Historical Aircraft Restoration Society, Shellharbour

I've driven past for years, wanted to visit for years. Finally visited. Having grown up in an aviation family I know what it's like to be an “enthusiast” for such an industry. The guides are very knowledgeable, either the hardcore enthusiast themselves or former workers from within the industry. The guided tours are amazing, you get to be hands-on with some of the exhibits and even go into a few. Some are the last of their kind so it's a special moment. A phone camera will be sufficient enough for you due to lighting restrictions and issues, however. It's a working, living and breathing museum. Oil, dirt, dust it all exist here. I've even got some oil from “Connie” on my shirt. The cafe is small, serves good quality homemade food. Do yourself a favour, by something, a sandwich or a meal. We all know the money goes straight back into the museum. The gift shop has some nice things. I assume however due to the pandemic some items are missing and therefore some shelves a bare. Fear not tho if you have a child as you'll find a great abundance of small children's aviation toys. The volunteers here are passionate and it shows. This is truly one of those things to do on a rainy day (like I did) or on a beautiful sunlit day. The second Friday of every month I am led to believe they have something called “open tarmac”. I can't wait to visit again.

An amazing experience for aviation enthusiasts, history buffs or anyone with a pulse! An amazing collection of artefacts and history with passionate volunteers taking you through the collection. A wonderful philosophy of keeping our aviation history in the air. Kids love sitting in the cockpit of a F-111C or climbing through an old Neptune. The 747 and Connie are awesome too!! Stop thinking "we need to visit one day" when driving past and get yourself down to HARS - a truly wonderful and inspiring place!

Went in on a weekday, very quiet, got a private guided tour for the family on the spot. The guide Joe was extremely informative, passionate and ready to answer any questions we had, as well as very patient as we had a toddler and a newborn in tow! The aircraft are all incredible, from the operational to the ones which are being restored and its impressive to see the dedication all the volunteers have in keeping and maintaing these machines. Although not all areas are accessible and not all aircraft are able to be entered in, there is a great amount that are and it makes the tour and experience all the more memorable. There's a lovely little Cafe on site with indoor and outdoor seating, a good amount of aviation toys and souvenirs for young and old enthusiasts. For a weekday the parking around the centre was pretty limited so I can't imagine it on a weekend or school holidays, but that's pretty much the only negative I can think of. Great experience and will definitely be back!

$25 per ticket for a personalised tour is well beyond expectations! John was our guide, he was great & shared in depth knowledge & stories about the planes. You also get to go inside some of them - how cool. The tour took about 2 hours. It’s lovely to see that the place is ran by passionate volunteers. Definitely recommend to visit!

An amazing range of aircraft and aviation memorabilia. The volunteers are lovely and they love what they do. if you have any interest in aviation history or engineering in general this place is a treat. It's such a shame that they don't get the support from government like they should so the cost of entry was something I saw as my donation to keeping part of Australian aviation history alive