NICK Caudwell has high expectations for a project that’s taken nearly a decade to complete. In the next few months he plans to fly a Sopwith Snipe biplane that he has completely built from the ground up using original blueprints. He has handcrafted the timber frame, and meticulously and laboriously shrunk and coated linen with about 10 layers of dope (plasticised lacquer) for the plane’s outer skin, which is stitched to the frame. The one original specification not followed is the engine. “I couldn’t get an original Bentley AR 1 rotary engine and have instead used a Second World War…
Day: March 11, 2014
REPLACEMENT of trees and bush cleared for the proposed $14 million Arthurs Seat chairlift gondola could come from three nearby shire reserves, says gondola chairlift spokesman Simon McKeon. Mr McKeon, one of four shareholders of Arthurs Seat Skylift Pty Ltd, revealed the “native vegetation offset” plan at a public meeting last week organised by the Association for Building Community in Dromana. It was the first public meeting since Mornington Peninsula Shire put Skylift’s plans on display for public comment. Mr McKeon said 55 hectares of “shire-controlled” land had been identified by shire and Parks Victoria officers as a suitable vegetation…
A WAR of words has broken out between state Planning Minister Matthew Guy and Mornington Peninsula Shire Council over the proposed Peninsula Link freeway twin service centres at Baxter. The council has complained about Mr Guy approving the servos without input from the council but Mr Guy says he wrote to the council on 31 August last year and received no reply. Mr Guy approved the scaled-down version of the so-called freeway service centres (FSC) in February, just days before the council discussed the matter at its 24 February meeting. The original proposal was knocked back by the council in…
VISITORS are staying away from Dromana’s historic property Heronswood and its Diggers Club following the fire that destroyed the property’s thatched roof cafe on 14 January and threatened nearby homes. Heronswood erected a semi-permanent marquee to replace the cafe and only about 7 per cent of the gardens sustained fire damage, but visitor numbers have plummeted. But there is a silver lining as it is hoped Heronswood’s annual harvest festival on 15 and 16 March will kick-start visitations. Diggers Club education manager Talei Kenyon said the lack of visitors had been “incredibly hard for staff morale” and was “having a…