The brilliantly restored Iroquois UH-1H helicopter is set to fly on Saturday of the January Tarmac Day display. Photo: Howard Mitchell.
The low, rhythmic thrum of engines and the sight of aircraft in motion will bring a living slice of aviation history to Shellharbour this weekend, as three iconic aircraft take centre stage at HARS Aviation Museum’s first Tarmac Days for 2026.
For visitors, the experience is a step beyond static displays. A full-size flying replica of Smithy’s famed Southern Cross, a Cold War-era RAAF Neptune and the unmistakable Vietnam-era Huey helicopter will all be in focus, giving crowds a rare chance to see and hear machines that shaped Australia’s aviation story doing exactly what they were built to do.
Volunteers from the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) have spent weeks preparing the featured trio. Among them is the full-sized Southern Cross replica built in South Australia during the 1980s and later fully restored at HARS.
It faithfully recreates the Fokker F.VIIB flown by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew in 1928, when they completed the first trans-Pacific flight from San Francisco to Brisbane — an achievement widely regarded as impossible with the technology of the era.
“It’s the aircraft I love the most — a real work of art,” HARS media officer Ian Badham says.
The replica is planned to fly on Friday and Saturday, weather permitting.
Also set to draw attention is Lockheed Neptune 273, a former RAAF maritime patrol aircraft once tasked with submarine hunting. On Saturday, visitors will be able to witness its unique combination of piston and jet engines running on the tarmac, a reminder of a transitional period in military aviation when brute piston power met early jet assistance.
But perhaps the most evocative arrival will be that of Huey 703. The former RAAF and Australian Army Iroquois helicopter is scheduled to fly in from Nowra on Saturday morning, conducting pilot training before landing at HARS Aviation Museum around midday. It will remain on display for several hours before departing mid-afternoon.
Its arrival is expected to be heard before it is seen.
“The distinctive thump thump thump of the Huey will be heard from Nowra to Shellharbour as it makes its way from our Nowra base where our engineers maintain it,” Ian says. “It will be flying up on the Saturday morning and back in the afternoon, so keep your ears and eyes peeled.”
Beyond the featured aircraft, visitors can explore around 60 significant machines from Australia’s aviation heritage. Several are open for walk-through inspections, including the Super Constellation “Connie”, the towering Boeing 747-400 and a former Queen’s Flight Dakota, offering close-up encounters with aircraft that once carried royalty, troops and civilians alike.
The museum’s large hangars provide shelter from summer sun or rain, while Café Connie and a special weekend barbecue under the wings of the 747 make it easy to linger.
Ian says Tarmac Days are carefully planned moments when the museum’s operational aircraft are brought to life.
“It’s expensive to fly aircraft and have engines operating, and most of the time our aircraft are static even though 20 out of 60 are in working order,” he says.
“We focus our flying on the Tarmac Weekends, and with our first one for the year taking place during summer school holidays, it’s a great chance for kids of all ages — up to 90 and beyond — to see propellers turning, jet engines jetting and aircraft doing what they’re built to do.”
The next HARS Aviation Museum Tarmac Days take place this Friday 9 to Sunday 11 January. Entry is $35 for adults, $30 for concessions, $15 for children ages five to 14 years and $80 for families of two adults and up to four children.
