F/A-18A Classic Hornet touches down at Australian War Memorial

The F/A-18A Classic Hornet, described by Australian pilots as the ‘Ferrari of the sky’, was carefully lifted by crane into the new Anzac Hall this week. SEE THE EXCLUSIVE PICTURES.

It boasted a top speed of almost 2000km/h, but an iconic Australian military jet travelled at a snail’s pace this week as it was carefully lifted off the back of a semi-trailer.

Described as the “Ferrari of the skies”, the F/A-18A Classic Hornet touched down at the Australian War Memorial on Tuesday, where it will soon feature as part of the spectacular $500 million redevelopment.

The Daily Telegraph was present in Canberra as the ferocious aircraft, weighing almost 17,000kg, was carefully manoeuvred into its final resting home, Anzac Hall, which will open to the public next year.

Watching on was former RAAF Pilot Group Captain Michael “Cletus” Grant, whose name will be etched in history, forever printed on the Classic Hornet’s side.

Group Captain Grant flew with the famous No. 75 Squadron, which conducted hundreds of combat missions and dropped laser-guided bombs during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. They would return to the Middle East to combat Islamic State in 2016-2017.

RAAF Pilot Group Captain Michael Grant, whose name is on the F/A-18A Classic Hornet which will next year be a major feature of the Australian War Memorial’s new Anzac Hall.

“This aeroplane … you would ask a lot of it… and it would just keep giving. It was fabulous,” he said.

“This was the Ferrari of the skies for us. If you treated it well, and flew it smoothly it would reward you.”

Group Captain Grant’s missions in Iraq would sometimes involve more than 10 hours of flying. He was harnessed in a single-person cockpit surrounded by pages of maps, vital in the days before digital navigation.

In the dark, he was shouldering an extra 8kg wearing a pair of night-vision goggles.

“The fact that a Classic Hornet is going in (to the war memorial) is a great representation of not just the air crew… but the maintainers, the logistics staff, the administration… the Air Force family,” he said.

The Classic Hornet’s arrival marks the largest relocation of military technology in War Memorial history. A C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft and a Bushmaster were also moved in this week.

Weighing almost 17,000kg with a top speed of 2000km/h, the Classic Hornet is delicately craned into Anzac Hall this week at the Australian War Memorial.

The Classic Hornet will be a vital piece in the new Anzac Hall, part of the War Memorial’s $500m expansion, which opens to the public next year.

Anzac Hall is expected to open to the public early near year, boasting two levels and 6500 square metres of gallery space.

Group Captain Grant, who received a Distinguished Service Medal, has also decided to donate some of his uniforms and combat equipment.

Senior Curator Dr Kerry Neale said the expansion presented an “exciting opportunity to tell more of Australia’s experiences of war, particularly conflicts in the Middle East”.

Memorial Director Matt Anderson added: “It is allowing us to tell the story of Afghanistan, Iraq and 63 peacekeeping missions, creating a space for the contemporary veteran.”

No. 75 Squadron, formed with a magpie on their crest and the motto ‘seek and strike’, were first deployed to New Guinea in 1942.

“I think the magpies would be very proud of this,” Group Captain Grant said.

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Originally published as F/A-18A Classic Hornet touches down at Australian War Memorial