It was more than just a first powered taxi run for project manager Jim Thurstan.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The event at HARS Aviation Museum today marked the end of 11 years of painstaking restoration on the full-size replica of Charles Kingsford Smith's famous Southern Cross aircraft.
So Mr Thurstan was naturally very proud as he fired up the three Jacobs piston motors then watched as the aircraft made its first taxi run outside the museum at Shellharbour Airport.
Built in the 1980s the flying replica suffered a broken wing in an emergency landing in South Australia in May 2002, then trucked to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) museum in 2010 for a total rebuild.
HARS president Bob De La Hunty said Jim Thurstan and his team had created a magnificent restoration of the replica of arguably Australia's most famous pioneering aircraft in which Smithy and his team made the first flight from America to Australia in 1928.
"It now looks amazing, a work of art as much as a full-size replica with its 22m wingspan," Mr De La Hunty said. "Although a replica it is one of Australia's most significant pioneering aircraft and our target is to have it in the air again during 2022."
Registered with Smithy's original VH-USU, the Southern Cross II has flown only 555 hours. She is the largest "exact replica" aircraft in the world and has the largest one-piece wing ever made in Australia.
The Illawarra Mercury newsroom is funded by our readers. You can subscribe to support our journalism here.
Sign up for breaking news emails below ...