviation history, it really isn't that big - or are the wrong people in the current job.

I think I disagree with you, but I'm still unsure of what you're saying. It was the first plane, if I understand correctly, to fly from England to Australia, and that seems to be of great significance to me. If you have a different take on what those 4 guys did in the Vimy, I'd be happy to hear it.

Interestingly in the play "the ship that never was" about the Frederick escape, the ship stolen from Sarah Island, Tasmania, and sailed to Chile in 1834 (think about that), they state that one of the convicts was the grandfather of Wally Shiers who was on the Vimy. Yes I know it's a different spelling.

[cattletruck]

Hi cooperplace, and thanks for the anecdote.

Speaking of Tasmania, I recall once boarding an RPT BAE146 at Hobart via a hangar due to some technical issues, and I distinctly remember a bunch of women going all giggly at the sight of a parked Beechcraft Super King Air and how cute it was that this little aeroplane could actually fly paying passengers.

The Vickers Vimy needs to be out there and in the face of our current flying punters, i.e at the entrance - after all, lets not forget that it was quite a punt to fly it down to terra australis in the first place. If our precious airport executives are only concerned about their bonuses, cars and postcodes then we are really digging at the bottom of the talent pool. Surely they could do better.