Editor, Julie Hourigan
Email: mhouri@iinet.net.au

Six years ago Harvard VH-SFY unceremoniously suffered power failure on take off at West Sale, Victoria, Operated as part of the RAAF Museums Historic Flight the aircraft was assessed by RAAF Museum engineering staff as Cat 5 (write-off) and placed into Museum stores at RAAF Laverton.

A major departure of the undercarriage from the wing center section and subsequent spar damage being the major rectification issues that were judged to costly to perform.

Recently the aircraft was put for public auction and acquired by HARS member Rosemary Szabo. Through one of those swap and trade processes that only aviation enthusiasts are known to do, SFY has ended up in the hands of HARS engineer Bill Smith. Previously Bill has been well known for his other esoteric acquisitions such as the Ceres and Trans Avia Airtruck.

This will be a long term rebuild for Bill who is under no illusions as to what he has taken on.     .

Friday November 26th saw the Southern Cross wing leave its display area in the HARS Museum Building and head down to a new restoration area at the far end of the HARS Super Hangar complex.

Ten HARS members gathered to push and pull the 60ft long wing down the taxiway. Passing aircraft chatter included such cute comments as;

“VH-USU you are cleared for takeoff” and “thats a nice hang glider you have there ”

The Project Manager Geoff Timms has the restoration underway in many different areas including the engines and undercarriage and has assembled a formidable team to support the project.   More updates as they occur.

A dedicated team of HARS engineers travelled between Wollongong and Brisbane for 16 months to prepare this historic douglas for its ferry flight, December 2009.  Since its arrival, the Douglas has been undergoing corrosion control, electrical work and many other rectifications identified during the lead-up to its successful ferry flight.

The pictures provided below detail members of the HARS engineering team hard at work on various areas of the airframe.  The end result will be a beautiful flying example of this historic Douglas type.

Like all HARS projects, they are made possible through the generosity and vision of our donors and project sponsors.  We are proud to have some of Australia’s great miners and mining companies support the Douglas C54/DC4 project.  Through their support this aircraft will become a fixture on the Australian and New Zealand airshow circuit, as a flying tribute to all who flew and worked on them during their service in WW2 and in airline operations.

If you would like to participate or donate, please contact Mr Mike Delahunty, Project Chairman, 0418 473 175.

The historic cockpit is undergoing final restoration works, including the fitting of the forward windscreen and perspex quarter panels.  The static cockpit will form part of the impressive Fighter World collection and be on public display for visitors to enjoy.

In exchange for the restored static cockpit, Fighter World are donating many essential Beaufighter items that will be integrated into the HARS Beaufighter project.

“This is a win-win for both organisations, and something HARS are quite proud to have participated in.  Given the significance of the role that the Beaufighter played during the second world war, it will serve as a fitting reminder and tribute to those who flew and serviced them.”, HARS Treasuer – Robert Greinert.

Parallelling the Fighter World cockpit restoration, is that of the HARS flying Beaufighter project.  HARS have recently acquired additional Beaufighter resources, with exciting news to be soon announced regarding, what will become the worlds first flying Beaufighter.

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