Temora Aviation Museum, Aviation museum in Temora, Australia
Temora Aviation Museum is an aviation museum in Temora, New South Wales, based on David Lowy's warbird collection. Its main display hangar, completed in November 2002, covers 1,980 square metres and houses aircraft ranging from before World War II to the Vietnam War era, including two Supermarine Spitfires.
The Royal Australian Air Force opened No. 10 Elementary Flying Training School at Temora in May 1941, the largest and longest-lived school of the Empire Air Training Scheme; more than 10,000 personnel ran it, over 2,400 pilots trained there, and at its peak it had 97 de Havilland Tiger Moths. It closed on 12 March 1946. Sydney businessman David Lowy founded the museum here in late 1999, drawn by the town's aviation past, flat terrain and open airspace; the first hangar opened in February 2000 and the museum welcomed the public in June 2000.
The museum sits on the ground of a former RAAF training airfield, and that past is still felt when walking across the open tarmac. The aircraft are kept in flying condition and treated as working machines rather than static objects, which gives the place a different feel from most museums.
The museum is open daily from 9:00 to 16:00. Aircraft Showcase flying displays take place on the first and third Saturdays of most months, when some of the collection is flown. The site is flat and navigable on foot, with the main display hangar, theatrette, gift shop and picnic area close together.
The museum is home to the only flying Lockheed Hudson bomber in the world, a type of aircraft that cannot be seen in the air anywhere else. Visitors can also try one of three flight simulators that replicate the cockpit experience of a Spitfire, a P-51 Mustang, or a P-40 Kittyhawk.
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