[Nov 9, 2014] Open Cockpit Day SA Museum (Port Adelaide, SA)

[FlyingVizsla]

South Australian Aviation Museum - www.saam.org.au

 

Open Cockpit Days are usually held at least once a year. They are a great chance to get up close and personal with your favourite aircraft.

 

 

 

 

Spitfire Open Cockpit Days

 

 

 

Three times a year the RAAF 79 Squadron Spitfire MK Vc UP-O is open for your inspection. Langdon Badger will show specific items, such as:

 

 

 

 

 

 

• the early Royal Flying Doctor display
   
   
  
• an early QANTAS display
   
   
  
• a Wright brothers postcard commemorating the World’s first controlled flight in 1903
   
   
  
• Admiral Yamamoto’s propeller
   
   
  
• a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine
   
   
  
• a photo of 79 Squadron’s Alec Chomley bailing out at sea
   
   
  
• Japanese invasion money
   
   
  
• a secret invasion plan
   
   
  
• WWI engines and propellers
   
   
  
• a stealth bomber watch
   
   
  
• Coastwatchers’ chairs
   
   
  
• Spitfire items including a real Supermarine ashtray and story
   
   
  
• photographs of 79 Squadron Spitfires in action during WWII
   
   
  
• camp life in the Pacific.
   
   
  

 

 

A pilot will then show you the cockpit, explaining how the gun sight and the IFF radio work, and how you blow the IFF radio up if caught behind enemy lines. Another volunteer will explain the airframe itself and how it was made 70 years ago.

 

 

 

This takes one-and-a-half hours, starting at 10 am. Langdon then takes questions, and having flown both a Spitfire and Mustang can tell you the difference between them.