The stage is set for The Centenary of Military Aviation in Australia with the hosting of the 2014 Air Show. The Royal Australian Air Force will celebrate this event at RAAF Williams, Point Cook, Victoria over the weekend of 1st and 2nd March 2014.
Point Cook is the birthplace of military aviation in Australia and the oldest continually operating military airfield in the world.
Encompassing a spectacular Air Show with air and ground displays, the Centenary of Military Aviation is a national event celebrating 100 years of military aviation in Australia.
The weekend will host flying displays as well as static displays of RAAF equipment.
The event highlights the significant advances in military aircraft during the past 100 years and celebrates the contribution our RAAF personnel have made. Of special interest to CTA readers will be the "Field Chapel" at the Air Show. The Chapel will have current RAAF Chaplains present to answer questions on their role in the RAAF. A CTA article on Flight Lieutenant Peter Owen, Chaplain at RAAF Williams (Pt Cook and Laverton), will be published soon.
On display for the first time at Centenary of Military Aviation Air Show 2014 will be a newly built replica of a Bristol BoxKite aeroplane. The Bristol BoxKite was the first military aircraft flown in Australia at RAAF Point Cook, on 1 March 1914. No original Bristol BoxKite aircraft survive today. Three reproductions were built for the making of the film 'Those magnificent men in their flying machines'. One is on display at the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, another is on display at the Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire (where it is still flown during flying displays), and the third one is on display at the Museum of Australian Army Flying in Queensland.
I'll be there for Christian Today and sending articles on both the air show and RAAF chaplaincy.
More airshow details at ' target='_blank'>www.airforce.gov.au/Interact/Displays/Air-Shows/
Jeremy Dover is a former sports scientist and pastor
Jeremy Dover's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/jeremy-dover.html