VH-AAY  Grumman G.21 Goose                         (c/n  1008)

                                 

                                      In 1937 the Asiatic Petroleum Corporation of New York ordered two Grumman Goose aircraft
                                      (shouldn't that be Geese?) for oil exploration work being done by their subsidiary Papuan Oil
                                      Development Co.    The first is seen above in this photo from the H. C. Kavelaars collection
                                      being crated for shipment to Port Moresby.   As can be seen the wing center section on which
                                      Pratt and Whitney Wasp Juniors were mounted was an integral part of the hull.  In addition to    
                                      work in support of oilfield development this aircraft also undertook mail flights from Port Moresby
                                      to Darwin in 1938 supplementing the weekly service provided by W.R. Carpenter's D.H.86Bs.
                                      Later in its time in New Guinea the Goose was transferred to the Mining Company of Dutch New
                                      Guinea (M.M.N.N.G) and was eventually re-registered to the Batavia Petroleum Company as
                                      PK-BPM.   In the meantime, with the cessation of oil exploration in Papua, the second machine
                                      (to have been VH-AAZ) was diverted instead directly to Batavia Petroleum as PK-AKR.