Kurt Ams snapped the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society’s (HARS) refurbished replica of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith’s iconic “Southern Cross” Fokker FVIIB, VH-USU, as it touched down at Sydney Airport in March to celebrate the lead-up to the 100-year anniversary of the world’s first trans-Pacific flight. As featured in Australian Aviation #392 in 2024, the replica – built in South Australia between 1980 and 1987 under the leadership of John Pope OAM – was damaged during take-off at Parafield in 2002, then bought by HARS in 2010 and painstakingly repaired to flight-worthy condition. It is the largest “close replica” in the world, built in honour of “Smithy’s” 1928 odyssey from the US to Australia.