VH-WBR  Beech 58 Baron                                   (c/n  TH-71)

                                   

                                       Ferried to Australia as N9028Q, VH-WBR was delivered to Sir Thomas Wardle, of Perth’s
                                       Tom the Cheap supermarket chain, in August 1970.        David Carter’s picture shows it at
                                       Bankstown being prepared for its delivery flight.      Tom the Cheap also operated a Hawker
                                       Siddeley 125 jet the time and the Baron’s role may have been to get into those places the jet
                                       couldn’t.         By 1976, when Wardle’s empire was starting to collapse,  –WBR had been
                                       disposed of but still based at Perth.    It is known from a couple of air safety accident reports
                                       that it was at in North Queensland by the late 1980s.      The most damaging incident was a
                                       collision with a kangaroo at the Yandan mine on  July 18, 1994 that saw it spear off the runway
                                       into a ditch.     –WBR had its registration revoked in July 2006.    It may be that it had never
                                       recovered from its 1994 accident and its registration was soon reallocated to another aircraft