VH-UFV de
Havilland D.H 60 Moth
(c/n 1A)
This was the first D.H. 60 Moth assembled in
Australia from parts
supplied out of Stag Lane.
Assembly was performed at the South
Melbourne works of de
Havilland Aircraft Pty. Ltd.,.
the
Australian subsidiary of the parent
company. At the foot of this entry is a poor photo
gleaned (by
Graeme Parsons) from the Sydney Morning Herald for 4 June 1927 showing
the Moth in
its original G-AUFV markings when it was in operation by the Australian
Aero Club (NSW
Section). The caption for this image stated
"First Australian-built Moth
Aeroplane. The machine, which arrived yesterday, will be taken
over by the Aero Club at
the aerodrome
to-day". G-AUFV was originally
built with a 80 hp Cirrus Mk II engine,
although the RACNSW
installed a Gipsy I
in 1939 (making it, in theory, a
D.H.60G). The
photo immediately
below, from the State
Library of New South Wales
collection, shows it
in its original
form,
(probably, although not clearly,
also as G-AUFV). This Moth was
mobilized into the
RAAF in
August of 1940 as A7-112,
but demobbed
a month later as
being unserviceable.
The aircraft
equivalent, I suppose, of
being 4F!
It was struck off the
register in 1947
following an accident the previous
year. The fuselages of -AAQ
and -UFV
lay in the back
of a farm hangar at Jerilderie NSW
for
many years while owned by Dr Tony
Fisher of
Sydney. Geoff Goodall took a shot
(below) of
the remains at Jerilderie in Nov 1969.
The two
wrecks were then sold to Jim
Starr who restored -UFV and had it flying again by the
end of 1994.
It is still registered to
Jim at Walbundrie, NSW.
