VH-UHK Avro 594 Avian Mk III
(c/n R3/CN/120)
The above shot of Avian
-UHK was taken at Mascot in front of the Adastra Airways hangar by
Jason Hassard,
a pilot with New England Airways and Airlines of Australia who went on
to log
among the
world's highest pilot flying time on Douglas aircraft. This
image is courtesy of the John
Hopton
collection. Photograph # 2 below is from the State
Library of New South
Wales archives
and
is part of the A.J. Perier photographic
collection. It depicts the Avian (as G-AUHK) being
presented to the Australian Aero Club (NSW Section) on 7 July
1928. It
carried the name
'Rouseabout''
since it was donated by J.J. Rouse, the manager of Kodak (who was, in
fact, Perier's
employer). The personages are, from left: Charles
Ulm, J.J.Rouse, Capt. G. F. Hughes, Charles
Kingsford
Smith and an unknown gentleman. The
National Library
of Australia
image (# 3)
that shows a close-up of the name and
presentation details on the nose of the Avian.
After its
disposal
by
the club in July 1931 (a few days
before I
was born) it had a succession of owners (and
accidents) in NSW finally
winding up with the
College of Civil
Aviation at Mascot in 1940. It was
struck
off the register in
January 1941 Shot # 4 shows a a full
side image extracted from
the
Adelaide
Advertiser of 7 July 1928 showing the Avian as G-AUHK on
the day of its
presentation
by J.J.
Rouse. . Photo # 5 was taken by Keith Virue and was sent by Bruce
Robinson, a nephew
of Keith's.
Personages and venue unknown. Finally at the foot of the
page (# 6) is a
crash scene
culled
from the Sydney Morning Herald of 30
July 1929 when -UHK came to grief when flying in
thick fog
near
Wentwortrh
Falls. It was, as indicated above, repaired and went on to
enjoy a long
and colorful
history.
2.
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3.
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5.
6.
