VH-ASC (3)  de Havilland D.H.82A Tiger Moth               (c/n  DHA428)

                             

                                    There were three Tigers registered VH-ASC.  This is the third one, and is seen above at Maitland,
                                    NSW in November 1973 by Greg Banfield.  It was the former VH-BBF (A17-387 in the RAAF)
                                    and was re-registered VH-ASC in 1957 when it joined Airspread Australia at Moorabbin.  In its
                                    latter years it was adorned with striking (and ugly) paint jobs. The image immediately below came
                                    from a small card carried in a box of Weetbix.   Scan courtesy of Phil Vabre. The lurid Tiger colour
                                    scheme was applied by owner Neil Cottee in 1976 when he was promoting his company Pacific
                                    Film as a serious competitor to Kodak colour film.      At that time Cottee had a private airfield at
                                    Bowral where he based WW1 replicas and several other aircraft including a vivid red Auster, all
                                    painted in bright eye-catching colour schemes.      In 1979 VH-ASC went to Red Baron Scenic
                                    Flights Pty Ltd at Bankstown.    Ian McDonell took the shot of it at the foot of the page at home
                                    base in 1990 looking, in my mind, slightly ridiculous.     It flew as the Red Baron until about 2004
                                    when it was re-registered VH-MJW to a new owner.  It is still current in NSW, and in 2008 under-
                                    went another rebuilt and is now flying as A17-387.      It has recently (2010) been re-registered
                                    again, this time as VH-JJW.