Laverton Fights For National Air & Space Museum

For all of this the nation, as a whole, has very little to show of its past aviation history and achievements. Certainly there are a good number of small museums with aircraft on display but in the main these museums generally suffer from the specialisation of only showing civil or military machines or else suffer from the problem of distance: too far away to appeal to or cater for large numbers of people expecting a world class facility.

Compared with other countries Australia has slipped behind in the development of a National Air Museum. In Europe and particularly North America exist National Aviation Museums that record the history and development of those country’s aviation heritage. Not so in Australia.

Several proposals for a National Aviation Museum have been put to Government before but the stumbling block had always been the huge amount of capital needed to both get the project up and running and then followed by the costs of maintenance and upkeep. Nevertheless a decision in principal was made, more than a decade ago, that a National Aviation Museum was considered highly desirable.

In 1986 the Premier of Victoria recommended to the Federal Government the establishment of a National Air and Space Museum in Victoria. A decision on this proposal was deferred until 1988 at which stage the reply indicated that due to budgetary considerations, it was against Federal Government policy for it to initiate a new museum. As a result of this a small working party of both Victorian State and Commonwealth personnel came together and commenced work to restructure the Stage 1 report to meet the restrictive Commonwealth policy requirements.

A decision by the RAAF to agree to the integration of the RAAF Museum with the NASMA resulted in the formation of a joint RAAF/Museum of Victoria working party to develop the Stage 2 proposals. This working party included Wing Commander Peter Allen, Headquarters RAAF Williams, Mr Robert Edwards, Director, Museum of Victoria, Mr Graham Swartz, Executive Consultant, Public Service Board, Victoria with Chairman Air Vice Marshal Alan Reid, Air Officer Commanding Support Command.

In simplified form the RAAF could see benefits in being part of the NASMA both from the integration of its own Museum and secondly the ongoing initial education and training resources for its officers and airmen. The State of Victoria had long wanted a National Aviation Museum to be in Victoria. These two came together with Laverton as the most appropriate site and at the same time have come up with a proposal for a NASMA that will not actually require Commonwealth funds to initiate the project.

The proposal for the Capital funding of the NASMA is made up into three parts:

• Project Initiation Grant of some $1Sm to come from the State. This includes design work but not construction;

• NASMA Capital Fund of $1Om would cover the basic cost of construction with interest to be paid back to the State; and • Capital Sponsorship Fund of $1Sm to come from private enterprise that would benefit from ongoing involvement with the Museum.

Part of what may seem a low cost Museum is to lease and not buy outright a number of exhibits and secondly, to use the Strarch method of construction in the design and construction of the complex. As mentioned earlier, one of the features of the obtaining of the aircraft exhibits for NASMA would be to lease the machines from the owner rather than try to buy what, in some cases, may not realistically be for sale.

It is also proposed that, unlike a lot of museums that exhibit an aircraft just by itself, the NASMA plan is to exhibit the aircraft as part of a set piece to give real life and a theme to the gallery. The aircraft in effect becomes part of a gallery rather than a stand alone display. Another important feature of NASMA is that it will charge an entry fee to assist in the running costs of the complex. Initial projections see some 650,000 visitors per year. Regular flying days and scheduled airshows would also be a feature of the NASMA along with involvement with outside aviation enthusiast and flying groups.

In setting up a business the single most important word is location. In setting up an aviation museum, almost any museum, the word location equally applies and so it is in this study that the site chosen above all others was obviously Laverton, Victoria.

Some would argue that other sites might be more suitable but the last 1 0 years or so has seen the failure or demise of several aircraft museums in Australia due to the fact that they were off the normal visitors path or were geographically removed from a population centre. In short they were wrongly sited. If you take out the parochial and vested interest aspects, the choice of Laverton as a site makes a lot of sense.

To name but a few reasons, Laverton is close to a large population and accommodation centre (Melbourne), it has good access by road and public transport. The land is available and situated at an established aerodrome capable of accepting most types of aircraft be they for Museum display or for scheduled public airshows. Laverton is also far enough inland not to have a sea air corrosion problem as the prevailing winds are blowing away from the airfield. The current land use around Laverton Air Base is already approved as being compatible with the proposed Museum and a NASMA at Laverton would be close to much needed restoration facilities and expertise.

The 1989 report and proposal for a National Air and Space Museum at Laverton is not just exciting reading but a flight plan to the future that if implemented will bring together and preserve Australia’s extensive but basically neglected wealth of aviation history. The Museum would be a focal point for all Australians to appreciate their nation’s involvement and contribution to international aviation and space development Built to a world class standard, the NASMA would soon be a major centre of attraction that visitors from overseas would plan to see and bring with them much appreciated foreign exchange. All of this can be had for so little relative outlay for such a potentially great return, that it just requires the key decision makers to say ‘Yes’. If commenced now, the project could have the doors open in time for the Melbourne Olympic Games and consequently be an added visitor attraction.

Over the years Australia has been a major contributor to the development of aviation and flight but as each year goes by and each time someone says ‘not yet’ part of that history is lost, forever. To say no once again could be the kiss of death for all time for an Australian National Air and Space Museum.