VH-AFH  de Havilland D.H.84 Dragon      (c/n  2086)

                           

                               As in the case of all the early VH-AF- series,  this Dragon was the second aircraft to be allotted the
                               registration, the first being one of the Consolidated 28-5MA Catalina Flying Boats (see VH-AFD (1)
                               for more on this subject).  The above aircraft was built as a batch for the RAAF and was previously
                               A34-96.  It was civilianized in 1945, and owned by Mr. Thyne Reid when my shot, above, was
                               taken at Bankstown in 1954.  It crashed on takeoff from Sliesbeck airstrip in the Northern Territory
                               on 31 August 1956.  Ellis Trautman discovered a shot of it (below) in his aunt's album whilst research-
                               ing family history.    DCA's accident reports states that ",,,,the aircraft swung on take-off and ran into
                               a ditch.  Loss of control due to pilot inexperience".