HARS Museum at Parkes Airport

Down Under Aviation News recently spent some time at Parkes Airport inspecting the growing HARS Museum collection.

We spent a while talking to Bill Barber who is a key volunteer at the HARS Museum at Parkes Airport in Central West NSW. Bill oversees the HARS Parkes facility and gave DUAN an overview of the operations, museum work and future plans.

Some may wonder – why is HARS, a south coast NSW operation is creating a museum out at Parkes?

The answer is one word – space.

Many people are aware that HARS’s primary base is the Albion Park Airport where it has a museum and repair workshop but they have had also out at Parkes for many years a spare parts and storage base. The Parkes storage site was started off as space for some of HARS’s unrestored aircraft and spare parts storage. In the last few years some airframes that weren’t needed there were moved out to Parkes along with others either flown in or trucked in, so the collection has grown bigger at Parkes.

As some may know, the Albion Park facility every year becomes a tighter fit with more and more operational and static aircraft appearing. The HARS fleet has grown from a small collection over a few decades and now has taken up 2 large hangars and a workshop at the Albion Park airport. An overview of the Albion Park aircraft collection may give you some idea why Parkes is needed. The Albion Park aircraft include the ever popular Super Constellation, 747, DC-4, SP-2H Neptunes, PBY Catalina, Sabre Jet, Canberra, Mirage, Vampires, Drover, Harvard, Wirraway, F-111 AP-3C Orion, Caribou, a planned B707, Kiowa helicopters, a 707 nose, Winjeel, S-2 Tracker. Just in the last few weeks a Fokker F-27 Friendship has arrived flown in from NZ. As the collection at Albion Park has expanded, more room is and will be needed to cater for future growth plans.

Back at Parkes Airport, this location is no stranger to civil and military aircraft. During WW2 period of 1940 through to post war to 1946 the airport was a key Royal Australian Air Force base. The Parkes Airport has remains of some of Australia’s rarest WW2 Hangar – the Bellmans. Currently, 3 hangars still exist at the airport and the HARS Museum is based in one. The other 2 hold aviation businesses. These hangars were very busy during WW2 and so was the airfield as it housed the following units:

No.1 Air Navigation School flying the Avro Anson,
No.2 Wireless Air Gunners School which operated the Tigermoth, CAC Wackett, Rapide Dragon and Douglas DC-2,
No.8 Operational Training Unit (OTU) which operated the CAC Wirraway,
CAC Boomerang, Supermarine Spitfire, Curtis Kittyhawk aircraft and
Airspeed Oxford,
No.87 Photo Reconnaissance Unit (PRU) which operated the British designed Mosquito and CAC Wirraways,
A lesser known unit was the Central Flying School (CFS) which in 1944 operated from the base utilising the CAC Wirraway, Airspeed Oxford, CAC Boomerang, Curtis Kittyhawk and DAP Beaufort.

In the Bellman hangar, HARS uses it alongside a local crop dusting business. We saw 2 crop dusters separated by a wall from the HARS collection.

DUAN observed the following aircraft on static display and some others which we couldn’t access at this time.

THE COLLECTION

Starting off from the entrance you have historical photos and airfield history notes on the left side of the hangar. These provide a very informative and clear idea of how important the base was in WW2. Spotting the views of the airport looking down you can see many Spitfires lined up waiting for flights.

Cessna 150E VH-DML

At the front left is a colourful red and white 1964 era Cessna 150E VH-DML. Some may wonder what a Cessna 150 is doing in a museum collection. This is no ordinary aircraft – it was owned and flown by Australia’s first female Aboriginal pilot Virginia Wykes. Virginia obtained her pilot’s licence in 1982. She then went on to purchase the Cessna aircraft in 1991 and this has in recent times now become part of the collection at Parkes. HARS intends to keep her aircraft in a non flying but operational status.

Fairey Gannetcockpit section

Behind the entry desk is a camouflaged Fairey Gannet cockpit/ground procedure trainer cockpit once used by the Royal Australian Navy. This is a 1950s-1960s era item that was used to train aircrew prior to flying in the aircraft.

Lockheed 12A Electra, VH-BHH

This aircraft is a 1939 vintage Lockheed 12A Electra and was used for military and civil operations. During WW2 was taken on by the USAAF operating as UC-40D with serial 42-38348. It was then transferred to the RAF as LA623 and flown in a Metropolitan Communications Squadron. After the war ended it was passed onto civil hands and was acquired by Sidney Cotton’s company Australian company Aeronautical and Industrial Research Corporation and arrived in Australia in 1952 and flew with several European and Australian operators like Zinc Corporation, Silver City Airways and ended its days as flying ambulance with Bush Church Aid Society for Australia and Tasmania. It had a landing accident in 1960 and was seriously damaged. It was then moved through various private owners and acquired by the NASMA museum in 1995. The aircraft then went through more hands ending up at Nowra Navy Museum and then on loan to HARS from 2010. The aircraft could be a potential long term flyer with much more work to be done. When DUAN visited the aircraft was undergoing a fuselage repaint.

