TBT: Looking back on NSW Air Ambulance’s half a century of caring

Hanging from the roof of Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum is an array of aircraft that are significant to Australia’s aviation heritage. The Bleriot monoplane that conducted the country’s very first airmail flight and P G Taylor’s Catalina Frigate Bird II that conquered the South Pacific between Australia and South America.

Lesser known and lacking the same dramatic lines is a Beechcraft B80 Queen Air, registration VH-AMB. Its markings of red and white leave little doubt of its heritage as an aerial ambulance, although the fact that it flew 24,500 hours over a distance of close to 3,855,000 nautical miles is far less obvious. This discreetly positioned Queen Air was a pioneer of the NSW Air Ambulance, a service that now marks its 50th year.

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