PETER JOHN WILSON
9 February 1934 - 16 December 2009

Peter was born in Newcastle on 9 February 1934 and grew up in North Bondi, where he became involved in the Surf Lifesaving Club and Boat Crew. After school he obtained an apprenticeship with Qantas Empire Airways and worked with them for ten years, and included in this was his National Service in the RAAF. He and Ailsa married in 1953 and were blessed with 2 children and 2 grandchildren. He later worked for MONO Pumps in Tasmania, and subsequently a chemical company, before managing a salmon farm and contracting to a fish farm equipment manufacturing company. He retired in 1991, but had also been involved in light aircraft maintenance and refurbishing.

They began travelling Australia in campervans and came into contact with QAM in 2001. He joined from Tasmania in 2001 and sought a project for his next year's visit. Having emphatically declared he was a 'round engine' man, he began work on a Pratt & Whitney R985.

Settling on the Sunshine Coast in 2006-7, Peter gathered a group of like-minded engine people to work with him and oversaw the restoration of many engines. His great wish was to work towards running one or more engines. Always active, he worked on a QAM project right through the day preceding his passing quietly away in his sleep on 16 December 2009.

QUEENSLAND AIR MUSEUM www.qam.com.au