Chosen by Australia and manufactured by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation, it was an adaptation of the North American NA-33. It first flew in March 1939 and featured twin synchronised machine guns, camera, radio and redesigned wing and tail. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 600 hp radial engine, the Wirraway was outclassed by the Japanese front line fighters, but it served on our front line until the arrival of more capable aircraft types. Later, it was used as a trainer and communications aircraft. A total of 755 were produced. It could climb at 1,920 fpm and had a top speed of 220 mph.

The years after WW2 witnessed the use of aircraft for crop spraying and fertilising. Following the successful use of two surplus Wirraways for the purpose, the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation set about designing a crop duster from the many surplus Wirraway components. The Wirraway fuselage was redesigned with the centre section incorporating the hopper, fixed undercarriage and leading edge slats. Twenty-one Ceres were built, with six going to New Zealand. They served until the arrival of the Piper Pawnee in 1963 which demonstrated lower operating costs.

Originally designed in New Zealand by Italian Luigi Pellarini, it utilised a number of components from government surplus Harvards, including its radial engine. After Pellarini migrated to Australia, his design was further developed by the Transavia Corporation, emerging as the PL-12 Airtruck. It could lift a ton of fertilizer or serve in a passenger carrying role with five passengers. The Airtruck is well regarded by ag pilots for its ease of flying, low speed stability and practicality. Ugly though it may be, it is a purpose built aeroplane that performs admirably. The Airtruck won fame when it appeared in the motion picture ‘Mad Max beyond Thunderdome’.

This is a two seat trainer variant of this iconic aircraft. The engine was a refinement of Whittle’s first jet engine. It was developed by the British Engineering Consultant Frank Halford. The Goblin 35 engine which powered the T11 could produce 3,500lbs of thrust. A total of 731 DH115s were built. As one of the first operational jet fighter aircraft, the Vampire set many records in the years immediately after the War. It established a height climb record of 59,000 feet and a speed record of more than 500mph in level flight, but within a few years, it was outclassed by more able fighters equipped with the slimmer and more powerful axial flow turbojets.

This is a superb example of one of the War’s outstanding fighters. The Old Aeroplane Company’s Mustang is one of 200 produced at Fisherman’s Bend, Melbourne in the late 1940s. This one is powered by an American Packard Merlin V-1650-7 inline 12 cylinder supercharged engine producing 1,490 hp and is almost identical to the famous P-51D. Operationally, it was armed with six 0.5in calibre machine guns and two 1,000lb bombs or up to 10 rockets. Rolling off the production line in 1945/46, they arrived after hostilities, but a number of Australia’s Mustangs saw service in Korea in 1950/1. However, in those few short years the momentum had swung in favour of jet fighters.

The Old Aeroplane Company’s magnificent P-40F is currently the world’s only flying example. Recovered from the jungles of Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides) in 1989, it has been subject to a 20 year intense restoration to bring it back to its current condition. Developed from the ‘shark’s mouth’ Kittyhawk, the Warhawk is powered by the Packard Merlin V-1650-1 12 cylinder engine, rated at 1,300hp. This power unit overcame limitations experienced with the Allison engine that powered the Kittyhawk.

Made from oak and poplar and covered in fabric, this is a replica of the famous Bleriot Mk Xl in which Loius Bleriot crossed the English Channel in 1909. Flying at 250 feet at a speed of 40 mph, it took 37 minutes to reach Dover. His little aircraft was powered by a 3 cylinder 25 hp Anzani motor which threatened to overheat, but rain encountered on the crossing seemed to alleviate this problem. This replica also features the Anzani engine (a more powerful version) and closely mimics the construction of the original. Banking the aircraft was achieved by wing warping. It had a rudder but no vertical stabilizer. He relied on the drag from the uncovered section of the fuselage to give the plane directional stability.