Murray Wallace learned to fly the military way at Point Cook as a 20-year-old cadet in 1961.
“I’d already learned to fly before I joined, but to the RAAF that was almost a disadvantage.
‘‘They taught you to fly their way. Even then I still managed to fly solo after only three and a half hours, when the average was eight hours,” he says.
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After a career in professional aviation spanning 54 years, flying everything from helicopters to airliners, the septuagenarian still has links to his old training base, regularly flying his CT-4 Airtrainer as a part of the RAAF museum’s interactive flying displays.
He will perform at this weekend’s epic Centenary of Military Aviation Air Show in the CT-4 and his 1958 Cessna 180, an ex-army observation aircraft with which he’s enjoyed a long association.
He first flew the aircraft (military registration A98-340) in 1962 then again in Papua New Guinea in 1965-66. He was able to buy the aircraft five years ago.
Flying A98-340 again has brought back many memories for Wallace, one of which involved a very close call.
“One day I was tasked to do a resupply out of Telefomin in PNG. The strip has an elevation of 5000 feet, and then I had to reach a valley at 9000 feet by flying over a ridge that was 11,000 feet.
“Approaching the ridge I made the mistake of turning the wrong way. I thought I was going to kill myself. My only thought as I saw the trees was to wonder how long it would take the rescue party to walk up that mountain. I’m sure the wheels brushed the top branches.”
POINT COOK AIR SHOW DETAILS
The Centenary of Military Aviation Air Show at Point Cook is on this Saturday and Sunday, March 1 and 2, with flying displays from 10.30am to 3pm.
Entry and parking is by ticket only. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster and include public transport and shuttle buses between Williams Landing and the airfield.
