Not to missed on any trip from Melbourne towards The Great Ocean Road, the RAAF Musuem at Point Cook airfield has a great collection of well restored aircraft which represent the long and proud history of the world's second oldest air force. The museum was founded as long ago as 1952. A little surprising then that so few of the marvellous aeroplanes are on display in accessible areas - within the Training, Technology and Strike hangers. Many of the other star exhibits, already restored to mint condition, are coralled nose to tail in the large Hanger 180 and may only be viewed at a distance through chain link fencing from a steel walkway at one side of the building. Outside, a number of large aircraft can be viewed at a distance (but not photographed) from roped off positions, as may a number of interesting airfield buildings still in use at this historic aviation site.
The location itself is a historical place and the museum shows an interesting timeline of the history of RAAF. I'm from Europe and visiting this place (after watching a few movies about Oz in the WWI) made me understand what effort countries like Oz (an NZ) put into a war that wasn't their war. It's worth visiting this place and it's worth buying a nice souvenir and/or leaving a little donation, as most of the people working there are volunteers and they're doing a very great job!Stop there if you have the chance to :)
The RAAF museum is a real gem. Not only does it have a great array of information (some interactive) about the beginnings of the RAAF and its history over the last 100 years there is also a fantastic display of the aircraft the RAAF has used over this period. Possibly best of all is that the museum is free to visit. The museum would appeal to all ages.Please note that as the museum is on an operational RAAF base identification is needed to enter the barracks
Great museum enthusiastic staff brilliant interactive flying display. Visited post Avalon airshow, so was a nice relaxed wander through the displays. Look forward to visiting again hopefully Hercules and the other aircraft will be incorporated by then.
We arrived in plenty of time to have a look around the museum before the flying display started. They normally fly one of their planes but today we were treated to five. It is the Sunday before the Avalon Air Show and they were practicing. They do fly aircraft at 1.00pm every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday's. The museum is well laid out and is very informative covering everything since the base was opened. i particularly like the references to the women pilots and the history of how women first joined the RAAF. The only downside was you couldn't buy a drink at all.
Great selection of restored aircraft from WW1 up to the F111. Some aussie aviation gems in the collection like the PIKA, Boomerang, and plenty of Avros.Its free, but well worth donating some $$$ to this museum. Highly recommended!
We spent 3 hours wandering around and looking at the history of the RAAF and loved every bit, If your in Melbourne it's a must see. Highly recommended
The RAAF Museum is a great place to visit.There are lots of different aircraft to see,from Helis to the F111.It's very easy to get to & you need to sign at the main gate as it's still a working RAAF base.You can also see a flying display which is pretty good.
This place was Awesome,there is so much to see if your interested in aviation history, we were there on a Sunday and lucky to see an air display it took about 1 hr,the pilot talks about the plane then the aerial display begins. After that you can go to look at the military displays, they are very well kept and interesting, There is a lot of reading, and more military planes to see.Glad we went ,it is a must see place to go to.Allow a few hours though.
Helpful staff, good history trip for kids. A must for any family who loves planes. will be going back again.