VH-UUQ  Cierva C.30a Autogiro                                         (c/n 780)

                           

                                      The newspaper shot above (diligently dug out by Graeme Parsons) came from the Perth Western Mail for
                                      25 July 1935.   I will leave it in this extended format in order to portray the rest of the ensemble. The caption
                                      stated:   "Equipment of  Commonwealth Prospecting Ltd .  Consisting of heavy truck, autogiro and utility truck
                                      photographed at Maylands aerodrome before the first expedition."   VH-UUQ was ex G-ADCK and appears
                                      to have been imported in July 1935 exclusively for Commonwealth Prospecting.  This company was a partner-
                                      ship formed by two characters named Jim Langmead and Cecil Spargo who obtained financing to purchase
                                      -UUQ for gold prospecting, on the promise of good leads to locate the famous Lassiters Lost Reef.  The
                                      <>autogiro departed Maylands on 24 July 1935 for Southern Cross, WA and a week later reported highly
                                      successful operations with it, flying 15 hours at an altitude of 150 feet.    However when the CofA was up
                                      for renewal a year later, the engine was u/s and there was no finance for the work.  It was stored in a hangar
                                      at West Subiaco Aerodrome, Perth, and never flew again.     It was  later moved to Maylands Aerodrome,
                                      Perth.  In October 1941 the tailwheel assembly of -UUQ was used on Goldfields Airways' Percival Vega
                                      Gull VH-UZH at Kalgoorlie.   Below is a much more presentable photograph of the C.30a  from the Geoff
                                      Goodall collection showing it as G-ADCK being test flown after its assembly at Maylands in July 1935.