Vietnam-era Caribou and Huey to fly at HARS Tarmac Days

The sight and sound of Vietnam-era military aircraft will highlight November Tarmac Days at HARS Aviation Museum on Friday 14, Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 November.

A former RAAF Caribou is set to fly on Friday and a former RAAF/ Army Iroquois “Huey” helicopter will fly on Saturday, both subject to operational factors including that they are 50-year-old aircraft.

Volunteers at the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) put in hours of effort to preserve, and where possible fly, some 60 aircraft of significance to Australia’s aviation heritage at its Shellharbour Airport base. Of those about 20 are kept airworthy.

“While HARS Aviation Museum is open every day (except Christmas Day) it is our monthly Tarmac Days which allow visitors to see selected aircraft fly,” HARS President Bob De La Hunty said.

“In addition to the flying, we have our volunteer tour guides on duty so visitors can gain a sense of the history which we keep alive.”

Its short-field take-off and landing (STOL) capability made the RAAF Caribou – dubbed “Wallaby Airlines” – an essential support for Australian soldiers during the Vietnam War.

Wallaby Airlines became the informal name for the RAAF Transport Flight Vietnam (RTFV), which later became No 35 Squadron active in Vietnam from 1964 to 1972 using the radio communications callsign Wallaby.

HARS Aviation Museum now flies two of the 307 Caribou built by De Havilland in Canada, as an ongoing tribute to Australian veterans.

HARS engineers are working to have HARS Caribou A4-234 ready to fly on Friday at about 11am.

Former RAAF and later Australian Army Huey 703 is set to fly from its base in Nowra to HARS Aviation Museum on Saturday.

Landing at 10.30am, the UH-1H Iroquois will be open for visitor inspection in between pilot flying duties before departing at 3.30pm. 

Restoration projects

Visitors over November Tarmac Days will be able to see the efforts which volunteer are putting in to a number of projects including maintenance on the world’s only flying Lockheed Super Constellation “Connie”, two-seater De Havilland Vampire jets, Consolidated PBY-6A Catalina, De Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth, Douglas C-47 Dakotas and former RAN Grumman Tracker 844.

Walking through the double delivery record-holding former Qantas Boeing 747-400 is always a visitor highlight, as is inspection of the beautifully restored “Southern Cross” which is a full-size replica of the Fokker tri-motor FV11B which Kingsford Smith and crew used to make the first crossing of the Pacific Ocean from America to Australia in 1928.

Visitor information

The largely undercover HARS Aviation Museum is open from 9.30am to 3.30pm daily, except Christmas Day, for guided tours. It is located at Shellharbour Airport, just off the old Princes Highway at Albion Park Rail and a short walk from the railway station. 

Visitors can make a meal of it when they drop into Café Connie where the menu offers a value selection of hot and cold foods plus excellent coffee.

Details of check-in at www.hars.org.au

The writer, Ian Badham OAM, is a rescue helicopter and aeromedical pioneer, and the HARS media officer.