De Havilland DH-114 Heron VH-NJI

This large aircraft was a passenger transport and many operated across Australia by various airlines. This Heron had flown overseas for a number of airlines before coming to Australia. It was operated as VH-NJI it from 1991 to 1995 by a short lived airline based in Bankstown – named Heron Airlines. The aircraft is painted in markings of the former Butler Air Transport business with VH-AHB registration. It is planned to add the wings and engines at a later date thus completing the restoration.

Bell AH-1P Cobra Gunship 76-22592

This item mostly turns people’s head…..as Australia never operated the Cobra (so far) in military service. This Cobra is 1 of 2 AH-1 Cobras owned by HARS and there are 2 more in other museums in Australia. RAAF personnel did fly AH-1 Cobras in Vietnam War. From these trials in 1970 the Government chose to buy a select number of AH-1G Cobras but the plan didn’t go ahead in 1971 and the order for 11 airframes was cancelled. The RAAF used the UH-1H Bushranger gunships instead. The Parkes example is mostly intact and could be flown with further overhaul but unfortunately, his is not likely to ever happen due to the restrictive laws covering the Cobra operations as a warbird.

North American T-6 Harvard/Texan VH-SFY

This brightly coloured aircraft was once operated by the RNZAF as NZ1060. Sold off alongside many other Harvards, this aircraft it made its way to Australia and operated over the years with various owners including the RAAF Museum. While with the RAAFM it suffered serious damage in a 2004 incident when it had an engine failure after landing
West Sale Airport and then ground looped. It was at Albion Park but moved to Parkes and is undergoing a slow rebuild to make it potentially flyable at a later date.

GAF Jindivink A92-22

People in the modern era think drones are all recent inventions but they go back to WW2 era. In the 1950s drone development was underway in Australia with the Australian designed and built Government Aircraft Factory Jindivink being created and then coming into service soon after. Some 182 were flown between the RAAF (161) and RAN (21) respectively. The design was so successful that export orders for the British, US Navy and Sweden rolled in over the years. The museums has colourful Jindivink A92-22 which was built as a Mk2 version. Jindivinks were powered by the Rolls Royce Viper engine which could produce 1,640lb of thrust. With this engine the small design could be very agile and adaptable to mission profiles while carrying a small payload.

PZL PS-11 Iskra

Moved from Albion Park to Parkes is this former Polish Air Force manufactured trainer jet. A handful of these were imported into Australia during the 1990s as warbirds and some still fly but not as often.

Outside the hangar is found a few more of the larger airframes.

De Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou A4-275

A former 35 and 38 SQN airframe its last flight was in 2009. Acquired by HARS Parkes in 2016 it was trucked down from Oakey storage and has been rebuilt over the last few years. Further work is still needing to be done, such as tail attachment to the fuselage before it is complete. It is now one of 4 airframes in the HARS collection. ( 2 flying Caribous A4-210 and A4-234 and one fuselage A4-179 are found at Albion Park.

Located inside the hangar is a model Caribou.

Convair 580 VH-PDW

Next to the Caribou is a not too common aircraft for Australia – a turbine powered Convair 580. This is not a one off Convair item in the HARS collection as they have a few Convair products – the collection has already a Convair 440 based at Albion Park and in the longer term they are to supplement this example with a Convair C-131 from the USA once it is fully restored and flown across the Pacific. The Convair passenger transport aircraft design date to the late 1940s and in the 1960s turbines were to the CV-340 model and then renamed as Convair 580s. This aircraft was built in 1953 as a CV-340 for United Airlines. In 1966 it was converted to 580 model by Pacific Airmotive Corporation which saw the piston engines replaced with two Allison 501 D13D/H turboprop engines using four-blade propellers along with modified horizontal stabilisers and an enlarged vertical fin. The aircraft was operated in Canada by various operators and then imported into Australia in 2007. It then joined the fleet at Pionair Australia hauling cargo around the
country and region until it was withdrawn from use in 2017. It is kept in flyable condition at Parkes.

Lockheed SP-2H Neptune A89-272

Out of sight on the day DUAN visited was another big aircraft, the SP-2H Neptune. This airframe was operated by 10 Squadron from 1962 up to the 1970s when the type was replaced by the P-3 Orion, which is now in 2018 being replaced by the P-8. This airframe was at one time on display as a gate guard at Townsville but in 2011 a severe cyclone caused damage to it. The other SP-2H at Townsville A89-280 which also suffered from the cyclone was merged with this damaged airframe to form one useable aircraft which is now out front of the base. Meanwhile in 2017 A89-272 was put up for tender to be preserved and HARS was given ownership of this Neptune. This example was moved from RAAF base Townsville base to Parkes and is now one of 4 Neptunes with HARS – 1 flyable, 1 undergoing long term restoration to fly and 1 static. Neptune A89-272 is requiring some rework of airframe components and structure age related problems along with weather exposure before it can be made suitable for static display again.

OTHER VIEWS OF THE COLLECTION

FUTURE MUSEUM COLLECTION EXPANSION

There are a few more interesting exhibits to come to the collection at Parkes soon so stay tuned for more news………..

GENERAL AIRPORT OPERATIONS

While at Parkes Airport we were also shown around the civil area and the Parkes Aero Club. This aero club building is part of the WW2 buildings that remains and this structure has been modified.