A remarkable Meteor jet credited with being the last aircraft used to shoot down MiG-15 during the Korean War has is now on display at RAAF Williamtown.
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History and Heritage - Air Force (HH-AF) has overseen the restoration of Meteor A77-851 (aka 'Halestorm'), in which Sergeant George Hale shot down a MiG-15 in the last air-to-air engagement of the Korean War.
Halestorm is now on display at the RAAF Williamtown Aviation Heritage Centre (WLM AHC).
"Halestorm was a No 77 Squadron (77SQN) aircraft, so having it on display at Williamtown, where 77SQN is based, is certainly the right spot for it," said Warrant Officer Stan Lawler from the projects team at the Directorate of Air Force Heritage, which managed the restoration.
"The ranks of Korean War veterans are getting thin, so it's good to have Halestorm completed to honour them, especially since this year is the 70th anniversary of the Armistice of the Korean War,' he said.
On March 27, 1953, Sergeant George Hale from 77SQN, flying Halestorm on a routine reconnaissance mission over North Korea, engaged with and shot down an enemy MiG-15 fighter in the last air-to-air engagement of the Korean War (and for a RAAF aircraft in any subsequent conflict).
Sergeant Hale returned safely to Australia after his period of duty.
Following the Korean War, Air Force converted Halestorm into a remotely piloted aircraft and used it to conduct aviation trials at Woomera in South Australia.
Volunteers from the South Australian Aviation Museum (SAAM) later recovered and refurbished Halestorm's cockpit/forward fuselage and put it on display for two decades. In early 2022, SAAM gifted the Halestorm cockpit/forward fuselage to Air Force
HH-AF spent approximately 18 months overseeing the restoration of Halestorm by a contractor, which included merging the cockpit/forward fuselage to another Meteor to create the aircraft which is now on display at the WLM AHC.
"The aircraft just bolts together like a Meccano kit," said Warrant Officer Lawler.
"We managed to get a lot of unique components, making the aircraft almost identical to the one that flew in Korea. We were very lucky to find parts that had been in storage at the RAAF Museum at Point Cook, including a long-range fuel tank to fit to the underbelly, three out of the four cannons that were fitted, and rocket rails that went underneath the wings."
Wing Commander Linda New, the officer in charge of the WLM AHC, is pleased to receive such an important heritage aircraft into the collection.
"Halestorm complements our display of artefacts which commemorate 70 years since the cessation of hostilities in Korea and honours the service and sacrifice of those RAAF members who served in Korea, particularly the members of 77SQN," she said.
