The Wranglers

Perhaps the key people in the Air Armada organisation were the "pilot wranglers". Their role was to keep their team of pilots informed and enthused, and to organise training and practice flights. The ambition was to put 100 aircraft in the Armada; one for every year of the RAAF. Without the Wranglers, it would have been incredibly difficult to keep the communication flowing, particularly when Melbourne was in lock-down for a good many of the preparation months.

Initially, Wranglers from Kyneton, Echuca, Geelong, Jamestown, Tocumwal, Birdogs, Moruya and Latrobe Valley stepped up to join the Lilydale, Moorabbin and Tyabb wranglers. But as interstate borders closed and other conflicting events took away available aircraft, it became obvious that 100 aircraft was not achievable, and a smaller group of heroes took on the task:

• Paul Canavan, Moorabbin

• Ray Taylor, Tyabb

• Murray Gerraty, Lilydale

• Les Knox, Red Radials

The organising committee was made up of the Operations Team (Murray Gerraty, Paul Canavan, Doug Berge, Jock Folan, Graham Bunn) and the Communications Team (Steve Hitchen, Angela Stevenson, and Tony Self). Information was channeled through a Web site for prospective participants, and a dedicated Web site for Wranglers. Updates were also disseminated through The Balbo Bulletin.