If you have visited O’Reilly’s in the last few weeks, you’ll notice that the replica Stinson Plane on the lawn beside our Guesthouse is getting a makeover!
The replica plane was used in the Australian television movie “The Riddle of the Stinson” (1987) where Jack Thompson played Bernard O’Reilly. The film tells the true story of the Stinson plane crash into the thickly forested valley in the McPherson Range on February 19th 1937, as well as the rescue of its survivors by experienced bushman Bernard O’Reilly and other locals.
Over the years the replica plane has been a little weather beaten. It is now being restored in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Stinson plane crash and celebrate the life of Bernard O’Reilly, who heroically saved the lives of two plane crash survivors. Read the first-hand story of the Stinson in Bernard O’Reilly’s famous autobiography titled Green Mountains (1941-42) available for purchase at the O’Reilly’s Mountain Café and Gift Shop.