After nearly 12 months of routine maintenance and continuing restoration, the HARS PBY6A Catalina moved from the back of hangar 3 into the light once more, ready to fly again. The left and right leading edges of the main wing were removed, inspected, minor repairs carried out and then replaced on the aircraft. The crew continued with the interior restoration of the aircraft, the two gun posts for the blister compartment being manufactured and fitted and painting of the Navigator/Radio Operator compartment carried out. HARS has now been granted an “Imitation Firearms Permit” by the NSW Police Firearms Registry so we will soon be able to display two replica .50 calibre machine guns on the new gun posts.
