Heritage of the Air is a three year Australian Research Council Linkage project that investigates how aviation has transformed Australian society over the last 100 years. In the lead up to Australia’s centenary of civil aviation, our focus is on people rather than planes and we seek to tell the broader story of diverse Australian communities and aviation. The project aims to engage with the public’s enduring fascination with aviation through innovative analyses and interpretation of little known aviation heritage collections, to produce exciting exhibitions, accessible digital collections and heritage resources, as well as scholarly publications.

The project is based at the University of Canberra and our research partners include Airservices Australia, the National Museum of Australia, the SFO Museum in San Francisco, the Queensland Museum and the Civil Aviation Historical Society in Melbourne. Academic investigators are based at the Australian National University, University of Sydney, University of New South Wales and the University of New England in Armidale.

Introductory Video

An introductory video on the heritage of the air project

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Time Flies!

A traveling exhibition that will mark 100 years of civil aviation in Australia.

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Free ebook

A short thematic history of Australian civil aviation

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Airplay

Airplay is the blog for the Heritage of the Air research team.

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Connecting the nation

A digital repository connecting you to dispersed Aviation heritage collections

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Heritage of the Air 2019

A conference reflecting on 100 years of aviation culture, history, heritage and design.

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Publications

Publications produced by members of the Heritage of the Air research team.

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Passenger Cards

Historical Incoming Passenger Cards to Australia

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View Video

Out of the blue? How aviation accidents shaped safer skies

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The Heritage of the Air ARC Linkage project acknowledges the traditional owners of Country throughout Australia.
We pay our respects to elders past and present.