It was allocated to10 Squadron, which then operated out of Townsville, as an Anti-Submarine Reconnaissance aircraft, and was one of a total of 24 Neptunes operated by RAAF 10 and 11 Squadrons. It served with 10 Squadron from March 1962 until being retired from RAAF service in May 1977 when it was placed in storage at Townsville awaiting disposal. During its years of service A89-273 logged a total of 5476 flying hours.

Long after the aircraft was de-commissioned it was acquired from a private owner in Townsville by members of the Society in a partly restored condition.

Since its total restoration over 10 years ago, this aircraft has been on the Air Show circuit thrilling audiences with an imaginative flying routine.  In November 1996, the Society commenced an extensive maintenance program on Neptune A89-273 from nose to tail, culminating in the aircraft being declared airworthy again in January 1998. All maintenance was carried out by our own engineering team.

In November 1999, the Society had great pride in returning 273 back to its old squadron at Edinburgh Air Force Base in South Australia to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the formation of 10 Squadron in 1939. Edinburgh is now the home base for this squadron. Neptune A89-273 VH-IOY is the only former RAAF Lockheed Neptune flying in Australia and is maintained, operated and crewed by members of HARS who maintain a high degree of maintenance and safety, and continually strive to maintain the aircraft in immaculate condition. With large amounts of spare parts and engines available it is anticipated that Neptune A89-273 will continue to be maintained in a flying condition and appearing at air shows throughout Australia for many years to come.

Lockheed Neptune P2V-7 A89-273 VH-IOY

Aircraft Specifications

Purpose Long range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft

Length 28 m  |  91 ft 8 in

Wing Span  37.7 m  |  103 ft 10 in

Height 8.5 m  |  28 ft

Wing Area 92.9 sq m  |  1,000 sq ft

Maximum Take Off Weight 36,240 kg  |  79,895 lbs

Empty Weight 22,650 kg  |  49,935 lbs

Maximum Speed 664 km/h  |  410 mph (375 kt)

Cruise Speed 302 km/h  |  188 mph (175 kt)

Initial Climb Rate 536 m/min  |  1,760 ft/min

Maximum Range 5930 kms  |  3685 nm

Service Ceiling  11,750 m  |  38,550 ft

Crew Total 10 aircrew

Search Light 70 million candlepower located on the starboard

wingtip

Radar & Other Electronics Main radar housed in large ventral dome. Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) located in the (Stinger) glass fibre tail boom

Armament Two .05 in (12.7 mm) machine guns in dorsal turret, provision for underwing rockets and up to 8,000 lbs (3628 kg) of bombs, torpedoes, depth charges or mines.  Equipped for day and night torpedo attack, mine laying, mast level bombing and photo reconnaissance. The Aircraft can carry a variey of equipment for use against ships and submarines.

Engines

Radial Engines 2 x Wright compound 18 cylinder R3350-32W air-cooled radial piston engines

•  Maximum Power 2,610 kw  |  3,500 hp

• Displacement 55 ltr  |  3350 cu in

•  Propellors 4 blade (steel), constant speed, full feathering, reversible.

Jet Engines - 2 x Westinghouse J34-WE turbo jet engines

• Thrust 1,542 kg  |  3,400 lb

In 1987 a representative from HARS attended a conference held in Tahiti and contact was made with the French Embassy in respect to obtaining a French Neptune. Upon arrival at Tahiti-FAAA (Papeete’s International Airport) three were sighted, one partially burnt, one stripped of its engines and the other (147566) appeared to be intact. These three Neptune aircraft were all that remained of Escardrille 12. An inspection of Neptune 566 revealed that although some instruments were missing, the aircraft was in sound condition and its tanks still contained 2000 lbs of fuel. The aircraft was located in an area that could easily be described as a swamp, into which it was slowly sinking.

