Spanner Squad Project Newsletter #5: March 2026 Update
Greetings Advisory Board members!
What has been happening in the world of The Spanner Squad?
We had a great reaction to our last newsletter, describing some of the locations for The Spanner Squad stories.
One of the Advisory Board members asked, “Why Sydney Airport?” Well, although the picture shows it as Sydney Airport, it won’t be called Sydney Airport as such. But we needed an airport that was on the ocean or a bay, to allow Noriko and Catwa to go fishing after work.
I guess we could use San Francisco, or even Brisbane airport — except in Brisbane the activity would probably be mud-crabbing instead of fishing.
Having suburbs close to the airport is also a plus, for the Share House, and Hue’s Family Shop. In the actual animation, it won’t be called Sydney Airport, but it will be identifiably Australian.
I have been talking to some lovely people, Oggie and Giovanna from Western Sydney International Airport. WSI is a new, large airport, built from scratch and opening for air traffic later in 2026. They are very interested in the idea of The Spanner Squad to promote airport jobs. In the first phase after opening, WSI airport won’t have much aircraft maintenance capability, so we spit-balled the idea that perhaps some of the Spanner Squad could be called out to WSI on a rescue mission, to fix an airliner that is AOG. This would be a great way to describe the layout of WSI and some of the job roles to a wider audience.
Pity WSI doesn’t have a big lake at the end of a runway!
Latest Project News
In the time since the last newsletter was sent, more positive things have happened with the Spanner Squad project.
Firstly, Juliet De Valter, our Townsville-based Kalkatungu artist, has completed our small artwork commission — a representation of an authentic indigenous dreaming story from Mt Isa.
Here is the finished painting:
© 2025 Juliet de Valter
(The image here does not do justice to the painting — the colours are far more vibrant in real life.)
As I mentioned in the last newsletter, how the big lizard became Ilipari the Gecko is a lovely children’s story about being comfortable in your own skin, and not paying too much attention to the tricksters and the haters.
This has become our character Simon’s life motto, and one that he tries to explain to younger people in the workplace too. So, the outline of the Gecko in the artwork is duplicated as Simon’s tattoo on his forearm. The Kalkatungu story behind the image is a strong part of Simon’s personality, and it is vitally important that we represent his culture as a source of pride for him and his sister Keely.
We haven’t put effort into it yet, but would love to formulate a story where Simon returns to Mt Isa to visit his family, and visits the local airport and the small hangar where he first became interested in aircraft. He talks to some young kids in the town about his career. Having grown up in a regional town myself, I felt those ‘real or perceived’ barriers to seeking a job in aviation.
Recently, I have been grateful for the opportunity to be in touch with Daniel and Grace from Gunggandji Aerospace, who have been generous with their time and encouragement of our project. Thank you!!
A Question for our Worldwide Advisory Board
Simon and his family will represent Australian indigenous participation in the aviation industry — a group that is growing, but still needs nurturing and resourcing to educate and help with removing those ‘real or perceived barriers to entry’.
I would love to hear about other First Nations and indigenous groups, including Pasifika, Māori, Native American, Indigenous Canadian, Northern European (e.g. Sami), and indigenous Central and South American peoples.
- What are the stories of their participation in the aviation industry?
- Are the barriers to entry the same in other parts of the world?
- Can we coordinate strategy to challenge the status quo worldwide, or are the peoples too different?
- What traditional skills and knowledge from your local area are useful in a technical aviation role?
On the back of this additional activity with indigenous matters, I decided to apply for a speaking spot at the 6th Annual Indigenous Empowerment Summit.
This summit has conference streams for education, employment and economic development. My abstract for a presentation was crafted around the Spanner Squad, and Simon’s gecko story — in essence it is around aviation culture, and whether ’entertainment’ can make inroads into cultural aspects of technical careers that have existed for decades/centuries.
I am lucky enough to have been accepted to speak! If you have the chance to come to the conference, I would love to see you there — 9–12 June in Brisbane.
One of our ex-interns, Tamzyn, is creating a short animation snippet around the Gecko story that I can play as part of my presentation. Tamzyn is a fantastic young digital media artist.
© 2026 Ten Hammers — Tamzyn’s Storyboard for the Gecko Story
Potential Funding Pathways
I have been pleased recently to talk with Sue-anne Munckton, who runs a business called Sky Careers. Sue-anne herself is a legend in the Australian aviation industry, and I was so grateful to speak with her about the lessons she has learnt in pitching an idea designed to attract more young people to the aviation industry. From having a meaningful social media strategy through to the fickle nature of government funding, her advice has been invaluable — and I look forward to working with her in the future, if only for more wisdom and advice!
We also talked all things Spanner Squad with people from Industry Skills Australia, who have many initiatives for attracting more young people to the respective industries under their umbrella. One key takeaway was that perhaps the Spanner Squad characters could be ‘ambassadors’ for various promotional activities across the industry.
Feedback
We thrive on your feedback, so keep it coming!
Thank you to everyone who has contributed feedback on the project so far. As members of the Advisory Board, this is the most valuable thing you can give us — your opinion on what you think is interesting, and what needs rethinking.
Tell us your stories: what drew you to the industry, and what the constraints have been. What would you like to see in place to make it easier for the next generation of young women?
Some recent comments from people joining the Advisory Board:
- “Why Sydney Airport??” — said someone who lives in Melbourne
- “I truly admire the work you will be building which brings out a strong, inclusive creative community.”
- “I look forward to taking part in the joint promotion of the female in aviation technical professions. There are many technical roles suitable for females. They are not limited to NDT inspectors, cabin interior craftsmen and Avionics technical specialists!”
- “How can I join/what can I do to assist?”
- “I previously worked as a LAE and would like to share my story from the South East Asia side.”
These newsletters are now posted to the website www.spannersquad.com as blog posts, so everyone has the ability to post comments against each post (scroll down to the bottom of each post).