Little Mountain residents Lyn and Gary Scott are celebrating 60 years of marriage today, but theirs is no ordinary diamond anniversary.
The couple has lived a life of movement, mission and mechanical marvels with a deep connection to both aviation history and the Queensland Air Museum (QAM).
Their love story began at the Methodist Church in Nambour when Lyn (nee Ash) was 16 and Gary was 17.
They married on October 9, 1965, at the same church that once stood on the corner of Maud and Currie streets. The church may have been lost to fire in 1987 but their love still burns brightly.
Gary, 80, said the secret to a long and happy marriage was “having a wife who loves me despite my faults”.
Lyn, 79, said the key was “loving and giving, for better or worse, talking and solving problems, but always being there for each other”.
After a short stint in Mackay following their wedding, the couple divided the next 12 years of married life between Papua New Guinea and Australia.
“In 1966 we moved to Port Moresby, PNG; in 1967 came back to Nambour; in 1968 we moved to Lae, PNG; in 1969 we moved to Kalgoorlie; in 1970 we moved to Mount Newman, WA; then onto Darwin until 1971, when we moved to Madang, PNG,” Lyn said.
“In 1978 we moved back to Australia onto a farm at North Arm where we stayed until 2000, when we moved to our current residence in Little Mountain at Caloundra.”
Gary was variously a diesel motor mechanic, a project manager and a farmer at North Arm prior to the couple starting a business doing netting over orchards. Gary retired in 2004 due to ill health.
After leaving high school, Lyn was a clerk at the Nambour Chronicle before working for many companies over the years doing mainly clerical work. She spent 20 years working in the communications centre at Kawana for the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (as it was formerly known) before retiring in 2010.
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For Lyn, retirement was an opportunity to spread her wings. In January 2011, she began volunteering at QAM, where she had brief stints as the membership secretary and customer services manager. She now volunteers every Friday and helps out on the museum’s open days and when required.
Meanwhile, Gary’s involvement with QAM took the form of a moving tribute to his late father, who had served in the RAAF in World War II.
Gary built and donated to QAM a full-scale, non-flying replica of a P-51D Mustang in memory of his father, who drowned off the rocks in Esperance, WA, in 1953.
Starting with nothing but a drawing on the floor of his shed in Little Mountain, Gary spent four years bringing the iconic warbird to life.
Gary said the Mustang held significant wartime relevance.
“During the Second World War, the British would not give Australia Spitfires, so Australia had no high-powered frontline fighters,” Gary said.
“The US would not supply Australia with Mustangs, however, they gave us one Mustang to dismantle and copy and supplied us with engines. Australia eventually built 200 Mustangs.”
According to Gary, QAM couldn’t afford to buy a Mustang so he decided to build an accurate but non-flying replica, in honour of his late father.
“We held a dedication service in memory of his dad at the museum in 2009 when it was donated,” Lyn said.
Gary has since turned his hand to building another iconic aircraft: the SR-71 Blackbird.
“It’s the most iconic aircraft of the Cold War,” he said, describing the sleek, futuristic reconnaissance jet that captured his imagination during a trip to the US.
Although space constraints may prevent QAM from housing the Blackbird replica, Gary continues his work, embodying the passion for aviation and history that has defined much of his later years.
Alongside their shared passion for aviation and travel, Lyn and Gary have also raised three daughters – Tania, Jodi and Sheryn – who have now scattered across the globe with families of their own.
From Melbourne to Sicily, Lyn and Gary’s three children and eight grandchildren (and soon, great-grandchild) carry forward the adventurous spirit of their parents.
