Warbird Information Exchange

PUBLIC aviation museums have been virtually banned from acquiring any of the RAAF's retired F-111 strike jets.

The iconic planes, that never fired a shot in anger but spent years entertaining crowds with their spectacular dump-and-burn routines, will only be displayed at secure RAAF bases and inside RAAF museums due to cost, red tape and asbestos concerns.Five of the 34 jets will be preserved as museum pieces at bases at Amberley, west of Brisbane, Point Cook in Victoria and at Edinburgh, South Australia.

Three more could be preserved for ``defence heritage'' and two may be given to a US Air Force museum.
The remaining planes will be scrapped and sold as lumps of metal.It is understood one was offered to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra but it declined due to the $1 million or more cost to ``demilitarise'' the aircraft.

The Defence Department said providing aircraft to public or private museums would require US Government approval and the removal of all asbestos.The recipient would have to pay remediation, demilitarisation and placement costs, which could amount to several million dollars, putting them out of the reach of museums such as the Sunshine Coast's Queensland Air Museum at Caloundra airport.

Museum vice-president Ron Cuskelly said the Defence Department had created a ``smoke screen'' to prevent the aircraft from being displayed at non-military museums.Queensland Air Museum already has a Canberra bomber, two Meteor bombers, a Vampire, a Sabre and a Sea Venom, two Hunters and one Sea Vixen in its military collection.``We have never been given anything by the military or the government who would rather see them scrapped than displayed for the public to see and touch,'' Mr Cuskelly said.``It would be a disgrace if these wonderful aircraft were simply destroyed.

`An F-111 is something people would pay to see and we need all the help we can get up here since the floods and cyclone.''The museum has written to Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Premier Anna Bligh to plead its case before the F-111s are destroyed by scrap merchants.Australia has 42 aviation museums located across all states and territories.

The rationalle behind the AWM not getting one isn't as simple as stated here..

...how can they not "afford" to preserve one ?...

Maybe because it's not about money?

I don't normally do 'secret squirrel' stuff, but I can't elaborate, as it was a confidential aside in conversation. The reasoning isn't secret, I just wish to retain trust.

In general, I can say that any acquisition for such a collection has to go through a number of hoops, one or some of which (not necessarily costs) things sometimes doesn't fit through. Regards,

If it wasn't about money then the AWM would glad buy the Victoria Cross medals themselves that are offerred for sale , and not let Kerry Stokes buy them ?

Clearly

You'll note I wasn't talking about medals.

Care to elaborate ?.

$38 Million AUD annual budget, another $8Million AUD allocated recently by the Labor Govt for the 2015 ANZAC comemorations, plus $2Million AUD for upgrading the WW1 Gallery, how can they not "afford" to preserve one ?

Phil

The AWM is a War Memorial, not a Military aircraft museum, other than photographing East Timor, or a political spy mission over the Franklin Dam project in Tassie, the RAAF F-111's have not been used in a war, to result in being displayed in the peak war memorial in Australia, they can perhaps afford one, but its irrelevent to their collection policy or purpose, I would not support them getting one, if they have money for acquisitions there are plenty of other more relevent objects.

Regards

Mark Pilkington

However it mustn't be overlooked that an F-111G, "the Boneyard Wrangler" is now in show to the general public for free at the RAAF Museum, and an F-111C - the Aussie-only model, on promise for the same museum. That's the core and important point in preservation terms.

Thanks....but my names not Phil

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL ACT 1980 - SECT 5 Functions of Memorial

(1) The functions of the Memorial are:

(a) to maintain and develop the national memorial referred to in subsection 6(1) of the Australian War Memorial Act 1962 as a national memorial of Australians who have died:

(i) on or as a result of active service; or

(ii) as a result of any war or warlike operations in which Australians have been on active service;

(b) to develop and maintain, as an integral part of the national memorial referred to in paragraph (a), a national collection of historical material;

(c) to exhibit, or to make available for exhibition by others, historical material from the memorial collection or historical material that is otherwise in the possession of the Memorial;

(d) to conduct, arrange for and assist in research into matters pertaining to Australian military history; and

(e) to disseminate information relating to:

(i) Australian military history;

(ii) the national memorial referred to in paragraph (a);

(iii) the memorial collection; and

(iv) the Memorial and its functions.

(2) The Memorial shall use every endeavour to make the most advantageous use of the memorial collection in the national interest.