New ways outlined of telling 1934 air race story involving Uiver

The DC-2 is undergoing a long-term restoration at an East Albury hangar and the bulk of its fuselage has been restored with a multitude of metal panels.

The public will have the opportunity to see it on Saturday, October 28, at an annual open day but Uiver memorial restoration project manager Russ Jacob hopes in 12 months it will provide a sensory experience.

"Next year is our 90^th anniversary and we'd like to have some sort of theatrette in there, so people can sit inside the aircraft and take in the history," Mr Jacob said.

"You will go in and the doors will close and the engine noise will start and you will be able to see the history on a screen with the Uiver story being told."

The original Uiver was forced to make an emergency landing in October 1934 during the long-distance race held to mark the centenary of Melbourne.

In 1935, the captain of the plane KD Parmentier wrote a 314-page book In drie dagen naar Australie (Three days to Australia) in his native Dutch about the epic adventure.

Also in anticipation of the 2024 milestone, Mr Jacob is aiming to have an English language version of that volume in a year's time.

"We're trying to find someone with the right background, an academic or teacher, who can translate it and we'd like to print the book for the 90^th anniversary," Mr Jacob said.

"I've run it through Google translate, so I have a working version but that translation calls the cockpit the coffin and calls the Uiver the liver, so there's a bit of a problem with it."

This Saturday's showcase will run from 10am to 3pm at the Uiver hangar in Bristol Court.

"The open day is to let the community see the progress we're making and this year we're emphasising we've got a lot more activities for the kids with competitions and quizzes and Bricks on the Border, the Lego people are going to be here, and we've got model planes," Mr Jacob said.

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