NHILL Aviation Heritage Centre is closing in on its plans to buy one of the rarest planes in the world.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The centre has been raising money to buy a Wirraway 722 plane for its collection.
The plane was used in the Second World War and is one of only four flaying Wirraway aircrafts in the world.
The centre launched its fundraising appeal in May, 2016, in the hopes of raising $300,000 for the plane.
Centre community liaison John Deckert said they were now just $50,000 short of their target.
He said said the centre planned to have majority of the money by April 28 and have the aircraft flown to Nhill.
He said people were more willing to donate once they saw the physical object.
“We have a number of people coming to us saying they don’t like giving us any money until they have seen the aircraft,” he said.
“We have contingency plans to raise loan funds to make sure people get paid for the aircraft and we will carry on raising funds after that.”
Ten Wirraway aircrafts were stationed at the Nhill RAAF base and air school during the Second World War.
The committee is depending on the Nhill community for assistance as they have been unsuccessful in getting grant money from the government.
The centre’s Wheels for Wirraway event on March 10 will raise money to buy the plane.
“That will be our last big event to raise money, so other than that we will be following up leads and talking to people,” Mr Deckert said.
The new addition to the centre’s collection plans to show people what a training base was like during the war.
“We will have the three airplanes used in training – the Tiger Moth, Avro Anson and soon the Wirraway,” Mr Deckert said.
“They also spent at least 30 hours in a flight simulator and we have a couple here.”
Mr Deckert said the plane was currently in Tyabb and would be flown to Nhill.
He said the centre was buying one of the five operating Wirraway aircraft in the world.