Bundaberg TAFE students create history

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Bundaberg TAFE Queensland Air Museum
Craig and his students with Queensland Air Museum volunteer David Charles.

International engineering students studying at TAFE Queensland’s Bundaberg campus have literally created history, replicating a torpedo for the Queensland Air Museum.

The Certificate III in Engineering – Fabrication Trade (boilermaking/welding) students spent 14 days during October and November fabricating a MK44 Torpedo that will be hung in the bomb bay of a recently restored Locheed SP2H Neptune A89-277 aircraft at the Queensland Air Museum in Caloundra.

TAFE Queensland Faculty Director for Trades and Resources Jody Ridgeway said fabricating the torpedo had been a great opportunity for the students to apply their skills to a real, albeit unusual, project.

“Our students are incredibly excited to have had the opportunity to work on something that will be displayed in a museum for future generations to see,” Ms Ridgeway said.

“While this is not an everyday job, this project required our students to use skills they will need throughout their careers, from planning a sequence of tasks, calculating material lengths and developing patterns, to rolling a cylinder, pressing cones, assembling and welding.

“It’s been a great chance for our students to challenge themselves and put what they’ve learned during their studies to the test.”

TAFE, Queensland Air Museum partner on project

Queensland Air Museum president Cameron Elmes said he was rapt with how the replica had turned out and thanked the students for helping the museum to share an important part of history with the public.

“We were looking for someone with the skills and capability to make the replica and wanted to offer TAFE Queensland’s students the opportunity to get involved with the museum,” Mr Elmes said.

“We are very impressed with the standard of the construction and are looking forward to having it on display.

“The Queensland Air Museum is all about preserving and sharing the aviation history of Queensland and Australia, and this replica will allow people to see a proper representation of what the Neptune aircraft carried in its bomb bay.”

The replica torpedo will be on display at the Queensland Air Museum in early 2020.

Enrolments are open now for 2020. To find out more about how you can kickstart your career in engineering visit tafeqld.edu.au or call 1300 308 233, and see where TAFE can take you.