The original intention was to acquire and dismantle the aircraft as a source of spare parts for the Society’s other Neptune (273), however after viewing the documentation, the decision was made to restore the aircraft to flying condition in Tahiti and fly it back to Australia. It had flown a total of 2,430 hours and was considered to be in excellent condition as the aircraft had been extensively overhauled just prior to being de-commissioned in 1983.

After further negotiations the title was transfered to HARS. There were a number of trips to Tahiti before Neptune 566 was finally made ready by HARS members for the ferry flight to Australia in July 1989. Neptune 566 was placed on the Australian civil register as VH-LRR, and after a number of public appearances at air shows, was positioned to Tamworth for storage and care. In September 1999 the aircraft was ferried from Tamworth to Bankstown and than in January 2003 it was flown to the new HARS base at the Illawarra Regional Airport where the overhaul work continues pending return to full flying status.

Lockheed Neptune P2V-7 (566)

Aircraft Specifications

Purpose Long range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft

Length 28 m  |  91 ft 8 in

Wing Span 37.7 m  |  103 ft 10 in

Height 8.5 m  |  28 ft

Wing Area 92.9 sq m  |  1,000 sq ft

Maximum Take Off Weight 36,240 kg  |  79,895 lbs

Empty Weight 22,650 kg  |  49,935 lbs

Maximum Speed 664 km/h  |  410 mph (375 kt)

Cruise Speed 302 km/h  |  188 mph (175 kt)

Initial Climb Rate 536 m/min  |  1,760 ft/min

Maximum Range 5930 kms  |  3685 nm

Service Ceiling 11,750 mm |  38,550 ft

Crew |  Total 10 aircrew

Search Light |  70 million candlepower located on the starboard  wingtip

Radar & Other Electronics |  Main radar housed in large ventral dome. Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) located in the (Stinger) glass fibre tail boom

Armament |  Two .05 in (12.7 mm) machine guns in dorsal turret, provision for underwing rockets and up to 8,000 lbs (3628 kg) of bombs, torpedoes, depth charges or mines.

Equipped for day and night torpedo attack, mine laying, mast level bombing and photo reconnaissance. The Aircraft can carry a variey of equipment for use against ships and submarines.

Engines

2 Wright compound 18 cylinder R3350-32W air-cooled radial piston engines

•  Maximum Power 2,610 kw  |  3,500 hp

•  Displacement 55 ltr |  3350 cu in

•  Propellors 4 blade (steel), constant speed, full feathering, reversible.

2 Westinghouse J34-WE turbo jet engines

•  Thrust 1,542 kg  |  3,400 lb

This service was the first such trans global service in world airline history.

‘Connie’ as it is affectionately known, was originally built as a C-121C for the United States Air Force, serial number 54-0157, c/n 4176, and was delivered on 6 October 1955 when it was allocated to the 1608th Military Air Transport Wing based at Charleston, South Carolina. On 25 July 1962 it was transferred to the Mississippi Air National Guard and on 14 February 1967 it moved on to West Virginia Air National Guard, where it served for the next five years. Connie’s last active duty was with the Pennsylvania Air National Guard from mid 1972 until its relegation to storage at Davis Monthan Air Base at Tucson, Arizona in June 1977.

In 1990 some Society members were in Tucson collecting Neptune spares and saw this derelict Super Constellation. In a moment of madness the thought occurred that it should be recovered to complete Australia’s aviation history and negotiations commenced for its acquisition.

Considered obsolete and of no further use, storage maintenance ceased in 1981 and as a result was designated of scrap value only. In addition most of the engine accessories and instruments had been cannibalised. Failure to re-seal the aircraft after an inspection permitted access to legions of birds to nest and foul the interior over many years. This in turn discouraged the scrap metal merchants from bidding on the aircraft due to the infestation of guano and the subsequent imperfections that it would cause in the smelting of the aluminium.

