John Travolta still expected to pilot his Qantas jet into Shellharbour Airport for HARS

Since the Hollywood heavyweight gifted a vintage Qantas 707 to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society, the not-for-profit has spent nearly $1 million to get it air-worthy and they're determined to see it through, even if they have to spend twice that.

Read more: Illawarra mayors united in disgust after Newcastle's tourism win

HARS President Bob De La Hunty said the aim was to fly the jet to Albion Park ready for the city's new airshow in March 2024, while he hoped Travolta would keep his promise to be in the cockpit.

"There's every chance that we could do it; we've also got John's commitment to come with it," he said.

"We're working to make that happen, but it's aviation and you can take a number of steps forward and then sometimes you take a lot back.

"There's a lot of regulatory stuff we need to cover, but we want to make sure the aircraft is 100 per cent safe and serviceable."

Read more: Five theatre shows to catch around the Illawarra this June

The time-frame for the project - and the cost - has blown out extensively but Mr De La Hunty said they've successfully resurrected other expensive, decade-long projects (like finding the derelict Super Constellation in an aircraft boneyard). He said if anyone can do it the HARS team can.

"It's not for the faint-hearted," he said.

"A lot of people have said all of that couldn't be done and we couldn't keep flying it well, the same sort of doubt and just encourage us with the 707 ... but if it was easy then everybody would do it. So we take up the challenge and push these things beyond the normal envelope."

Currently Travolta's old 707 is on the ground, on his Georgia property (which has its own private runway and hangar for the actor's personal planes).

Mr De La Hunty and several other HARS members will fly to the US in July to meet with contractors currently working on the plane to gain a better understanding of whether they'll reach their March target.

Meantime, the society's QANTAS 747 is also needing some love, with works underway to give it a whole new paint job - by hand.

Mr De La Hunty said a local painter had given up his time to complete the epic maintenance job.

"The paint we're using is environmentally-friendly, but the best way to do it to be environmentally-friendly is being outside and to paint it with rollers," he said.

"The process will be so we don't have to redo it for 10 years, but we're hoping to get it undercover."

He said they've also been working with BlueScope to help them on their quest for new aircraft hangars to house their vintage planes.

"They've [BlueScope] put a lot of resources into working up a whole range of things, like our branding and how we go forward, and including building major pavilions to house some of our iconic aircraft for future generations," Mr De La Hunty said.

"Shellharbor Council and the airport are going through a master plan, revision and upgrade and there's tremendous visionary things in the terms of reference for that. We expect to have some clarity out of how and where we will be able to build the pavilions to house some of our planes."

A council spokesperson said a draft is in preparation and the council will progress the project "in due course with appropriate care and diligence".

The society is also in the process of opening another HARS museum location at Parkes, which will also house aircraft.

Formed by a group of aviation enthusiasts, HARS has been operating since 1979 for the preservation of Australian aviation history. Today it has more than 800 volunteers (including retired engineers and pilots) and owns around 80 aircraft.

https://hars.org.au/

Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens. Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.