VH-KSV Auster
J/1 Adventurer
(c/n 2884)
The three images on this page are
from the Geoff Goodall collection. Above, and clearly illustrat-
ing the
classic lines of an original Autocrat, is this nice study taken at
Beverly, WA in November
1970. The
original owner of -KSV was Langley George Hancock, who become
Australia's richest
man from iron ore
mining in the Pilbara. Every story published on Lang Hancock's
life describes
his favorite
anecdote of flying in this Auster low over hills near what later became
the first big iron
ore
open-cut mine at Mount Tom Price - he saw iron ore seams in the
sides of the hills and later
did his
own geological survey and found massive reserves of iron
ore. The photo below was given
to Geoff
by Lang himself to augment a talk given some years back about Hancock's
line of all the
aircraft that
he had owned over the years. Anyway, back to
-KSV. On 1 December 1973 the
aircraft took
off from Lynwood Farm, Vasse, WA some 7 miles (11 km) north of
Busselton, piloted
by M.E.
Armstrong (who was not in possession of a PPL at the time).
After take-off the aircraft
turned and flew back
low over the strip and then commenced another turn whereupon it
stalled,
dived into the
ground, and was totally destroyed by fire. (You just gotta keep
that nose down in
tight turns, mate). Sadly, Armstrong and two 16 year old
youths were killed. The image of the
remains on the bottom
of the page is from the archives of "The West Australian"
newspaper photo
library.
