In 1988 at the Australian Bicentennial Air Show at RAAF base Richmond NSW, it was appropriate that the history of Australian Aviation was on show and many significant aircraft were on show illustrating the progress made in Aviation over the proceeding near century of flight in Australia. While not a Warbird, the event hosted one of the most outstanding aircraft in Australia’s history. Albeit in replica (flying) form, the famous record breaking Southern Cross Fokker F.VIIb/3m of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith from the 1920s and 1930s was parked amongst a number of other historic types in the flight line.
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- Cross Fokker F.VIIb undergoing repairs
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- Cross Fokker F.VIIb undergoing repairs
The aircraft was built in the 1980s as a faithful representation of the original Southern Cross (which is now housed in a purpose built hangar at Brisbane airport). The replica was constructed in South Australia and first flew in 1987 and during the 1988 Bicentenary she toured around Australia as a fund raising exhibit for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. In 1990 the aircraft even ventured to New Zealand for air show appearances. The aircraft was a major drawcard to the 1988 Bicentennial Air Show and many thousands of people saw her.
Sadly, after a considerable amount of flying (555 hrs.) on the 25th of May 2002 the aircraft was damaged in a mishap after a wheel fell off as a result of a landing accident at Parafield Airport. The pilot did a magnificent job of landing the aircraft but the huge one piece wing was badly damaged on one tip, with 3m breaking off.
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- Fokker F.VIIb replica restoration
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- Fokker F.VIIb wing restoration
Following the accident a protracted a hiatus occurred and the aircraft remained unrepaired and stored in SA. The Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) began a lengthy negotiation process with the South Australian Government, who issued an advertisement in the press in November 2002 for organisations wishing to respond to an ‘Expression of Interest’ in repairing and operating the aircraft under a Deed of Gift. This saw the aircraft being acquired and transported to HARS at Albion Park, NSW for airworthy restoration. Since the arrival of the Fokker, the aircraft has had the wing damage repaired and is nearing completion. When finished the wing will be repositioned on the fuselage and the engines refitted (3 x Jacobs R-775 A2, 7 cylinder air-cooled radial, 12.4 L, ~300 bhp each).
Warbirds Online has been fortunate to attend the Australian Bicentennial Air Show in 1988 and we are now able to watch as the rebuild continues. We look forward to the day this great piece of Australian history flies again and joins the magnificent HARS collection.
© John Parker 2016
My Father in Law worked on this originally
His name is Eddie Keary. He is 84 and he lives with us at Nerang QLD
Hi Steen
Thank you for getting in touch with us. This is indeed very interesting and we are pleased you let us know abut you fathers work. If he has any photo’s or memorabilia that he would like to share please let us know.
Kind regards
John
Found a replica copper roundal of the fokker southern cross 1927 witn the call sign VH-USU at auction would like to no more Roy
Hi Roy
That’s a good find.
Kind regards
John
Hi,
I saw the Southern cross replica in Perth in 1988 on it’s round – Australia trip. I saw a video recently which showed it crashing after take off due to a brace( I think)not being removed from one of the control surfaces before take off. The aircraft appeared to suffer severe damage, Is this correct ?
I don’t know the place or date of this accident.
Regards, Dave.
Hi Dave
The aircraft crashed in SA when one wheel fell of after take off we believe in 2002. The aircraft has it has since passed to HARS for restoration.
Kind regards
John
Dear Sir
I was one of the crew at FAA Adelaide from 1978- 1982 who built the Southern Cross replica and was the Licensed Welder throughout the build .
The reason that the aircraft crashed at Parafield was not due to flying error, it was due to the main STBD undercarriage oleo strut retaining C Clip failing causing the main wheel assy to blow out and drag behind. The pilot did a magnificent job in landing it safely with minimum damage.
There was no restraining mechanism installed on the undercarriages to prevent the possibility of this ever happening when we built the aircraft. We did raise this point to management when building but it were dismissed.
The original Fokker aircraft had a spring type shock absorbing mechanism and wire wheels whereas the replica has a main oleo struts and thanks to the RAAF ex Canberra Bomber wheels.
Incidentally FAA in South Australia could have built and completed this aircraft in half the time but there were always money restriction placed throughout on the project by the board in NSW.
Regards
Geoff Snelling ex LAME ex RAAF
Hi Geoff
thanks for your memories – its very interesting hearing the insiders view of these things – it will be great to see her fly again soon.
Kind regards
John