Eighty Tiger Moth aircraft took off each morning — weather permitting — on training flights. There were three outfields, at Winton, Goomalibee and Devenish. Twenty aircraft were assigned to each field and 20 remained at Benalla. Those aircraft were constantly doing circuits and practising aerobatics. With early-morning starts and late-night training the novelty soon diminished with the local population.
I note the featured Tiger Moth had a modified exhaust system as the original aircraft had four short stubby exhausts, which were very noisy; so much so, that low-flying aircraft rattled windows and vibrated loose sheets of roof iron.
As a lad, our home was located in nearby Grey St, and as these aircraft took off into the wind, a westerly resulted in a constant drone of noise. Benalla was an airfield and as such there were often several aircraft taking off at the same time. When 10 to 20 Tiger Moths flew over town in formation, the noise reverberated through every building.
This was an exciting time for young boys, and together with mates we would cycle to the boundary fence on windy days to watch the efforts of student pilots as they practised landing, often bouncing so high that they had to open the throttle and ‘go around’. Tiger Moths might look flimsy, but they were very flexible when absorbing the punishment of air training.
Between 1942 and 1945, 2953 trainee pilots had passed through the Benalla EFTS.
A static display Tiger Moth can be viewed at the Benalla Aviation Museum.
John Hanlon,
Benalla
Take steps for a dementia-friendly community
With around two-thirds of people with dementia living in the community this Dementia Action Week (September 16 to 22) we are calling on all Australians to take action to make their communities more welcoming and accessible for people living with dementia.
More than 421,000 Australians are currently living with dementia, but this number is expected to increase to more than 812,500 by 2054.
A lack of knowledge and understanding of dementia can lead to people living with dementia feeling excluded and experiencing discrimination.
People living with dementia tell us they want to belong — they want to be part of their community and to feel valued.
That’s why this year’s theme for Dementia Action Week is ‘Act Now for a Dementia-Friendly Future’.
All people impacted by dementia deserve to be supported and welcomed in their communities, no matter where they live.
So please, find out how you can influence change in your community to create a more dementia-friendly future at dementia.org.au
Merran Kelsall,
Chair Dementia Australia
Bobby Redman,
Chair Dementia Australia Advisory Committee
