The department of Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Sydney was started in 1939 following the recommendation of Mr H. E. Wimperis, the Director of Scientific Research in the British Air Ministry. He was an outstanding scientist and administrator whose services had been made available to the Commonwealth Government. The 1937 Secondary Industries Testing and Research Committee had foreseen that the aircraft industry in Australia employed British and American designs and did not have experimental or theoretical resources. The Committee, however, made no concrete recommendations because the 1939 visit by Wimperis was impending. Wimperis confirmed that Australia must find answers to its problems locally and should not depend on Farnborough or Teddington.

Wimperis made three specific recommendations. Firstly, that an aeronautical research laboratory should be established, and outlined what the main features of this should be. Secondly, that a Chair of Aeronautics should be created in one of the Australian universities. Thirdly, that an aeronautical research committee should be formed. The Australian government accepted the first two recommendations (it remains unclear what they thought of the third) and decided that the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (C.S.I.R.) should be directed to establish an aeronautical research laboratory. It was eventually created at a cost of £140,000.

In 1941 the Aeronautical and Engine Testing Research Laboratory began operation at Fishermen's Bend, in close proximity to the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation's plant in Melbourne. The laboratory became the headquarters of the Division of Aeronautics under the directorship of a Mr Coombes. Its objectives were to assist the RAAF and to undertake research on long range issues in aeronautics. The organisation had four main sections: aerodynamics, structure and materials, engines as well as fuels and instruments. A wind tunnel was one of the first items of equipment to be installed in the new laboratory. It was designed by Dr G.N. Patterson, who came out from the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, for this purpose. Today the laboratory stands as the Aeronautical and Maritime Research Laboratory governed by the Department of Science and Technology.

The University of Sydney 7 foot x 5 foot was also commissioned in the early 1940s to provide additional aeronautical research capacity in Australia. The reinforced concrete wind tunnel is housed within the John Wooley building and forms part of the building foundation.

Long before 3D printers and automated machining, models were built in house from wood, with finishing by hand required. Below are some examples to the types of vehicles tested in the early days.

Drawing on our rich heritage in experimental aerodynamics, the two wind tunnels are still running today, albeit having had some upgrades to the model positioning systems and load measurement systems. Hand-made wooden models have been replaced by 3D printed plastic, allowing fast turn around times between tunnel tests and ease of prototying new designs. Some images of tests conducted in both the 7 x 5 and 4 x 3 tunnels are shown below.