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Frank Wainman, Cooranbong’s intrepid aviator

In my collecting travels I have sometimes found interesting real-photo postcards depicting aerial views of parts of the Hunter Region and Central Coast - mostly in the 1960s - with the business name "Avion Views, Cooranbong NSW" rubber-stamped on the back. My search for information about this postcard publisher led me to Judy and Perry Jackson, of Cooranbong, who filled me in on the story. Avion views was just one business run by Judy's father, the apparently indefatigable Franklyn (Frank) Wainman, a mechanic, garage proprietor and flying enthusiast. Born on December 18, 1910, Frank was a…

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Read more about the article The runaway plane and a midair collision: a bad month at Bankstown Airport, August 1955
Melbourne Argus clipping of the pilotless plane incident

The runaway plane and a midair collision: a bad month at Bankstown Airport, August 1955

August 1955 was an eventful and tragic month at Sydney's Bankstown Airport. On August 12 an Auster monoplane (VH-AAL) and a Tiger Moth biplane (VH- APF) collided about 100m from the ground as they came in to land at the airport, killing three men and injuring another. As they struck, the two light planes locked together and fell into thick scrub about 100m from Milperra Road. The Auster belonged to the Kingsford Smith Aviation Flying School and was piloted by 26-year-old instructor Jaroslav Kosner. He and his passenger, student pilot Edward Cowley, 45, were killed, as…

Continue ReadingThe runaway plane and a midair collision: a bad month at Bankstown Airport, August 1955
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