VH-AAH
(3) Bristol 170 Freighter
(c/n
12774)
Originally built as a Mark 2 Freighter for
the U.K. Ministry of Civil Aviation in 1948 as G-AIFN,
this aircraft soon was exported to Cie Air Transport in France as
F-BENC. It went to French
Indo-China in 1952 as F-VNAK for Air Vietnam. Following the
debacle at Dien Bien Phu it
fled to
Australia and was sold in 1957 to Aerial Agriculture Pty Ltd of
Bankstown, becoming
the
third aircraft to bear the registration VH-AAH (there have been at
least three others since).
The
photo above, showing it with the clam doors open, was taken at
Bankstown in 1957 by the
late
Peter R. Keating (via the Eric Wagner collection). In 1960
it was to have been leased to
Papuan
Air Transport but the deal fell through before the aircraft departed
for New Guinea. The
shot
below, from the Geoff Goodall collection, was taken by Eric Allen at
Camden, NSW and
shows the aircraft all decked out in Patair livery. On 18 December 1961 the aircraft crash
landed
at Wollongong following a simulated no.2 engine failure, wherein the
prop remained un-
feathered. Power was not regained, causing the aircraft to lose
height. The Bristol collided with
trees
during an attempt to reach a suitable landing area, and was written
off.
