Uiver restoration open day at Albury airport attracts crowd of 500

At the end of Albury's Uiver replica plane open day on Saturday, October 28, however, she was beaming from ear to ear.

Organisers said a crowd of around 500 people, more than triple the size of last year's historical showcase, flowed through the gates of the Uiver's dedicated hangar at Albury airport.

Visitor Harry Nyman said his granddaughter Scarlett was at first hesitant.

"Her mother spotted an ad for the event and was very keen to go, Scarlett didn't know what to expect. But at the end of the day she was delighted, she loved it," he said.

"There's plenty to do not just for older people with an interest in the history and seeing how the restoration of the plane is going, but there were plenty of activities for kids.

"They've done an amazing job restoring the replica, you could tell when they started on it that it was in serious disrepair, so they've really had to bring it back from the dead."

Restoration project manager Russ Jacob has been involved from the start of the project to mark the historic 1934 race from London to Melbourne when the original Uiver made a forced landing in Albury.

He said the open day offered much more than just a history lesson.

"The car park at the front was chock-a-block full, a lot of visitors, we lost count after a while but I would say between 400 and 500 over the full day," Mr Jacob said.

"I think it was probably triple what it was the previous year, but we had a lot of activities for everyone. There was the model train people, Lego, colouring-in competitions, so there was a quite a lot of interest in what was going on.

"The older people in the area seem to know about the history, but the younger people didn't sort of know anything about it. We've been working pretty hard to change that.

"Next year is our 90th anniversary, so we're looking at having a major event, looking at corporate sponsorship for it, and there will be aerial acrobatics and fly-bys, so that will be spectacular."

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