The Aviation Heritage Museum History

National Library of Australia / Frank Hurley

The Aviation Heritage Museum of Western Australia, the Bull Creek Collection, is owned and operated by the Western Australian Division of the RAAF Association. The beginnings of the museum date from the late 1950s when the Association acquired a late mark Spitfire to serve as the centrepiece for its commemorative activities. In the early 1960s the Association also acquired a Lancaster bomber as a reminder of the activities of its members who flew over Europe during World War II.

During the 1960s the Association collected other aviation heritage memorabilia including books and photographs. By 1970 the informal collection had grown to such a size that the Association began planning a museum to house it all. The Aviation Historical Group of the Association was formed to look after and extend the collection and it was active throughout the decade in collecting, restoring and displaying aeroplanes and other aviation heritage artefacts.

1971 the Association began developing its Memorial Estate at Bull Creek to provide accommodation for its members and associates in their later years. A site was set aside on the estate for an aviation museum. In 1979 the Western Australian government granted the Association $100 000 to construct a museum building and it was opened on 17 November 1979.

That building was sufficient to house most of the Museum's smaller aeroplanes but not the Lancaster and the recently acquired Douglas Dakota. The RAAF Association raised more money and constructed a new and larger building behind the first one to house these very large exhibits. It was opened on 17 December 1983.

Since then further facilities have been added to the Museum and many more items have been donated to its collection.