Pinback Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 Hi- Part 2 The Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (H.A.R.S.) has its main museum at Albion Park, south of Sydney. HARS at Parkes was set up originally as a storage facility but is now also evolving into a museum in it’s own right. At the present time it's only open two days a week. Its not a large collection but you can access most of the aircraft so if you like poking about then you should enjoy your visit. The DHC Caribou. I have only seen Caribous "wheelbarrowing" down a runway. I don't know of any other aircraft that can do this but sure there must be others. Inside looking toward the cockpit The flaps are impressive The P3C Orion A9-759 has been left as it was when it retired. It's last mission was searching the Indian Ocean for the missing MH370. There is an airworthy Orion at HARS Albion Park. The sonobuoys were mainly loaded externally but extra could be loaded from the cabin if the need arose. Long nacelles ! There are two Neptunes (and an airworthy one at Albion Park). There were crew entrance hatches in the lower rear fuselage and through the nosewheel bay. Blue 302 survived a belly landing in 1951 Neptune A89- 272 Blue '302' is older, entering service in 1951. The rear cabins are quite different with '302' looking more WWII vintage and '272' having a bit of insulation. Looking aft in 302- check the spider top left . I was advised that there should be no red backs but was still a bit wary (!). Looking forward Looking forward in the comfier '272' toward the cockpit. I wasn't going to clamber over the wingspar as I would have probably collapsed in a heap on the other side and would probably still be there now. Inside at the museum entrance is an accessible Wessex, Convair cockpit and AH-1 Cobra These were the best shots I could get of the Convair 580. The plan is to get it airworthy. The Lycoming engined Heron is in the markings for VH AHB which was scrapped. (I think its VH-NJI) Does anyone know what this is ? I think it may be a T28 Trojan (forward to the right) Parkes is a regional airport. This is a Rex Airlines Saab 340 off to Sydney Rockwell Aero Commander ..and lastly the main destination for this part of the trip - The Dish at Parkes. It was looking at pulsars that day and would suddenly start moving every now and then - which was a bit unnerving 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swamp Donkey Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 Cool collection there, and lovely shots. Not sure I’d be getting on that P3 with the monster spider! SD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 That does look good, those are on my list for a trip to Aus, when & if it occurs. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spruecutter96 Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 Thanks for sharing these photos with us. It looks like a great collection and well worth a visit. Did Australia ever use the Huey Cobra? Or is it "on loan" from the Yanks? The combination of infra-red sensors in the nose and minigun armament is an usual one (you'd expect it to be a three-barelled, 20mm cannon). This kinda suggests it might be a very early / developmental Cobra. Very interesting to see, nonetheless. Cheers. Chris. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinback Posted January 12, 2022 Author Share Posted January 12, 2022 On 1/10/2022 at 7:17 PM, Swamp Donkey said: Not sure I’d be getting on that P3 with the monster spider! Thanks and, yep - there were more spiders (!) so didn't do too much clambering about On 1/10/2022 at 9:47 PM, spruecutter96 said: Did Australia ever use the Huey Cobra? Hi Chris - They had an order for Cobras but it was cancelled way back in 1971 - they went for UH-1 Hueys and Kiowas. The Kiowas were only recently retired. - This one is American. Not sure if there is another Cobra at Albion but the site says: "The HARS Cobra was built in 1976 as an AH-1S. It was re-designated after 1988 as an AH-1P after fitting of a flat plate canopy, improved instrument and control panel layout, and five infrared lights for night-time operation. She was built after the Vietnam War, but saw service in the 1st Gulf War." So that may answer your observations 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spruecutter96 Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 Thanks very much for your comprehensive answer, Pinback. She's the first Cobra I've ever seen with this weapons / sensor arrangement. I would take a guess she's a very rare bird. Cheers. Chris. PS: Is your Avatar-name a Dark Star reference? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinback Posted January 16, 2022 Author Share Posted January 16, 2022 On 1/12/2022 at 11:03 PM, spruecutter96 said: PS: Is your Avatar-name a Dark Star reference Yep! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Great pictures, thanks for sharing ! These are two museums I totally missed during my time in NSW, looks like I missed quite a lot... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinback Posted January 19, 2022 Author Share Posted January 19, 2022 On 1/17/2022 at 8:26 PM, Giorgio N said: these are two museums I totally missed during my time in NSW, Sembra una buona scusa per tornare qui 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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