4 | FLIGHTPATH
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ISSN 1320 – 5870The Australian National Aviation Museum at
Moorabbin, Vic, undertook a huge effort to
celebrate the 75th birthday of the oldest sur-
viving Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation
(CAC) aircraft, Wirraway A20-10. This is the
eighth Wirraway off the production line in- On the exact day, 6 September 2014, 75
years after A20-10 was rolled out at Fisher-
man’s Bend, the aircraft was again rolled out
to an appreciative crowd after an intense
restoration programme had brought the air-
craft back to its original (pre-war) scheme.
Among other highlights, a number of ex-
CAC employees turned up and the oldest one
- 90 year old Alan Patching – had the honour
of cutting the special Wirraway cake. ‘Happy
Birthday’ was sung by The Pacific Belles,
and in the afternoon, the aircraft was fired
up for the appreciative crowd, only the sec-
ond time it had run after a 27 year hiatus.
This major part of the restoration had been
started only ten weeks previously, though
some metal fabrication work had been under-
taken on an occasional basis prior. The work
was done by an all-volunteer crew, with many
late-night hours, volunteer extra contribu-
tions and travel from around Australia to
help. The estimate was around 2,500 hours of
volunteer time, and included many junior
helpers on this project which gave much en-
couragement for the future. All the proceeds
raised went towards restoring the Museum’s
CAC Boomerang. (see our Wirraway feature
on page 38) James KightlyCAC Wirraway 75
CLOCKWISE: The oldest surviving Common-
wealth Aircraft Corporation aircraft, Wirraway
A20-10. [Rob Fox] The Pacific Belles were on
hand to sing Happy Birthday to the Wirraway.
[J Kightly], The museum commissioned a
special birthday cake for the celebrations.
[Ewan McArthur] The Wirraway was fired up
during the festivities, only the second time it
had run after a 27 year hiatus. [J Kightly]