Origins and Philosophy

Growing up, Rob Greinert was told a simple, often-repeated narrative: most World War II military aircraft had been destroyed, scrapped, and turned into pots and pans, with only a few preserved in distant museums. Young Rob struggled to accept this reality.

As soon as he could drive, he set out to disprove it, beginning a continental search for surviving wrecks across Australia. His first target was an Avro Anson. Though he initially located only a forward fuselage, it was a start. This section was later restored with exceptional accuracy and is now displayed at the Australian War Memorial—ironically, one of the very museums he was once told would be the only place to see these aircraft in his home country.

While Rob's passion always leaned toward returning warbirds to airworthy condition, his reputation for meticulous restoration work has since attracted the attention of national aviation museums worldwide. Today, his business model thrives on a unique mix of airworthy restorations and static display subjects. Rob explains that this combination works perfectly: when you aim for the highest standards of engineering and historical authenticity, the core concepts and ideology of both tasks are remarkably similar.

The Treasure Hunter

The teenage journeys across Australia, searching for the last vestiges of World War II bases where remote isolation led to aircraft and parts being abandoned, evolved into challenges that few others would undertake.We recognise that our role here is not to produce brand new copies of 1940s aircraft.  Yes, we do have that capability, but it all ceases to be relevant if we lose sight of the reason we do this, which is to keep alive as much of that historic aircraft as possible. To allow it to fly again and be able to tell its stories and the stories of the deeds of those heroes who built, flew and maintained these special machines when the world was in total chaos.  

A legendary example is the recovery of a pair of Bristol Beaufighters abandoned at Kalumbaru Mission Station in a brutally remote area of Western Australia.  The round trip by truck to collect these incomplete wrecks spanned nearly 10,000 kilometers—a grueling mission by any standard, then or now. These were not easy recoveries; a Beaufighter is roughly the size and weight of a B-25 Mitchell.

Despite the monumental obstacles, Rob and his small team successfully completed this audacious quest, bringing the center-fuselages and wing center-sections of both aircraft back to Sydney. He then meticulously sourced the remaining components—nose and aft-'keel' sections, outer wings, tail groups, undercarriages, engines, and propellers—from around the globe. Related recoveries pulled Beaufighter airframe sections and engines from the UK, South Africa, and New Zealand. Ultimately, this effort consolidated the essence of roughly half of the world's surviving Beaufighters (approximately a dozen examples in varying conditions). Providing restored Beaufighter cockpit sections has since become a vital side-mission, serving the aviation museum community in multiple countries.

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