VH-UMU de
Havilland D.H.60M
Moth
(c/n 1376)
This photograph,
from the CAHS collection via Phil Vabre shows the aircraft at the old
Coode
Island Airport, near
Melbourne. The building in the background is that of the "LASCO
School
of Flying". VH-UMU was imported in
1929 and registered to a Mr. W.R. McPherson. It had
many owners
over the years, and in 1936 was entered into the Adelaide Centenary Air
Race
from Brisbane to Adelaide. An image of it in a
line up of aircraft awaiting the start of the race
can be seen in my entry for VH-UTG. Following several prangs and
owners it was finally
struck off the
register in 1945. The machine in the background in the
above shot is another
D.H.60M (VH-UNP) which, until 1936 resided in Queensland. It was
not until 1936 that it
came to the Melbourne
area. Hence this photograph was probably taken in
the mid to late
1930s. The photo of -UMU below is from the Peter Spillett
collection when the Moth was
named 'Marie'.
This could have been when it forced landed at Elsey Station at Mataranka
in the Northern
Territory on 7 February 1940. It was salvaged and sent for repair
to Qantas
in
Archerfield. At the foot of the page is a photo of it
following a crash at Dimboola, Victoria
on 1 January
1937. Owned by V. Wendt of the Ballarat Aero Club at the time, it
was being
flown by J.W. Bennett who was also its pilot when it was entered into
the 1936 Brisbane-Ade-
laide Air Race. (Bennett went on
to be a pilot for Canadian Pacific flying the trans-Pacific
route).
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