I attended the Lawrence Hargraves Memorial Day on the South Coast of NSW at Stanwell Park on November 12 2014. The day is to remeber the pioneering work done by Australian aviationist Lawrence Hargraves in the 1890s when he managed to fly using 4 box kite / gliders.
Since the last time i attended in 2008, the event has become more popular with people who come to see the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society – HARS – fly past the Bald Head lookout, which is to the north of Stanwell Park beach. This year HARS’s Douglas C-47 Dakota, DHC-4 Caribou and Lockheed SP-2H Neptune took part in the flying. In the past the Constellation has also flown.
A misty cloudy day was had but by the end of the flying display 30mins later the sun emerged.
The Stanwell Park railway station where i got off the train – to walk 2km mostly up a very steep hill to the look out – has these nice murals with some beach, water, fish, aviation and rail artworks.
To seem more detail in the photos, click them.
The Bald Hill lookout / hill side looks down over the coastal suburb of Stanwell Park and south towards Wollongong. On a clear sunny day it is wonderful to see the view to the south.
The Lawrence Hargrave’s memorial describes what he did and why he was a pioneer in aviation in Australia.
Quite a few people were present on the hillside….waiting for the aircraft. It has become a popular event and Shell supports the flyover by providing HARS with fuel i am told.
The aviation day started with a single Tigermoth flying by the headland from the north…… and flew over the mountain range.
At around 1pm the 4 HARS aircraft began to appear in the murky coastal air to the south with the following flying – 1 x Douglas C-47 Dakota, 1 x DHC-4 Caribou 1 x Lockheed SP-2H Neptune and 1 x Consolidated Catalina.
C-47 Dakota was the first to appear and did a fly past and turn back south.
The Catalina appeared – black on grey haze.
The Caribou then appeared on the horizon – steady and reliable.
The SP-2H Neptune
A bit of photography composure got some interesting views such as these
The Neptune departed early and letf the Caribou, Dakota and Catalina to entertain everyone. After around 40mins of flying, the aircraft then did a final flyby and headed south in a loose formation.
Phil Buckley travels #3 