From an amazing display of 29 model aircraft built from Lego bricks, the roar of a former French Navy Neptune’s engines to checking restoration progress of Second World War design era DC-4 and Vampire jet aircraft – this weekend’s final Tarmac Days of the year has plenty of action for the whole family at HARS Aviation Museum located at Shellharbour Airport, between Wollongong and Kiama.

Leo Bricks display – 29 aircraft models plus a tribute to the 1943 Dambusters Raid

Included in entry to the December Tarmac Days at HARS Aviation Museum is an opportunity to check out an impressive display of 29 model aircraft made with Lego bricks.

The 1:35 scale models include a Consolidated Catalina “Black Cat” of the type which HARS have on display in their museum’s undercover hangars located at Shellharbour Airport

Centrepiece is a creation by three amateur Lego enthusiasts who used more than 30,000 Lego bricks to build an amazing tribute to the RAF Dambusters Raid of 1943 called Operation Chastise.

The tribute includes not just scale model bombers over the Mohne Dam but even a bouncing bomb dropping from one of the 617 Squadron Lancasters.

The Lego team is offering a raffle chance to win a custom mini Catalina PBY kit made by Lego bricks as a tribute to the “Black Cat” Catalina which is one of more than 50 significant aircraft on show at HARS Aviation Museum.

Inspect restorations of a Berlin airlift DC-4 and a former RAAF Vampire jet

The volunteers at HARS Aviation Museum invite visitors to look behind the covers with an inspection of their huge effort to restore a unique Douglas DC-4 which look part in the Berlin airlift.

The US Air Force Historical Research Agency has notified HARS that our DC4 (technically a C-54E-15) was flying with US Air Force units in Germany during  the famous Berlin air lift back in 1948-9.

Now beautifully painted in retro 1950s Qantas colours, active effort is under way to bring this historic aircraft back to flying conndition.

The DC-4 first flew in 1942, and during the 1950s was a popular airliner in Australia used by TAA, ANA, Ansett-ANA and Qantas to carry up to 60 passengers.

The HARS Aviation Museum’s aircraft was built by Douglas Aircraft Company Inc at Santa Monica and delivered to the US Army Air force in 1945, seeing war service as serial 44-9126 and used for troop and cargo transport until 1971.

After four years of storage in an Arizona desert, she was sold to a string of owners – once even impounded in the Bahamas for alleged smuggling – then ended up in Queensland carrying freight to Pacific islands before being flown under a special permit  into Shellharbour Airport and donated to HARS Aviation Museum in 2009.

In a long-term project she is being restored to full airworthiness by volunteers with the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) into a passenger configuration as the only flying DC-4 in Australia.

Another Second World War era restoration has just reached a milestone with the reinstallation of its jet engine as volunteers aim to put a former 1`950s RAAF Vampire jet back in the air.

Visitors to the Tarmac Days will be able to check on restoration of aircraft A79-637 which was one of around 80 Vampires built by de Havilland’s Bankstown factory. 

Former French Navy Neptune 566 engine run

On Saturday, there’s a chance to watch a spectacular start-up of two radial engines.

Former French Navy Neptune 566 was found by HARS members in Tahiti in 1987 and, after two years of restoration, was flown to Australia. It is due to have an engine run between 11.10 and 1.30 on Saturday.

More than 50 significant aircraft on show

More than 50 aircraft of significance to Australia are on show at HARS Aviation Museum.

Visitors also can look at displays in the recently-opened Australian Aviation Hall of Fame which is now located at HARS Aviation Museum.

These exhibits feature memorabilia from Australia’s rich aviation history as well as information about Hall of Fame recipients such as flying pioneers Charles Kingsford Smith and Nancy Bird Walton.

Also on show is a replica of the Southern Cross which Smithy used to make the first air crossing of the Pacific Ocean, from America to Australia in 1928. The Southern Cross II is in the final stage of a 20-year restoration back to flying condition.

Located at Shellharbour Airport, just off the old Princes Highway, HARS Aviation Museum is open from 9.30 to 3.30 daily except for Christmas Day (the last guided tour starts at 2 pm).

Visitors can make a meal of it when they drop into Café Connie (open 10 am to 2 pm) where the menu offers a value selection of hot and cold foods plus barista coffee.

Details of check-in at www.hars.org.au

Pictured: A scale model of a “Black Cat” Catalina is one of 29 model aircraft built from Lego bricks which are on display during December Tarmac Days at HARS Aviation Museum. Photo: Stephen Swan