Regrettably, only six riders met at Heathcote Ampol for another pilgrimage to Albion Park Rail. Namely: Martin (The Bus), Norm (Nippy), Dave (Half-Way), Andrew (Spud), Keith (Gorilla) and myself (Bullfrog). So, down the OPH, through the R.N.P., down Mt Keira and then onto H.A.R.S. at Albion Park Rail. We lost one rider, Gorilla, who turned off at Mt Ousley as he had business in the ‘Gong.
It was again time we did another trip to that remarkable establishment on the South Coast. First a bit of background, the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society Inc (HARS) is a not-for-profit organisation formed in 1979 by a group of aviation enthusiasts interested in preserving Australian Aviation history. Their mission is to recover and restore to flying condition (where possible) aircraft that have played a significant part in Australian Aviation history. It is now one of the largest and hosts some unique collections of aircraft in the Southern Hemisphere.
The museum attracts over 20,000 visitors annually and houses more than 50 aircraft of historical significance, many of which are maintained in airworthy condition – I can vouch for this as I regularly have their aircraft do a fly-over. HARS tells the story of civil and military aviation history in Australia. I might also note that elements of the HARS collection are regularly used for fashion and wedding photo shoots and some of their aircraft have been used in film production.
After a pleasant morning tea in Café Connie in our own private area. We were greeted by HARS’s very informative guide John, who gave us an informative and detailed run-down of all the exhibits we saw – most are hands-on, and it was a pleasure to inspect these aircraft. All had some kind of historical connotations and John’s explanations proved exceptionally incisive.
Won’t go into the details of all the planes we were able to inspect there – much too many. Might reiterate, most of the collection have a link to Australian Aviation, which added to their curiosity. Can’t articulate enough of how interesting and enjoyable this whole experience turned out to be.
The day finished with a cuppa at Café Connie. Though can’t say enough about how entertaining and enjoyable the HARS experience was for me and hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as myself. Feel extremely sorry for those that missed it – will have to do it again. You’ll just have to get on your bikes (or cars) and take a trip down/up there to share the experience we were lucky enough to enjoy.
Gerry Bloemen
# 1309
