UNE history lecturer Dr Brett Holman is part of a partnership of researchers, museums and civil aviation bodies that is collaborating on a ground-breaking Australian aviation history project supported by a $440,000 Australian Research Council Linkage grant.

The project, ‘Heritage of the air: how aviation transformed Australia’,  aims to generate new understanding of how aviation has transformed Australian society over the last hundred years, and how the technology of aerial global mobility has shaped people, cultures and communities.

Although for technical reasons, Dr Holman is listed on the grant as being from the University of Canberra, he will be conducting and delivering his research at UNE.

The ARC grant summary explains:

The project will build a partnership between the aviation industry, community groups, museums and a multidisciplinary academic team to develop fresh insights from under-utilised sources of aviation heritage, communicate their unique stories to the public through innovative exhibitions and publications, and help conserve it for future generations. As a result, the project will make an important contribution to culture and society by enabling community access to neglected and at-risk sources of aviation heritage, and engage the public’s fascination with aviation through new interpretations of its extraordinary social and cultural impact.

The project also has financial and/or in-kind contributions from Airservices Australia, the National Museum of Australia, the Civil Aviation Historical Society, and the SFO Museum.