VH-UAC  de Havilland D.H.53 Humming Bird        (c/n  103)

                                            

                                                 This interesting shot comes from The A.J.Jackson Collection at Brooklands Museum. (for their
                                                 great range of historic prints go to http://www.ajjcollection.co.uk).    The Humming Bird was
                                                 de Havilland's entry into the ultra-light aircraft field.  It was built primarily as an entrant for the light aeroplane trials
                                                 being held at Lympne, Kent in October 1923.   Including the two built for the trials (which
                                                 were powered by 750 cc Douglas motorcycle engines), de Havilland's built about 15 of them,
                                                 no fewer than three of which went to Australia.   The production models were powered by
                                                 a 26 hp Blackburn Tomtit two-cylinder vee engine (looks like something one would put in
                                                 one's model).  This particular machine had the Tomtit exchanged for a more powerful Bristol
                                                 Cherub engine in 1928, four years after it was imported for the Australian Department of
                                                 Defence, Civil Aviation Branch.   The Branch sold it to the Aero Club of NSW in 1930 and
                                                 it had several private owners after that.  A further engine change was made in 1935 to a 35 hp
                                                 ABC Scorpion and incredibly it was then sold to a Mr. J. Bower in Samoa, departing
                                                 Sydney on 20 May 1937.