Clyde North Aeronautical Preservation Group

History of the CNAPG

The CNAPG was formed near Melbourne, Australia during August, 1989. The purpose of the group was to preserve and promote all aspects of aviation. It was intended right from the start that the group would achieve this task by both starting its own projects and assisting other organizations and individuals with their projects.

The group had three founding members, Darryl Gibbs, Dion Makowski and Andrew Russel. The group rapidly expanded its collection of aircraft parts and memorabilia. It was initially thought that the group would be a small operation, but with the rapid expansion of the collection and interest from a large number of other aviation enthusiasts, it was decided to expand the groups membership base. The founding members were concerned that with a large influx of new members that the original aims of the group may be changed, so to ensure that this didn't occur, a support group known as the Friends of the Clyde North Aeronautical Preservation Group was set up and it is this organization which people join when they wish to assist the CNAPG with its restoration projects and participate in its other activities.

The membership has been steadily expanding, with members spread throughout Australia as well as abroad. A number of new members joined up at Wagga Wagga in New South Wales and in 1995 it was decided to form the Wagga Wagga Sub Group of the Friends. Members of the group come from all walks of life with many varied backgrounds. Some of them are professionally involved in aviation , but many are not. The one thing which they all have in common is an interest in aviation and a wish to ensure that everyone can enjoy aspects of our aviation history in the future.

 

CNAPG activities

Restoration

 Members of the CNAPG have the opportunity to participate in restorations of both static display and flying aircraft. Some of these belong to the group, but many also belong to other organizations or individuals. One of the groups major aims is to preserve aircraft. By helping with restoration projects other than our own, we can actively help achieve this aim without incurring the large costs involved in restoring and maintaining these aircraft. Some of the types which CNAPG members have worked on include Vampire, Tiger Moth, Auster, Dakota, Wirraway, CT-4 and Anson to name just a few.

Collecting

The group not only collects aircraft and aircraft parts, it has a large holding of aviation books, magazines, brochures, photographs and much more aviation related memorabilia. 

Research

 Members of the group carry out research on a wide range of aviation topics. We regularly receive requests for information about aircraft and aviation matters. Unfortunately we cannot give an answer to every question that we get, but why not try us anyway. The worst thing that can happen is that we e-mail you back and say we don't know. You have nothing to lose, because the service is free.

Displays

 The CNAPG has carried out a number of public displays of aircraft and aviation memorabilia since its inception. These have ranged from full scale displays at air shows down to shop front displays. We make an effort to take aviation to the people. To achieve this we regularly carry out displays at events such as town fairs and also shopping centre displays.

Tours

 A number of trips to various sites of interest to aviation enthusiasts have been organized by the CNAPG. These have included trips to Tyabb Airfield to view many of the vintage and warbird aircraft there including the restorations of Kittyhawk, Mustang and Vampires, Trips to the old aircraft scrapping sites at Tocumwal, visits to museums such as Airworld, Moorabbin Air Museum and the RAAF Museum and visits to the Liberator restoration project at Werribee.

 

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