Aircraft A4-AX350 Data

Originally MG390 ex RAF. First received by the RAAF on the 6th of February 1942, and on the 4th of September 1942 was transferred to Number 1 Air Observation School. The following year on the 21st of January the aircraft was allocated to the Number 1 Navigation and Wireless Air Gunnery School at Ballarat. However, in heavy rain and attempting to land at night at Point Cook in Victoria on the 16th of August 1943, the aircraft hit a tree and crashed with its undercarriage semi-retracted. From the 11th to the 25th of October of that year, the plane was repaired and overhauled and returned to service. Later in its career, the plane was allocated to Number 6 Service Training Flying School at Mallala, where it remained until it was sold off by the RAAF to a farmer located 6 kilometres away from the airfield for use as spare parts on farm machinery in the post World War 2 period when metal supplies were short. To ensure the plane could not be flown in an un-airworthy state, the RAAF chopped off the wings in a position similar to where the wings finish now.
Didn't originally have a gun turret, and it was simply skinned over during its time as a trainer with the RAAF, but since entering the museum, it has had a manually operated Armstrong Whitworth gun turret attached.