No. 3 Aircraft Depot RAAF

No. 3 Aircraft Depot RAAF
Group Captain G.E. Douglas (front row, centre) with officers and a B-24 Liberator of No. 3 Aircraft Depot, July 1945
Active	1942–92
Allegiance	Australia
Branch	Royal Australian Air Force
Role	Aircraft maintenance
Garrison/HQ	RAAF Base Amberley
Motto(s)	Excel
Commanders
Notable commanders	James Rowland (1966–69)

No. 3 Aircraft Depot (No. 3 AD) was a maintenance unit of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Formed in March 1942 at RAAF Station Amberley, Queensland, its prime function initially was the assembly and despatch of combat aircraft from the United States; it also performed salvage operations. From 1942 until 1947 it took on the role of administering the Amberley base. The depot was responsible for heavy maintenance of the RAAF's English Electric Canberra jet bombers following their entry into service in 1953. In the 1970s it began maintaining and upgrading the General Dynamics F-111C swing-wing bomber, along with Bell UH-1 Iroquois and Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters. No. 3 AD merged with No. 482 Maintenance Squadron in March 1992 to form No. 501 Wing, which maintained the F-111 until disbanding in 2001.

No. 3 Aircraft Depot (No. 3 AD) was formed at RAAF Station Amberley, Queensland, on 16 March 1942. It came under the control of No. 5 (Maintenance) Group. The depot's first, temporary, commanding officer was Squadron Leader W.H. Nicholson. On establishment, No. 3 AD's main purpose was the assembly and despatch of combat aircraft manufactured in the United States. In its first six weeks of operation, it assembled 123 Bell P-39 Airacobra fighters and a dozen Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers. The depot was also responsible for the inspection of RAAF CAC Wirraways and Lockheed Hudsons. A further role was salvaging damaged aircraft from units in the local area, and despatching them to No. 5 Aircraft Depot at RAAF Station Wagga, New South Wales, for repair.