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The crashed aircraft was discovered late last year in the waters off the coast of Gasmata, Papua New Guinea, by Dr Andrew Forrest and Ocean Ecology.
Queensland Air Museum, based in Caloundra, is one of 16 organisations receiving grants of up to $1,000 as part of the airport’s inaugural $15,000 Community Support Fund.
The historic aircraft, built at Douglas’ Santa Monica plant in May 1935, will be restored and displayed at the museum at Shellharbour Airport in NSW, though is not expected to fly again at this stage.
The plane, which has been painstakingly restored by the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) over the past 12 years, took off shortly after 10:30am at Shellharbour Airport and flew for roughly 15 minutes before making a successful landing.
The demonstration flight will take off from HARS Aviation Museum at Shellharbour Airport at 10:30am on Friday. The plane, dubbed the largest “close replica” aircraft in the world, has been restored by HARS over the past 12 years since the society purchased it in 2010.
Warrant Officer Mike Downs led the team that removed old paint from A4-236, which had degraded to a “sub-standard state”. It will now be displayed at Amberley Aviation Heritage Centre.
