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VH-ADQ. Douglas DC-2-112. c/n 1259.
was also registered as VH-AEN.
Ordered new by General Air Lines - 1934 Construction completed at the Douglas Santa Monica plant - September 1934 Built as a Douglas DC-2-112 Entered onto the U.S. Aircraft Register as NC13733 Delivered to General Air lines but possibly never operated by General - October 4, 1934 Transferred to Eastern Air Lines - December 15, 1934 Sold to Eastern Air Lines - January 6, 1935 Purchased by the British Purchasing Commission for the Royal Australian Air Force - July 31, 1940 The B.P.C. were acting as purchasing agents for the R.A.A.F. and bought 10 ex Eastern DC-2sAustralian Import Licence was granted - August 2, 1940 Departed New York as deck cargo on S.S. Port Auckland - October 15, 1940 Arrived at Port Melbourne - December 3, 1940 Transported to Essendon Airport for assembly by Australian National Airways - December 6, 1940 Aircraft had flown some 15,390 hours Received by 1 Aircraft Depot - December 12, 1940 Allocated the R.A.A.F. serial number A30-6 Issued to No 36 Squadron Issued to 1 WAGS - January 13, 1941 Radio call-sign 'VHCRJ' allocated to this aircraft - October 1942 Acquired standard brown/green camouflage livery with duck-egg blue on undersurfaces Extensively damaged on landing at Stock Route Strip near Townsville, Queensland - December 23, 1942 Aircraft ran off the runway avoiding a clump of trees but struck a pile of gravel Port undercarriage collapsed causing considerable damage to wing Flight crew: Flt Lt H.R. Clarke Recovered and transported to 12 RSU at Garbutt, Queensland - December 1942 Transferred to A.N.A. at Essendon Airport for complete rebuild and overhaul - June 24, 1943 Repair work completed with seating for 14 passengers - November 25, 1943 Reported that the aircraft was then operated by A.N.A. under charter to the A.D.A.T. Entered onto the Australian Aircraft Register as VH-ADQ (CofR 788) - November 26, 1943 Registered to Commonwealth of Australia Crashed at Bendigo East, Victoria whilst attempting to land in very poor weather and darkness - December 4, 1943 Was engaged in scheduled Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne service Flight crew: Capt K.T.E. Shersby; F/O H.V. Kenna; Hostess J. Westbrook; 6 passengers Flight had been delayed by faulty / inoperative radio compass at Brisbane Planned departure time of 2300 was pushed back to 0020 Unable to land at Essendon Airport due to poor weather at 0320 pilot advised that he would return to Benalla Crew became disoriented and arrived over Bendigo at 0405 With fuel becoming critical the aircraft circled the Bendigo area for 30 minutes making several low runs Dropping flares it positioned for a landing in a field some 4km northest of Bendigo township During landing roll aircraft hit a post and wire fence before plunging into dense trees and scrub Undercarriage collapsed, tearing off the wings outboard of the engines Starboard cockpit area was crushed when it struck a tree-trunk killing the F/O Kenna instantly Subsequent investigation found that a faulty connection had prevented the radio range receiver working properly If this had not been the case then flight crew could have received signals from Essendon radio Atmospheric interference around the Essendon-Holbrrok area had also contributed to poor radio reception The main passenger cabin had escaped major damage in the crash Cancelled from the Australian Aircraft Register - December 20, 1943 The damaged aircraft was transferred back to the R.A.A.F. - February 1944 Sold to A.N.A. as a source of spares - 1944 Inspection of the damaged aircraft indicated that it could be rebuilt to airworthy condition Rebuilt by A.N.A. engineers at Essendon Airport using the wings & centre section from DC-2 'VHCXG' Undercarriage, engines and tail section were acquired from RAAF sources Wheel units were manufactured locally and new Hamilton Standard propellers were obtained A CofA and CofR were applied for - April 12, 1944 An Authority to Operate was issued - April 16, 1944 Operated Essendon-Adelaide service on April 17 but was damaged again the following day Force landed at Bonnie Vale, 30 km west of Kalgoorlie when fuel tank selector failed - April 25, 1944 Was operating Adelaide (Parafield)-Ceduna-Forrest-Kalgoorlie-Perth service Flight crew: Capt A. Lovell; F/O K.L. Richards Repaired in-situ and flown on to Kalgoorlie the same day Returned to Essendon Airport for repairs - April 26, 1944 Following a CofA inspection on April 30 an official CofR was issued - May 5, 1944 Entered onto the Australian Aircraft Register as VH-AEN (CofR 791) - May 5, 1944 Registered to Australian National Airways Pty Ltd Aircraft configured to seat 10 passengers Aircraft was named 'Mungana' (wing) Utilised on the Melbourne-Adelaide-Ceduna-Forrest-Kalgoorlie-Perth route from 1944 to 1947 Operated the inaugural A.N.A. Perth-Kalgoorlie service - August 1, 1946 Was operating in competition with Airlines W.A. DH-89 service Withdrawn from use at Essendon Airport when its CofA lapsed - April 18, 1947 Cancelled from the Australian Aircraft Register - January 9, 1948 Sold to New Holland Airways Pty Ltd for charter work - January 9, 1948 Entered onto the Australian Aircraft Register as VH-AEN - April 2, 1948 Registered to New Holland Airways Ltd Damaged when it swung on landing at Darwin Airport - May 9, 1948 With severe damage to the wing center section it was withdrawn from use and scrapped Cancelled from the Australian Aircraft Register - December 3, 1948 |
The images for this airframe have not been uploaded yet - please check back later
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