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

                             

                                   The above image came from a small card carried in a box of Weetbix.  Scan courtesy of Phil Vabre.
                                   This, the third VH-ASC, 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.  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 a shot of it (below) 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.