Restoration works on a flying replica of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's famous Southern Cross aeroplane have been given a $30,000 boost by Airservices, the provider of Australia's air navigation services.
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The restoration to full flight status of the Southern Cross II (a Fokker F.VIIb/3m tri-motor monoplane) is a project of the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society based at the Illawarra Regional Airport at Albion Park Rail.
The replica was originally built in the late 1980s, but has been grounded since 2001 after it made a forced landing due to landing gear failure during a flight in Adelaide. The plane was transferred into the ownership of HARS and the plane's body has been in the HARS hangar for about eight years.
Since the arrival of the main wing from Adelaide in 2010, volunteers have devoted their time to the project they hope to have complete in mid-2016.
In 1928, Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm became the first to make the 11,585-kilometre flight across the Pacific Ocean.
The Southern Cross has a close affinity with the South Coast, with Seven Mile Beach, near Gerringong, being where it took off on the first commercial flight to New Zealand in 1933.
HARS project manager Geoff Timms said once the Southern Cross II returned to the skies, the plan was to have the aircraft embark on national tours "to educate the nation about Smithy's achievements".
