Pieces of the puzzle pop up in the unlikeliest of places ... Port Adelaide being perhaps the least likely of magnets for aeroplane parts and people. Yet this maritime wonderland has not one, but two aviation museums. A few hundred metres from the vast and impressive South Australian Aviation Museum sits the Port Adelaide Aviation Museum, housing the most remarkable collection of aeroplane restoration tools anywhere. A World War Two-vintage rivetter and 1000-ton metal press share the caverous space with the latest computer-aided design gear.

Engineer Graham Vickridge-Smith and his merry band of aircraft buffs are restoring a mixture of warbirds and civilian classics. Visitors are invited to pore over parts of Kittyhawks, Boomerangs and Spitfires, and a Czech-built Let Aero 145 ... in pieces. A 1938 Slingsby Kirby Cadet glider hangs from the ceiling. Everything is being restored to flying condition. The Willys Jeep - only ever driven on Sundays by a little, old general - drives like a dream. Upstairs is an eclectic collection of militaria - flags, tin hats, uniforms, photographs, documents, weapons and instruments.

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