G-AUDE Armstrong Whitworth
F.K.8
(c/n 69)

Eight of these World War I army co-operation
machines were civilly registered after the war.
Two of
them were used by the embryo Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial
Services
Ltd (later to
become Qantas) where they were part of a mixed fleet of leased aircraft
and used
on
services between Charleville and Cloncury carrying both mail and
passengers. G-AUDE
was
later sold to Qantas and became part of their early fleet in
1922. The historic image above
is from
the John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
collection. The F.K.8 sustained
serious
damage in a forced landing near Blackall, Queensland in September 1923,
and was
dismantled and burnt two months later. Qantas records indicate
that it was considered "useless".