BY JEM ANSHAW
Two well-known and respected names in aviation will come together to run the Hunter Warbirds Museum in Scone.
The expression of interest from Paul Bennet and Ross Pay, from Pays Air Services, was voted in seven to two at the February Upper Hunter Shire Council meeting.
“We’re looking forward to running it,” Paul told The Hunter River Times.
“I know there’s been some bad press about the establishment in general, but it’s our passion and we think we can make a go of it.”
It is currently the largest museum of flying World War I and II aircraft in the country, and possibly the southern hemisphere, but that is a fact that Paul feels has not been promoted anywhere near enough to help attract visitors from near and far.
“Every student that studies history, why wouldn’t we bring them here and show them the history, all the grey nomads that are traveling through, there’s a lot of people that go past on the New England Highway,” he said.
“Everyone wants to stop and have lunch somewhere, why wouldn’t we get them to come to the museum? The motorbike clubs, the car clubs, the bus tours, the train tours, let’s get all those people coming to Scone.”
Both Paul and Ross own extensive collections of aircraft, and have even more contacts with other aviation buffs, that will make rotating what is on display a regular occurrence, as well as opening opportunities for more regular arial displays to coincide with booked group visits when possible.
The pair have entered into a five-year agreement with Upper Hunter Shire Council to take over operation of the museum as well as gaining rights to the Warbirds Over Scone event.
“I’d like to think that we could do it bigger and better than ever before, and hopefully that’s the case,” Paul said of the event.
“I think it’d be nice to have that opportunity to do the whole thing the way we’d like to do it, promote it better, and get the locals a bit more involved on the sponsorship side.”
For the time being it is business as usual at Hunter Warbirds while the finer details are ironed out, but as soon as they can, Paul, Ross and their teams will be getting stuck in to making the museum an attraction the region can be proud of.
