Recommendations on where to house an important piece of Albury’s aviation history will be finalised early next year.
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Consultants have begun to prepare a short list of sites for the DC-2 aircraft now being restored by the Uiver Memorial Community Trust.
Trust chairman Pieter Mol said the public consultation had now closed after a final meeting this week.
“From this point on, really, the consultants will narrow the sites down to the three that they will propose as being the most suitable sites,” he said.
“They’re going to provide us with hopefully a very detailed analysis of each of the sites and the prospects for a successful either display or museum concept.
“They will be reporting by the end of January to mid February.”
He declined to specify potential locations.
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In October 1934, the KLM DC-2 airliner Uiver became lost during the final leg of the London to Melbourne air race and was forced to make an emergency landing on Albury racecourse.
Residents drove their cars to supply guiding headlights and then pulled the plane out of the mud the next morning.
A Netherlands East Indies delegation later that year bestowed a collection of expensive gifts on various individuals who assisted the Uiver.
The DC-2 being restored by the trust is the same type of aircraft as the original Uiver, which crashed in December 1934.
Uiver historian Noel Jackling has been researching the whereabouts of the lavish presents given in gratitude 84 years ago.
“After the Uiver had been saved, there was this period that I describe as this period of euphoria in Holland because not only had the plane been saved by the people of Albury, it had come second,” Mr Jackling said.
“It was the second plane to arrive in the air race and it took out the prize for the handicap section of the event.”
Mr Jackling, who provided input to the consultation just ended, said he would be interested to hear the eventual recommendations.
“I really do think it’s a valuable exercise from the point of view of the Uiver board being helped to reach a conclusion as to where the ultimate location of the plane ought to be,” he said.
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