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| Aircraft
Serial |
C/N |
Aircraft
History |
| A8-1
(RAAF Series 1
Serial) |
134 |
Ordered in 1925 afer G-AUAB (C/N 106 and later VH-AUB/A10-1)
selected by the Controller of Civil Aviation in 1924,
The original intention was to allocate the aircraft for use by
the Governor-General but instead it was moslty utilised for long
range survey work,
Delivered
29/04/26,
11/09/26 Tested at Point Cook,
Used by Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams on a
10,000 miles Defence Survey of New Guinea and the Solomon
Islands in 1926,
25/09/26 Left Point Cook
in seaplane configuration with the
then Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Group Captain R. Williams, to
carry out a Defence Survey of
the South-West
Pacific.
7/12/26 Returned
having flown 10,000 miles through New Guinea and the
Solomon Islands.
1927 Configured as a landplane
and flown by Williams on a
reconnaissance flight around Australia. Two DH 9s accompanied
the DH 50A, and between July and September, the three de
Havilland aircraft covered almost 13,000 miles.
1929 Written off in crash.
Became Instructional Airframe No.2
28/10/40.
|
| A10-1
(RAAF Series 2
Serial) |
106 |
1924 Built in the
U.K. by De havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome, Edgware, Middlesex,
UK, with a 230hp Siddeley Puma
installed and shipped to Australia,
Registered G-AUAB 31/07/24 to the Civil Aviation Branch
(Certificate of Registration number
99).
08/12/24 Participated the NSW Aerial Derby at RAAF Richmond
where it competed in the ‘hors
concours’ in N.S.W. Aerial Derby and carrying four passengers
came an unofficial second.
31/08/29 With the introduction of national prefixes in
1928/29 G-AUAB became VH-UAB until 07/05/1931 when it was
transfered to the RAAF.
07/05/31 Struck of Register.
07/05/31 to 10/05/32 Reportedly operated on
loan by the RAAF but it is unclear whether the serial A10-1 was
allocated at this time or on its later RAAF impressment in 1942,
No photographic evidence has come to light with the aircraft
marked as A10-1 and it may have retained its VH-UAB markings and
registration during this period, (one other source quotes a
serial of A8-2 for this period which is logical but unproven),
11/05/32 Registered VH-UAB to the Civil Aviation Branch.
12/05/32 Registered VH-UAB to O.B."Pat"Hall,
H.G.Puris and J.T."Tommy"Petherbridge of Sydney, NSW,
25/11/32 Registered VH-UAB O.B.Hall and Sir Charles Kingsford
Smith (register amended 22 March 1933) and was named Southern
Cross Midget,
20/08/36 to 27/11/40 Registered VH-UAB,
Various Owners inluding
H.G.Purvis
& J.C.Carpenter
of Sydney, NSW, then Emily.R.Harris
of Newcastle, NSW and then K.R.M.Farmer
of Malvern, Victoria,
27/12/40 to 26/05/43 Registered VH-AUB
to F.T. "Tommy" O’Dea of Port Moresby, New Guinea.
05/11/42 Chartered by the Department
of Civil Aviation on behalf of the Department of Air for use as
an air ambulance in New Guinea.
The Puma engine was removed and replaced a Pratt & Whitney Wasp
C of 450 h.p in 1942 at Essendon,
19/11/42 Test Flight by Arthur Affleck,
A long-range fuel tank was installed in the cabin to allow
longer stretches to be flown,
23/11/42 Ready to depart Essendon for New Guinea,
23/11/42 Impressed by the RAAF as A10-1 (Was not struck off the
Civil Register until 26/05/43),
23/11/42 Ferried in the evening
to Wagga piloted by Arthur Affleck
with D.C.A. engineer Harry Moss as passenger.
Continued north along the eastern
coast until arrival at Horn Island and
then across Torres Strait to a landing at the Kerema base of
Sqn.Ldr. A.A.N.D. 'Jerry' Pentland. The modified aircraft landed
on the beach, but when turning to clear the area, tipped on its
nose in the soft sand and damaged the propellor. This was fixed
by local engineering, and the aircraft
flown on to Port Moresby.
By the time that the aircraft was delivered,
the intended role of evacuation work had been superseded.
The aircraft was further modified, this time to be used
as a fuel tanker. Max Minahan, the Guinea Airways senior
engineer, fitted a Kittyhawk belly-tank under the fuselage and
this, combined with the long-rang tank in the cabin, allowed the
aircraft to carry a ton of fuel as cargo.
1943 Withdrawn from use?
1944 Struck off RAAF Charge.
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