G-AULA ULA de Havilland D.H.60G Gipsy Moth
(c/n 847)
The shot above is from the George
Matthews collection and depicts "De Havilland biplanes parked
inside and in
front of
Matthews Aviation hangar at Essendon in the late 1920s". This
Moth was
orig-
inally registered to
L. Abrahams t/a Louis Coen Wireless Pty. Ltd. of Melbourne. Mr.
Abrahams
was owner and
operator of Melbourne radio station 3UZ. By August 1930 the
aircraft had become
VH-ULA. Seen below are two shots from the
John Hopton collection. They were taken at Essendon
in the early
1930s. The corporate name was
changed in 1935 to Radio
Corporation Pty Ltd, which
presumably was
the Australian licensee for
RCA. The "Hart" titling
on the mechanic's overalls was
for Hart
Aircraft Services. I have
been unable to
unearth any specifics on the strange canopy seen on
this
aircraft,
(below) where it came from, or what its purpose
was. Also, there seem
to be three wheels
being
bandied about. The one on the aircraft looks about right for a
latterly converted Moth. The
mechanic
appears to have the original, 1929 solid tire version,
while the
'bush-style' balloon tire is being
held by a
trilby-hatted gentleman by
the name of Beau
Shiel. Mr. Shiel was a New Zealander who was
closely
associated with Vacuum Oil Co's aviation division
and was experimenting with these fat tires at
the
time. A close up of Sheil with said tire appears at
the foot of the page. Mr. Sheil later
returned to
New
Zealand and became Vacuum Oil NZ's Aviation
Officer. At the end of 1935 this
Moth went to
H. Boston t/a
Interstate
Flying Schools Pty Ltd
which operated out of Mildura. In 1938 it went to the
Aero Club of
Broken Hill and was destroyed in
a hangar fire there on 6 September
1939.
