Australian National Aviation Museum, Aviation museum at Moorabbin Airport in Victoria, Australia
The Australian National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin Airport houses a collection of aircraft and engines spanning different eras of aviation. The exhibits feature both military and civilian planes that represent the development of air travel in Australia.
The Australian Aircraft Restoration Group formed in 1962 to save Bristol Beaufighter A8-328, a former RAAF aircraft then used as playground equipment at Portsea. The collection moved from a Wandin North farm and a Lilydale service station to Moorabbin Airport, where land was allocated in 1965. An 8,000-square-foot hangar, completed in April 1989 and extended to 12,000 square feet three years later, replaced open-air storage. The museum was renamed Moorabbin Air Museum in October 2021.
The museum began with a Bristol Beaufighter A8-328 that had served as playground equipment at the Lord Mayor's Children's Camp at Portsea and was at risk of being scrapped; it was donated in April 1962. A CAC Wackett followed, given by the Lucas family, then a De Havilland DH.60G Gypsy Moth, the oldest complete aircraft in the collection. Volunteers, including members of the Aviation Historical Society of Australia, built the collection.
The museum sits on the south side of Moorabbin Airport, with the hangar, entry building, shop, library and workshop on site; the 1989 hangar was extended to 12,000 square feet in 1992. Only about a third of the collection is under cover, so much of it stands outdoors and is best seen in dry weather. The September 2021 lease on land opposite the site will add around 4,000 square metres for a new facility.
Only about a third of the collection is displayed under cover; the rest is stored, on loan, under restoration or shown outdoors. In September 2021 the museum gained a lease on land opposite the site, around 4,000 sq m, for a new building intended to put every aircraft undercover for the first time.
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