Fleet Air Arm Association of Australia

Australian Museum of Flight Submission

29 July 2004

The Australian Museum of Flight (through the Australian Naval Aviation Museum Foundation) has made a detailed response to the submission made earlier this year by the FAAAA Executive.

Copies of the AMoF response have been sent to State Division Secretaries, and the FAAAA's National Executive is currently considering its contents.

The Museum Executive has said it will make the response freely available.

Members will be aware that the FAAAA National Executive earlier this year surveyed Divisions and then reported on concerns which had arisen about some of the directions being taken by the AMoF at Nowra.

While initially it had been planned to meet with the AMoF, lack of agreement about how to manage such a meeting resulted in a decision by the Executive that it would put the concerns of FAAAA members in writing.

That process was completed in May and the Executive sent the submission to the AMoF, in the hope that it would receive sympathetic consideration and action. The submission included chapters on:

1. an introduction, which summarises how the museum was established and how its recent emphasis has changed;
2. a background chapter, which draws together the history of Australian naval aviation;
3. a detailed history of the museum, including recent changes;
4. concerns raised by members of the FAAAA.

Central to the concerns expressed in the paper was the move away from the original purpose of the museum to record, preserve and present the history of the Australian Fleet Air Arm. The conclusion of the FAAAA paper was a series of recommendations to the AMoF Board of Directors.

Members of the National Executive believe those conclusions were a reflection of the central concerns of members of the FAAAA.

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