Historical Aircraft Restoration Society, Aircraft museum and hangar in Shellharbour, Australia
The Historical Aircraft Restoration Society is an aircraft museum and hangar at Shellharbour Airport, south of Sydney. Its collection includes a Qantas Boeing 747-438 named "City of Canberra", which set a record for the longest un-refuelled flight by a commercial aircraft in 1989 and was flown to Shellharbour in February 2015 in a 12-minute delivery flight. A Lockheed AP-3C Orion, the only P-3 Orion flying as an operational warbird anywhere in the world, is also kept here.
The society was founded in 1979 with the aim of saving Australian aircraft from both wartime and peacetime eras from being scrapped. Over the decades, the collection has grown through donations and ongoing restoration projects.
Volunteers, including former pilots and engineers, restore the aircraft by hand and aim to keep as many as possible in flying condition. Visitors can often watch the work in progress and speak directly with the people doing it.
It is worth checking ahead of time which aircraft are on display and which are currently being worked on, as the mix changes regularly. Since the site sits on an active airfield, you may also catch real flight operations while you are there.
One of the last airworthy Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellations in the world is kept here and can be seen up close. This four-engine propeller aircraft was among the most recognized long-haul planes of the 1950s.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,784 contributors worldwide.
