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Thanks
once again to the expertise of Brambles, our aircraft were
successfully shifted from Brisbane Airport to Caloundra
in the early hours of Friday 13th June. Loading commenced
at 1.00p.m. on Wednesday 11th June and was completed by
4.00p.m. The loaded trailers remained on site until the
afternoon of Thursday 12th by which time DoA groundsmen
had dismantled some gates and fencing to facilitate removal
from the airport. Once again we record our appreciation
of the efforts of the Department of Aviation staff at Brisbane
Airport. Not only did they have to dismantle gates and fences
but they also had to build a new road so that the trucks
could gain access to public roads. For this our last move,
we were fortunate that the roads to Caloundra permitted
shifting the Canberra in the manner with which we are so
familiar! The nose and rear fuselage were both loaded on
a conventional semi-trailer while the enormous centre section
with the complete wingspan was loaded lengthwise on an extendible
trailer. The centre section is very tricky to load and on
this our fourth attempt we finally got it perfected! With
this load it is important that the fuselage be level to
minimize overall height, and indeed on this occasion it
proved to be perfectly level. In order to reduce the cost
of the police escort, Brambles decided to load the Meteor
and the Sea Venom together on the one trailer. As you might
guess, this was not your everyday trailer! With ten steerable
axles and eighty wheels this hydraulic leviathan requires
a police escort even when empty.
Shortly
after midnight on Friday 13th the convoy departed Brisbane
Airport under the escort of four police motorcycles and
two police cars. The procession consisted of Meteor + Sea
Venom, Canberra centre section, Austral Mining Dodge under
the command of Dick Hitchins, and HQ Holden with Ron and
Maureen Cuskelly. In addition Brambles supplied several
escort vehicles. On descent into Caloundra the parade was
joined by the Brambles crane. The convoy arrived at the
hangar at 4.00a.m. and unloading commenced immediately with
the only light being provided by vehicle headlights. The
Canberra nose and tail, which did not require an escort,
arrived shortly after to be unloaded just as the sun was
coming up.
During
the unloading, Ken and Mike arrived in the Land Rover. By
this time the local radio station had broadcast the arrival
of the aircraft and we were soon joined by several local
members and many curious onlookers. As the ground surrounding
the hangar was still very soft, it was necessary for Brambles
to unload the aircraft at the front of the building. Consequently
it was first priority to tow the aircraft around to the
back of the hangar. Because of the softness of the ground
we didn't really expect that we would be able to tow the
aircraft inside the hangar. Nevertheless, the Sea Venom
was quickly towed inside despite a minor fright when the
chain securing our makeshift towbar parted. As you might
expect, this event received much media attention! With the
Sea Venom safely positioned in the back of the hangar, attention
turned to the much heavier Meteor. With the realization
that once bogged, the Meteor was likely to stay bogged,
progress was slow but sure thanks to the ever present Marsden
matting. In due course, the Meteor was also safe in its
new home. Once inside the hangar it was possible for several
people to push the Meteor! This is entirely due to a new
invention called "concrete". Say after me - C 0 N
C R E T E. One member was so impressed with the concrete
that he launched into a Pope impersonation!
All
of this momentum continued into the following Saturday when
the Canberra was successfully reassembled thanks to the
crane loaned by Mr. Podevin. On the weekend 21/22 June,
the Canberra tailplane was collected from Brisbane Airport
with the Brisbane Bottle Exchange truck. On the Sunday,
the tailplane was fitted to the aeroplane. With the removal
of the tailplane from Brisbane Airport, the only items remaining
were a few fence posts, tyres and a coil of wire. This is
significant, as when we first came into dispute with that
man in Canberra, we indicated that we would need six months
to vacate the airport. Although this was disputed at first
it was agreed that we submit a proposed schedule for our
"earliest possible total vacation". This schedule which
was prepared in January 1986, planned for the removal of
the last significant load on 22nd June! Thus our largest
undertaking to date was accomplished bang on schedule. Heartfelt
thanks go to all members who were involved in the planning
and execution of this operation. Similarly we extend our
sincere thanks to everyone at Brambles, who despite some
alarming cost increases, have just presented us with an
account for $5,000.00 as originally agreed. Bearing in mind
that it cost us nearly $2,000.00 to move our collection
from Nudgee to Brisbane Airport six years ago, this represents
excellent value for money. We thank Bob Parker and Case
Schulties and especially Eric Collier and his team for their
expertise. We have recently rewarded these gentlemen with
several cartons of beer. Thank you to everyone who participated
in the Big Move! (Don't forget - Dick Hitchins' slides will
be screened at the July social meeting on the 15th).
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