old man emu

I'm setting up a publicity network with newspapers, Australian aviation publications and flying clubs. I've already sent a press release to the paper at Coota. But I need help to get more contact details. I'd love to know what Australian aviation publications you read. What are the contact details of your flying club? If you live along these air routes, what is you local newspaper? To save clogging this site, you can reply to: [email protected]

While the flight to Australia set a record, his motivation wasn't simply the current at the time fad for setting records. He had his eye on a bit of skirt who lived in Tooraweenah. He was in England about to start working for Saunders-Roe when a mate in Australia let him know that a local grazier was spending a bit too much time with the skirt. So he decided that he had better get back to Tooraweenah pretty damned quick and pledge his troth. A ship would have taken at least six weeks, so, telling his story to Comper, who he had met by chance, the deal was struck that Butler would fly the Swift to Australia, and after taking care of affairs of the heart, would do a sales tour of Australia to sell Comper's aircraft and Pobjoy's engines. Unlike a lot of these 'one hit wonders', Butler put his heart and soul into developing air services for inland NSW and Southwest Queensland. Before he had left for England, he had run a section of the Australia to England mail service, carrying mail from Cootamundra to Charelville. He started his airline before WWII, based at Toraweenah, and was allowed to keep operating during the War. After the War, he expanded the airline and built the all weather strip at Tooraweenah. Eventually Butler Air Transport covered most of northwest NSW. Reg Ansett white-anted him in when the Two Airlines policy was introduced, and Butler Air Transport was absorbed into the Ansett conglomeration. That Broke Butler's heart and he walked away from the industry. However, in partnership with Nancy Bird Walton he campaigned for the establishment of the NSW Air Ambulance Service. So, in a nutshell, that's why he warrants a museum. Oh! And he married the skirt a couple of months after the record flight.

Given that this engine is to go into a 1/4 scale static museum piece honouring the record breaking solo flight of Arthur Butler from England to Australia in a Comper Swift, I'm sure that Matt wouldn't refuse a request. Even more so, I would hope that he would come to the anniversary celebrations next November. I'm going to buy the maintenance manual for the R model. A contemporary news item states that the engine was 75HP, and that info would have been supplied by Butler as the item also indicates that the aircraft could be purchased with a lower powered engine for a lower price. Comper loaned the plane to Butler on the proviso that after he got to Australia he took it around the country on a sales tour.

I'd like to announce the formation of an organisation whose aim it is to preserve the history of Arthur Butler and his role in the development of civil aviation west of the Great Divide in New South Wales and Southwest Queensland. The Organisation is the "Arthur Butler Aviation Museum Inc. It's base is at Tooraweenah in New South Wales at the foot of the Warrumbungle Mountains. Apart from its aim of preserving history, it also aims to increase aircraft movements at Tooraweenah on probably the best grass strip in the country (no catheads). It aims to do that by building an amenities block with toilets, showers and washing facilities for anyone who would like to overnight at the airport and camp under the wing. In the future it is hoped that Tooraweenah airport will become an out field for training organisations. It is possible that hangarage might be built. The organisation is fortunate in that the townspeople are a go-ahead mob and would like to develop the town as a tourist centre since it has the natural beauty of the Warrumbungle Mountains and easy access to Siding Springs Observatory. Obviously the museum housing material telling Butler's story will be on the Airport.

I found an old article on how to scratch-build an engine. All I need now are the dimensions for scaling. I have also found a reproduction Operation and Maintenance manual for the engine.

Thanks for the info.

It looks like I would have to fake it if I used one of his kits, but there's an Australian supplier who might have stock.

I'm trying to build a scale model, so what I need is something that replicates the appearance of the engine. You can't 3D print anything that you don't have in a 3D digital file format. Also my 3D printer is in an packed box somewhere amongst the crockery, linen and old vinyl records.

I'm hoping to build a static 1/3 scale Comper Swift for the Artur Butler Museum. I'm hoping to get the plans, and I can make everything except the engine. I was wondering if anyone would like to donate their time to the Museum to make one.

It's for ground marshalling at Tooraweenah when we have a chez nous and lots of our neighbours fly in from all over the place. We'll need one for the 12/13 November 2022 because we are having a celebration of Arthur Butler's arrival in Tooraweenah to seek the hand in marriage of a fair damsel. He had to set an England-Australia solo flight record to do it.

Looks like the -15 has now been replaced by the -16. Thanks for the advice. I'll chase a -16.

I'm looking to buy a hand held transceiver radio for communication between ground and aircraft within about 10 nm of the ground location. The radio only needs to be able to send and receive. It doesn't need all the bells and whistles like GPS and navigation assistance. Obviously it will be used in Australia, so needs to comply with Australian telecommunications rules. Your advice on a suitable, low cost unit would be appreciated.

The lawyers have killed my idea of getting fuel supplies. Basically, if you called ahead to me and asked me to get you some fuel from town and bring it out to you, I could not guarantee the purity of the fuel. If you put it in your aircraft and later crashed as a result of fuel induced engine failure, you or your family would be after someone to blame, and guess who would be in the lawyers' sights?

The ERSA is correct, but trying to arrange anything through Council would be a waste of time. That's why the locals are working to see if they can gain some responsibility for it. That result could be a while coming, or Council could see it as a way to reduce its costs. The provision of food and accommodation are lesser problems than getting mogas. But since the airport is not being run with all eyes on the bottom line, I think that procedures will be developed to ensure that mogas would be on hand when needed.

Runway condition report - Monday 16/5/22 The runway was inspected on Monday and found to be in good operational condition. The runway was constructed to handle regular public transport aircraft. A Dragon Rapide and two de Havilland Heron Mk Is (VH-AHB and VH-ARB) took passengers from, e.g. Coonamble to Tooraweenah, where they transferred to a DC-3 for the rest of the journey to Sydney. It has been constructed so that no water courses flow across or along the surface, and rain falling on the strip itself rapidly drains away.

Tooraweenah will be an unlit airport, so 24/7 doesn't occur. More like sunrise to sunset, or 8:00 to sunset. The idea is to draw aircraft to the town to boost tourism. Since it's a private airport, any landing fee might amount to a simple reliance of pilot's good nature and appreciation for having somewhere to stop on a long trip. As for mogas, I suppose that it could be available with prior notification. If you don't ask you don't get, and a pilot would know pretty accurately how much would be required upon reaching Toora.

How attractive does an airport become if fuel is available 24/7, even if you have to do your own fuelling? The locals at Tooraweenah, NSW are looking to revitalise the privately owned grassed 3,800 foot long strip with a view to incorporating its use into tourism development in the local area, which includes the Warrumbungle Mountains. They figure that a strip without fuel is like a fish without a bicycle. The owner of the strip also wants to develop a museum to tell the story of one of Australia's commercial aviation pioneers - Arthur Butler. The hope is that the museum will be a place for aviation-minded people to visit.

Here's how to make the hub plate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqas0oyUI5U Keep in mind that this bloke is simply making something to hang on his wall as a talking point. However, every step he took would be taken by someone making a prop for an aircraft. Obviously you would trim the width of the boards to suit before gluing them up. The biggest cost would be buying all the clamps needed to ensure good adhesion between boards. I notice that he is using a PVA glue (Titebond), which is OK for his need, but if I was doing it for aircraft use I'd use an aliphatic glue like Sika Techgrip. Here's a good, detailed article on DIY props http://acversailles.free.fr/documentation/08~Documentation_Generale_M_Suire/Helice/Construction/Design_and_build_your_own_propeller.pdf