The real WH589 115/NW at Bankstown just before being shipped to Canada where it would be restored as CF-CHB. Fawcett Aviation/Illawarra Aviation had bought it in 1963 as a spare for Sea Fury VH-BOU which was used for target towing. After Canada, WH589 would go to the UK as G-AGHB and then to the US where it became one of three Sea Furies used to make racer N985HW "Furias" Two Furies without an Australian navy history have been painted as WH589: VH-HFX (later VH-ORN) and F-AZXL

One of the Iraqi Furies recovered from storage in 1979. Confusingly for enthusiasts, it was painted to resemble Australian Navy Sea Fury WH589, which had been parked at Bankstown airport for many years as a potential target towing aircraft with Illawarra Aviation. That aircraft was sold in the US. Initially, VH-HFX carried the serial WE729 (a British Sea Fury that ended up in Cuba) but this was later changed to WH589. In 1991 -HFX was sold in the UK as G-BTTA, eventually making its way back to Australia as VH-ORN in 2010