VH-INJ (2)   Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair                                 (c/n 19/42927)

                           

                                 Designed by Aviation Traders Ltd as a replacement for the aging Bristol Freighters, the
                                 ATL-98 Carvair (a contraction of Car-Via-Air) was designed and built around the Douglas
                                 DC-4 airframe.  This was considerably less expensive than designing a new aircraft from scratch. 
                                 Technical assistance was received from Douglas Aircraft and the conversion consisted mainly
                                 of a completely new front end.   The front hold had a sideways-hinged nose door through which
                                 vehicles could be loaded.   21 conversions from DC-4s were built in all.  The original DC-4
                                 on which this Carvair was based was a Swedish Airlines machine (SE-BBD) although Ansett-
                                 ANA bought it from Japan Air Lines where it had been serving as JA-6008 for a decade.  It
                                 was purchased by Ansett in August of 1963 becoming VH-INJ (2) and then served for a couple
                                 of years as a freighter with Airlines of N.S.W. before going off to Southend, UK to be converted.
                                 Ansett sold the Carvair in 1973 and it wound up derelict at Phomn-Penh, Cambodia in 1975
                                 registered in the US as N33AC.   The photograph immediately below, taken at Brisbane, shows
                                 it as operated by Ansett-ANA, whilst the top shot at Tullamarine, Melbourne, illustrates its final
                                 (Australian) livery.  These excellent images are both by Peter Gates.   Photo No 3 is by Richard
                                 Hourigan and shows it in the shop at Essendon in August 1963 being reworked and transformed
                                 from JA-6008 into VH-INJ.   It re-emerged sometime later in full Airlines of NSW livery as seen
                                 in Greg Banfield's shot at the foot of the page taken at Mascot in December 1963.