TRAVELLERS heading through Canberra Airport are used to seeing jumbo jets and passenger planes landing and taking off on the runway.
But now visitors checking in will also be able to spy a more unusual aircraft at the terminal - a Second World War bomber.
The Lockheed Hudson Bomber A16-105 was painstakingly restored by conservators at the Australian War Memorial and will be on display next to the Virgin Australia check-in counters for two years.
Director of the Australian War Memorial Dr Brendan Nelson said he was proud to work with the Memorial's partners - Canberra Airport and the Virgin Australia Group - to display this important piece of Australia's military and aviation history.
"This Hudson bomber and the brave young men who flew it during the dark days of the Second World War defended our nation's freedoms and vital interests. The aircraft then played its part in expanding commercial aviation in the post-war era," Dr Nelson said.
The Lockheed Hudson, created by parent company Lockheed Martin Australia, was one of the most versatile aircraft used by Allied air forces in the early part of the World War II. It was the first to see action in the Pacific, when the Japanese attacked Malaya before the raids on Pearl Harbor.
Based on a civilian airliner, A16-105 made its first flight in 1938, modified to include a bomb bay, positions for an operational crew of five, and defensive armament. It arrived in Australia in early December 1941 and was used to train RAAF aircrews. Between December 1942 and January 1943 it saw operational service in Papua and New Guinea, carrying out supply flights during the Allied advance on Buna, on Papua's north coast.
After the war, A16-105 was flown as a photographic survey aircraft. It completed its last flight in 1998, and was purchased by the Australian War Memorial in 2001.
The Memorial set about restoring the aircraft to its wartime configuration of December 1942.
The project took four years to complete, and involved the fabrication of more than 5,800 parts and tools, extensive research on the colour scheme and internal fitout, sourcing of replacement parts and spares through the aviation heritage network, and reconditioning of the airframe.
Hudson A16-105 will be on display at the Canberra Airport until the end of 2018.
