Our recent bus trip to the Amberley Aviation Heritage Centre was
a great outing followed by a country lunch at the Haigslea Sundowner Saloon.
Many thanks to AHSA member Darryl Purdom for being our tour guide at Amberley.
PK-ADA was one of only four civilian DC-5 airliners operated by KNILM (Royal Netherlands Indies Airways). On February 9, 1942, the plane was damaged during a Japanese air raid at Kemajoran Airfield in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta) and subsequently left behind during the Allied retreat. Japanese forces repaired the aircraft, painted it in military camouflage with Japanese Imperial Army markings, and flew it to Japan. It underwent flight testing and technical evaluation by the Japanese Air Technical Intelligence Group at Tachikawa Air Force Base and the Tachikawa Aeronautical Institute. It was later used locally as a transport and navigational trainer in the Japanese Home Islands before surviving the conflict and ultimately being scrapped post-war.
A.N.A. DC-4 "Tatana" being refueled in Townsville, possibly late 1946.
The trucks are marked Intava (short for International Aviation Associates) operated in Australia by the Vacuum Oil Company.
The Brisbane Aircraft factory established at Milton in 1926, building De Havilland DH-9s.
HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visiting Woomera 22 March 1954
“Zero” Type 32 in Japanese colour scheme at Eagle Farm airfield. The Ford Motor Co. factory can be seen in the background.
Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien "Tony” rebuilt at Hangar 7, Eagle Farm, October 1944.
