AN historic Hawker Hurricane that has been carefully restored will soon be officially unveiled to the public during a display over Scone Airport.
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The Canadian-built aircraft arrived in the Upper Hunter in April 2014 and, earlier this month, became the first Hurricane to fly in Australia since World War II.
Scone-based company Pay’s Air Service spent more than two years working on several tasks, which included replacing any worn items in the airframe and attending to the electrical system, before repainting it and hitting the sky.
Managing director Ross Pay said the aircraft’s restoration had generated plenty of interest, with a ‘Flight of the Hurricane’ event on November 12 expected to attract people from across Australia and overseas.
“It served during the war in training squadrons and, at some stage after the war, what remained of it was purchased and taken to England,” he said.
“A British guy living in California then bought it so it was in Santa Monica for a while, and then it ended up in a museum at Niagara Falls.
“That’s where the current owners purchased it from and brought it back here.
“It’s now been restored to its former glory with a new paint job and a lot of other work done on it.
“People are telling me they’ve got friends coming to watch [the fly-in and air display] from England and New Zealand.
“There hasn’t been one fly in Australia since 1944 and we’ve only ever had one so I think it’s pretty unique.”
The aircraft has been finished in the colour scheme of pilot officer John Crossman, who flew with No 32 and 46 Squadron.
Hailing from Newcastle, Crossman was killed on September 30, 1940 when his Hurricane I (V6748) got shot down during the Battle of Britain.
Apart from the Hurricane, several other historic warbirds are expected to be a part of the upcoming display.
Some of these will include the Spitfire VIIII, P-51 Mustang, Grumman Avenger, CAC Wirraway, T-28 Trojan, and L-39 Albatros.
Other activities on the day will be Harvard, Yak 52 and helicopter joy flights, markets, and a kids corner.
The event starts at 9am, with the air display going from 11am-3pm. It will cost $15 for adults and $40 for families, while children under the age of 12 are free.
All profits will go to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service.
