Brought to life after 90 years
This new book, originally published in 1935, has been translated from Dutch to English for the first time.
To Australia in Three Days is Captain Parmentier’s first-hand account of the 18,222 kilometre flight made by the Uiver in the 1934 London-Melbourne MacRobertson Trophy Air Race and the dramatic rescue of the plane by the townsfolk of Albury.
Rebuilding the oldest DC-2 in the world, one rivet at a time!
There are an estimated 990,187 rivets in the Uiver Memorial DC-2 and each one will have been replaced by the time the restoration of the aircraft is complete. The smallest piece of the aeroplane is the most crucial because, without rivets, the Uiver memorial aircraft is just a pile of metal parts.
The DC-2 will become the centrepiece of the Uiver Memorial Living Museum which is being developed alongside the restoration of the aircraft.
Both are mammoth tasks but it is a dream we can achieve with help from the community. Our Give a Rivet donation campaign is an easy way for individuals, clubs, or businesses to support our volunteers in their work. Every donation helps us complete the restoration the DC-2.
All donations (over $2) to the UMCT are tax deductible.
Uiver Memorial Community Trust
We are a not-for-profit organisation devoted to restoring Albury's Uiver Memorial DC-2 aircraft.
In 1934 the MacRobertson Trophy Air Race proclaimed itself as the greatest international air race devised, and history has confirmed that bold claim. The aircrews that completed the journey from England to Australia were honoured in a parade in Melbourne and treated like modern day rockstars.
However, along the way, the KLM DC-2 airliner Uiver became lost in a thunderstorm on the final leg of the race and was forced to land on Albury Racecourse at night.
The remarkable story of the rescue of the Uiver by the townsfolk of Albury, and it still taking the handicap prize in the race, is the stuff of legend. It is one of those events which could not be more amazing if it were scripted.
Here at Albury, where the Uiver was saved, we honour this incredible story by dedicating ourselves to restoring the world’s oldest Douglas DC-2, with the aim of making it a museum centrepiece for future generations.
This is our story, and the story of those aviation pioneers who raced across the world.
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