In November 1991, HARS started what was to become a major project when  54-0157 was placed in our care for restoration and delivery to Australia. Relying solely on volunteer labour and aiming at a high standard of restoration and serviceability, the project was to take five years. The restoration work commenced in May 1992 at Pima Air & Space Museum and in September 1994 the Super Constellation took to the air after nearly eighteen years on the ground. Another solid year of work was required to prepare the aircraft for the Pacific crossing and in late 1995 final flight training was undertaken. On 3 February 1996 the Super Constellation VH-EAG arrived in Sydney after an incident free crossing of 39.5 hours flying time. Stops on the delivery flight to Australia were made at Oakland, Honolulu, Pago Pago and Nadi.

The major difficulty in the restoration process was the need for the volunteers to continually travel to Tucson to carry out the restoration work. This was time consuming and costly. However, the assistance given by both organisations and the countless individuals in the US and Australia eased the volunteers’ burden and made the restoration process a rewarding experience.

Brief statistics on this project were:

• 16,000 man hours were expended on the project (all volunteered)

• Some $800,000 in cash was raised

• Approximately $1.2m was raised in sponsorship services

• 47 team trips were mounted, each averaging 14 days

• 38 hours of crew training was accomplished before the delivery flight

Lockheed super constellation "Connie" VH-EAG

Aircraft Specifications

Lockheed L1049-F / C-121C Super Constellation Aircraft

Length 35.4 m 116 ft 2 in

Wing Span 37.5 m  123 ft

Height 7.5 m  24 ft 9 in

Maximum Take Off Weight Fuel

• 115/145Octane (Not Available) 62,370 kg 137,500 lbs

• 100/130 Low Lead Fuel 54,545 kg 120,000 lbs

Maximum Landing Weight

• 115/145Octane Fuel (Not Available) 51,256 kg 113,000 lbs

• 100/130 Low Lead Fuel 46,039 kg 101,500 lbs

Maximum Fuel Capacity  24,790 ltr  5453 Imp. gal

Total Engine Oil Capacity 830 ltr 186 Imp. gal

Maximum Cruise Speed 480 km/h 300 mph (260 kt)

Approach Speed 185 km/h  115 mph

Stall Speed

• Landing 153 km/h 96 mph (83 kt)

• Clean 194 km/h 119 mph (104 kt)

Maximum Range 5560 kms 3450 mls (2996 nm)

Maximum Endurance 16.5 hrs 16.5 hrs

Maximum Cruise Altitude 7620 m 25,000 ft

Crew

• Civil Version 5 technical and 4 cabin

• Military Version 4 technical and 1 cabin

Passengers

• Civil Version 59 - 87 Qantas configuration

• Military Version Up to a maximum of 106

Engines

Fuel injected, twin row 18 cylinder turbo compound supercharged radial engine

Civil Version 4 Curtiss-Wright TC18 EA3

Military Version 4 Curtiss-Wright R3350-93A

Power Plant Weight 2702 kg  4568 lbs

Displacement 55 ltr  3350 cu in

Maximum Power

• 115/145Octane Fuel (Not Available) 2535 kW 3400 hp

• 100/130 Low Lead Fuel 2148 kW 2880 hp

Cruise Power (Typical at 200 Knots) 1080 kW 1450 hp

Fuel Consumption (Per hour/engine at cruise) 445 ltr 100 Imp. gal

Oil Consumption (Per hour/engine at cruise) 9 ltr 2 Imp. gal

RPM

• Take Off 2900

• Cruise Typical 2200

• Idle 800

Maximum MAP (Manifold Pressure)

• 115/145 Octane Fuel (Not Available) 54”

• 100/130 Low Lead Fuel 52”

Other Important Information

Each engine has 3 exhaust power recovery turbines delivering 112 kW / 150 hp each (at take off)

Overhaul Life  Subject to condition, but generally

US Airfoce 2700 hr

US Navy 3400 hr

Propellors Hamilton standard 43H 60. 3 blade (aluminium),

constant speed, full feathering, reversible.

Propellor RPM  Approximately half engine speed