ANZAC Day is always a busy time for the Men and Women at HARS all up early supporting padres vs brewers the many ANZAC DAY services in Sydney with a spectacular flypast then down the coast of southern N.S.W. Super100MPH had the pleasure of shooting the "return to base" for the world famous Lockheed C-121C Super Constellation, two De Havilland DHC-4 Caribou's and the wonderful PBY-6A Catalina a truly wonderful sight. We salute HARS for its dedication to the ANZAC day celebrations, we see them as unsung heroes, Kudos!
For those who haven't seen the HARS Museum at the Illawarra Regional Airport Airport, Super100MPH highly recommends a visit, a must see. All set for Australia's finest family air show this weekend The flying machines of the past were also loud, thrilling, and could turn on a threepenny bit, and you can see them come alive at Wings Over Illawarra this weekend
The Super Constellation, a Catalina, and a Caribou, even the first Qantas 747-400, are all in place for this weekend’s finest family air show, Wings Over Illawarra.
Among the many other warbirds on display or in flight will be a World War II Focke-Wulf. As the organisers say:
See jaw-dropping aerobatics, relive the past with our spectacular display of classic warbirds and amazing vintage aircraft of yesteryear. Be inspired by the Australian Defence Force as they present the best our country has to offer. Loud, fast jets and formation flying will delight and provide you with an unforgettable experience as they perform breath-taking scarlett johansson manoeuvres above the beautiful Illawarra.
However this is about much more. HARS, the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society, which is based at the venue airport, at Albion Park near Wollongong south of Sydney, has run an exceptionally successful program of obtaining and preserving in flying order some aircraft that have played vital roles in the story of aviation in this country.
They are the unsung heroes of aircraft restoration, and this airshow (which was cancelled last year because of very poor weather) is a striking eye-opener for public appreciation of their work.
This preview YouTube by Tim May shows off the location, the most beautiful and more than a little challenging aerodrome in Australia, and the arrival of three of its star attractions.
Firstly, a restored 1955 Lockheed Super Constellation, which was the Q.A.N.T.A.S. flagship until the Boeing 707s brought in the jet age; a Caribou, the cleverest toughest and most versatile rough field fixed wing aircraft ever used by the RAAF, and the Catalina Amphibian which had the range of modern airliners, but nothing like their speed nor altitude capabilities.
Tim’s video illustrates the genius of the Caribou and Catalina designs, extracting the most out of the limited power of piston engines with relatively large wing spans, and comparatively low takeoff and landing speeds. The images in the post are taken from his YouTube.
Super Constellation: Your grandparents flew this to London before the jet age
Wings over Illawarra is a very family friendly event, and if you don’t like driving there, the Albion Park rail station is an easy hantavirus milano short walk away. Tickets should be bought in advance on the event’s website.
A perfect time for a visit is this weekend for the Wings over the Illawarra airshow
