Historical Aircraft Restoration Society

Boeing 747-438, City of Canberra, landing at the Shellharbour Airport for delivery to HARS.
Lockheed Super Constellation nicknamed Connie

The Historical Aircraft Restoration Society, often referred to by its acronym, HARS, is an Australian based aircraft restoration group. The group has two museums, at Shellharbour Airport in New South Wales, Australia, and Parkes, New South Wales, Australia.[1] HARS was formed in 1979 by a group of aviation enthusiasts interested in the preservation of Australian Aviation History. Its mission is "To recover and where possible restore to flying condition, aircraft or types of aircraft that have played a significant part in Australian Aviation History both in the Civil and Military arenas".[2]

The group possesses a collection which includes several large and significant aircraft such as a Boeing 707 and a Boeing 747-400. Many of its aircraft are kept at an airworthy standard, including a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation which is the last remaining flying example in the world.[3] Other examples are kept at a taxiable standard where restoration of airframes to an airworthy standard is not feasible.[4] The group operates a Navy Heritage Flight, which operates a range of ex Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm aircraft in support of the Navy.[4]

The group's Boeing 707 was formerly owned by actor John Travolta, who donated the aircraft to the group in 2017.[5] As of May 2022, however, the aircraft is still in the United States, with the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the process to relocate the aircraft to Australia significantly.[6]

The arrival of the 747 required significant preparation to allow the aircraft to land at the small regional Shellharbour Airport without damaging the runway.[7]

  1. ^ https://hars.org.au/
  2. ^ HARS website
  3. ^ "Historical Aircraft Restoration Society Super Constellation." Archived 2012-01-31 at the Wayback Machine hars.org.au. Retrieved: January 30, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Navy Heritage Flight - Historical Aircraft Restoration Society".
  5. ^ Media, Australian Community Media – Fairfax (2017-05-27). "John Travolta donates his Boeing 707 to HARS in Albion Park". Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  6. ^ "A brief update on the Boeing 707 project". Facebook. 23 April 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Relive the Qantas 747 landing at Albion Park three years ago". 8 March 2018.