1.  This old photo dating back to 1956 and the Traralgon Nats was provided by Norm Sutcliffe. In the foreground is Norm himself with his second placegetter in stunt, a Veco PowWow he called "Sky Scout". The lady holding the Nats sign is Norm's wife, Val. Alongside her is Jean Jones, wife of Cabramatta club president, Ron Jones. On the right is Steve Radford holding Ron Jones' Class B Team Racer. The car in the background is Steve's Standard Vanguard.

2.  From Doug Harlow's photo album comes this photo of Ken Taylor at the 1956 Traralgon Nats, displaying his Sabre stunter.  The Sabre was kitted by Central Aircraft around this time and sold under the name Centaur.

3.  The remaining pictures on this page were sent in by Norm Sutcliffe, and all relate to the Traralgon Nats.  Seen here is part of the lineup for the Stunt competition with Norm's model at the head of the line.  It was not until years later that Stunt started to be referred to as Aerobatics.

4.  Although there are some stunters in this lineup, most of these planes were for combat... which in those days allowed motors of up to around 6cc.  The use of flying wings for combat was then not universal, and the modern class limiting motors to 2.5cc had not yet been developed.

5.  This lineup of 15 class B teamracers represents most of the entrants in that event at Traralgon.  This is the class that was later called class 2 teamracing in Australia.  Most of the models then were bigger than required by the rules, and the wide variety of designs shows that the elliptical planform for wings had not then become popular.

6.  The Cabramatta (NSW) group and campsite at the Nationals.  Cabramatta was a very social club.  Competitors, models, families, clothes line, kitchen sink, and Robbie the dog all went!  The standard of photography in those days might not be as high as it is today, but shots like this from a family Box Brownie illustrate Norm's belief that tripping around the country to the various meets and camping out with good company was the most enjoyable part of aeromodelling.

7.  The drive from Cabramatta to Traralgon was quite a marathon adventure, given the state of our roads in 1956.  Pictured here at a roadside stop somewhere along the way is Norm's Holden, parked alongside club President Ron Jones' Bedford van.  Cabramatta was a young club at the time, and the trip to Traralgon was its first venture to a Nats Competition.