VH-REC  Cessna 172                                                (c/n  29718)

                               

                                    This early 172 was owned by a pastoralist from Young, NSW when Bob Neate took this shot at
                                    Narromine in November of 1963. (Image courtesy of the Geoff Goodall collection).  The aircraft
                                    was registered in the series alloted to the importer, Rex Aviation, of Bankstown.   In the late 1950s
                                    the dollar import restrictions were just being lifted and, as such, most light aircraft coming in from the
                                    US were "previously owned".  This one had been registered N7918B.   It is still on the register and
                                    based at Wollongong.   The contemporary shot of it (below) was taken by Martyn Covey at
                                    Shepparton, Victoria in 2008.