G-AUTL de
Havilland D.H.61 Giant Moth
(c/n 325)
Built as G-EBTL, this aircraft was
acquired by MacRobertson Miller Aviation in 1928 and became
the out-of-sequence G-AUTL. Evidently MMA wanted to retain its
'last two'. They named it 'Old
Gold'.
Re-registered VH-UTL in 1931, it was sold to West
Australia Airways who operated it,
along
with VH-UQJ on their North
West Air Mail route from Perth to
Wyndham. Due to its large
(for the
day) passenger accommodation it was, in all probability, used on
the
Perth to Carnarvon
segment of this
long route. Both DH.61s went to New Guinea Airways in 1935,
although were
only
operated
for a year before being withdrawn from service. The
DH.61s were actually described as
"dismal failures" as regards New
Guinea operations was
concerned. They did not perform well in the
hot,
high and humid
conditions. The above image is from the
Horrie Miller collection, whilst that be-
low,
from the Alan Betteridge collection, also shows the Giant Moth as
G-AUTL 'Old Gold'.
The
third shot, from the Ted Fletcher collection (via the Civil
Aviation
Historical Society/Airways
Museum
archives) shows the machine in the early 1930s as
VH-UTL. The penultimate image from the
Geoff
Goodall
collection shows -UTL after one
of its many
forced landings whilst with MacRobertson Miller
Aviation. Finally at the foot of the page is another crash shot,
also from the MacRobertson
Miller days,
this from the Adelaide Advertiser of 25 August 1928. The aircraft
apparently ran out of
fuel on a flight
from Mt. Gambier to Adelaide with 9
passengers aboard (none of whom, surprisingly, were injured).
Interesting to note, in
this shot, how crudely the G-EBTL has been overpainted G-AUTL on
both the
fuselage and upper
wing! -UTL's CofA was
suspended at
Lae in
April 1936 due to its poor condition
and
Guinea Airways
did not repair
the
aircraft. It was struck off the register on 17 September 1936.
