Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/September 2020/Review essay


 * By Nick-D

During a holiday in August, I stopped in at the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society's facilities located at an airport in the outskirts of the Australian city of Wollongong. As its name suggests, HARS is a private sector organisation which is focused on restoring historic aircraft to flight status and preserving others in near-flyable condition. It's probably best known for its collection of classic types previously operated by Qantas, and especially the Boeing 747-400 City of Canberra, but also boasts a huge number of military aircraft.

As HARS is focused on maintaining and presenting its aircraft, its doesn't operate as a museum. On the downside, visitors need to be guided through the facility (several large working hangers), so can't wander around by themselves at their own pace. Photographers will also be frustrated at times by the crowded hangers and scaffolding around some of the aircraft which are undergoing maintenance. On the upside, you're guided around the interior of several aircraft and get to take turns to sit in a former RAAF General Dynamics F-111C's cockpit! During more normal times it's possible to visit the interior of even more aircraft, but COVID-19 related restrictions have ruled out those which are too small to allow proper social distancing.

I hadn't done enough research on HARS before my visit, and was very surprised by the sheer scale of their collection. For instance, according to the guide HARS has three Douglas C-47 Dakotas and the same number of Lockheed P-2 Neptunes and Grumman S-2 Trackers! It also has single examples of a very diverse range of military aircraft, including the first CAC Sabre, an English Electric Canberra and a Dassault Mirage III. The Royal Australian Navy recently donated its flyable historic aircraft to HARS, so it also holds an interesting range of aircraft which flew from Australia's carriers including a Hawker Sea Fury. As you'd expect given their flyable status, most of the aircraft are in impeccable condition and it was interesting to see those which are under restoration up close.

Visiting a facility like this is very valuable for military historians. It was great to see the aircraft much more closely than is possible at conventional museums and learn about their individual histories from the guide. It was particularly useful to have been able to enter some of the aircraft to see the conditions personnel who used them endured - the F-111C cockpit was very cramped and complex, for instance. I also found it interesting to see the dissembled and broken down aircraft, as they illustrated how the types were constructed and the types of wear and tear air forces need to deal with.

Overall, HARS is a must-see for Australians with an interest in military aviation. It could be combined with a visit to the also-excellent Fleet Air Arm Museum located less than an hour's drive away when it re-opens.