Committee:
President: R.J. (Bob) De La Hunty OAM
Bob De La Hunty comes from a corporate background and is on the board of numerous companies including The Aerospace Foundation of Australia Limited and The Maritime and Defence Foundation of Australia Limited. As President, Bob manages the overall operation of the Society. He ensures that the Society is continually focused in accordance with its mission statement.
Bob is also responsible for the managers who control the day to day individual projects and activities of the Society. These persons directly supervise the active projects and the maintenance of all of our aircraft. He is also directly involved in the selection of new projects that are referred to the Society.
Bob, in conjunction with other Executive Committee Members, involves himself in the promotion of the Society at all levels. He is also the Society’s Chief Pilot and the endorsing pilot for both the Super Constellation and the Neptune aircraft.
He is an Executive Committee Member of the Temora Aviation Museum.
In the Queen’s Birthday 2000 Honours Lists Bob received the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in recognition for his services to Aviation and Australian Aviation Heritage specifically mentioning the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society.
Vice – President: Maureen Massey
Maureen was in senior management at Boeing /Hawker de Havilland for 31 years before retiring in 2008. Her background has always been in aviation and engineering, filling the role of Corporate Communications Manager before transferring to Engineering Design until retiring.
Maureen is widely versed in computer applications including financial, engineering and technical publications. She is the manager of the de Havilland Aviation collection which has been transferred to HARS for long term preservation. This collection includes four historical aircraft, the DH3A de Havilland Drover and DH82A Tiger Moth which are airworthy, and the CA27 Sabre and DH110 Vampire.
Maureen was the HARS treasurer and then Secretary and now Vice President.
Treasurer: David Neaves
David is a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Accountancy from the University of Wollongong. He has been in Public Practice for 30 years, the last 15 as Principal. He is a Fellow of the Australian Society of CPAs (FCPA) and a member of the Sports Aircraft Association of Australia (SAAA) and Australian Warbirds Association, member of the National Tax Agents Association and Australian Taxpayers Association.
David joined the Society in 2004 and owns 4 GA aircraft.
Honorary Secretary: Ian Debenham OAM
Ian is a former Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer and holds an Honours Degree in History and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Museum Studies. He is a retired Curator of Transport (Aviation and Maritime) and current volunteer at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (Powerhouse). As a Curator he was an advisor on aviation heritage matters to both the NSW State and Federal Governments.
Ian is a founding Committee member of the Australian Aviation Museum at Bankstown and of the Lawrence Hargrave Commemorative Committee. He is a former President, current Life Member and Committee member of the Australian Aviation Historical Society of Australia (NSW).
Ian is a current Director of Historical Aircraft Projects Pty. Ltd. (HARS contracted engineering company) and was a member of the Super Constellation recovery team in Tucson and the Dakota recovery team in Edinburgh.
On the 11 th of May 2012 Ian was invested with an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) “for services to the research, documentation and preservation of Australia’s aviation history and heritage”.
Committee Member: Malcolm Hallowes
Malcolm Hallowes background is QANTAS Engineering, senior management. Among his management appointments at QANTAS Malcolm held the position as Maintenance Planning Controller responsible for planning major maintenance activity for the QANTAS fleet together with the RAAF C-130 and B707 aircraft. He also holds signature approvals for C-130 engines & airframe together with B707 airframe and Skyhawk A4G engine & airframe. In addition, Malcolm has previous experience working on DC3, DC4, L749 Constellation, L1049 Super Constellation, B707 and L188 both engines and airframes.
Malcolm is the CASA Authorised Maintenance Controller for the Society. He directly manages all operations relating to engineering maintenance over the HARS fleet of aircraft.
Committee Member: William Smith
William is a Licenced Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (LAME) in airframe and engine trades.
He joined HARS in September 1990 his membership number being 14. His first overseas trip was to Tucson, Arizona to work on the Super Constellation. Since that time William has been involved in other recovery projects such as both C-47’s, Winjeel, Wirraway, Tracker, Firefly, Ceres, DC4 aircraft and led most of the engineering teams.
His work load is very significant as he is currently working and supervising the return to flying condition of the Tracker, Neptune 566, Me 108, Ceres and Morava aircraft.
William’s involvement in the HARS Management Team is of the utmost importance.
Committee Member: Gordon Glynn
Gordon has been a HARS member since 1980 and is also a HARS life member.
He is a self employed businessman currently contracting to the aviation industry for warbirds and general aviation sectors. He was formerly an accounting supervisor in the metalwork industry.
Gordon is a private pilot with various ratings on a wide variety of aircraft including the HARS Catalina and Neptune.
He was also a member of the recovery team for Neptune and Catalina overseas.
Gordon is a supporter of the Temora Aviation Museum and a member of the HARS engineering team.
Committee Member: Ross Kelly
Ross joined HARS in November 2000. For the last 31 years he has been an airline pilot with QANTAS and is recently retired as Captain on the Airbus A380.
During his time in HARS he has made use of his Semi Trailer/B Double truck licence and has assisted with the move from our Bankstown and Kent Road facilities to our current headquarters at the Illawarra Regional Airport, Albion Park Rail NSW. In addition, Ross has been involved in other transportation missions to Brisbane, Melbourne and Parkes.
Ross assists the Chief Pilot with Flight Operations and is a Captain on both the Constellation and Neptune aircraft.
He is presently working on the recovery of the C131 (Convair 340) in Tucson, USA.
Committee Member: Robert Greinert
TBA
Committee Member: Douglas Haywood
Doug has been a member of HARS since 1993. His aviation career started at Bankstown, learning to fly while still at High School. He joined the RAAF in 1976, flying BAC 1-11 VIP, Hercules C-130H, and instructed on CT-4A and HS 748 until 1984.
Joined Qantas in 1984, he is a currently a Check and Training Captain on the Airbus A380, and has flown and instructed on the B747 (Classic to 400) previously.
He has been involved in the Warbird movement for many years, and was part owner of a CAC Wirraway in the 1990s. He is now part owner of a CAC P-51D Mustang, based at Caboolture.
At HARS he has been the Project Manager for the Caribous since acquisition in 2011. Co-captained our Convair from South Africa to Albion Park in 2017. He flies the Caribou, Dakota, Convair 440, Constellation and Tiger Moth and whatever else he can get his hands on.
Captain Haywood is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS).
Committee Member: John Croll
TBA
Governance:
HARS is an incorporated association governed by a constitution that can be viewed here.
Members of HARS are expected to behave in an exemplary manner governed by a code of conduct that can be viewed here.