He flew Lincoln bombers during the Malayan conflict in the 1950s before joining Qantas and flying 707s.
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A love of flying runs deep in the veins of Port Macquarie's Brian Oswell.
He also wants to ensure that the work of air forces and their pilots from around the world are remembered, if not celebrated.
Mr Oswell plans to host an exhibition of air planes, air forces and air conflicts from the two world wars on Saturday April 27 and Sunday April 28.
The exhibition is at the Hastings District Flying Club headquarters from 10am through to around 2pm on both days.
To coincide with the exhibition, the flying club will host a flying competition with a $10 barbeque lunch at noon.
He says pilots, particularly those who flew during the two world wars, were brave and daring young men.
"We need to understand just what these young men went through," he said.
"They were young people, 18 or 19 years of age, getting the equivalent of today's private pilot's licence in training before being expected to fly into a war area, shooting down the enemy or dropping bombs.
"And they were flying aircraft that, to be fair, were not particularly sophisticated at all."
That level of admiration led Mr Oswell to want to help improve the representation of air forces, specifically around Anzac Day.
"So I decided that I would organise a presentation on behalf of the air forces men and women that was representative of both world wars," he said.
"The flying club agreed to host the exhibition.
"People can expect an emphasis on the people - the men and women - who were involved in a lot of the operations that took place," he said.
People can expect an emphasis on the people - the men and women - who were involved in a lot of the operations that took place.
- Brian Oswell
Mr Oswell said he hoped to highlight many of the unknown roles that kept the war effort ticking over.
He pointed to the many faceless ferry pilots - many of them women - as worth to celebrate.
"These ferry pilots were non-service people, more often than not women, who would collect air planes from the construction site and fly them to the operational stations.
"This was within Britain but also from the US and Canada.
"The ferry pilots often flew in the same dangerous enemy air space as fighter pilots. Some were even shot down and killed while there was also a lot of accidents too."
Mr Oswell said casualty rates during the Second World War show that air forces lost around 30 per cent of their crews compared with seven per cent in the army and five per cent in the navy.
One of the exhibitions will feature a map plotting the number of level of bombings that occurred in Australia.
He says many people are not fully aware of the extent of bombing that took place on our shores during the Second World War.
The exhibition, which includes some 12 picture boards containing information, stories, photos and maps of numerous battles undertaken during the two world wars, is at the Hastings District Flying Club headquarters at the airport, Saturday April 27 and Sunday April 28, 10am to 2pm.
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