VH-AAZ (2)  de Havilland D.H.83 Fox Moth                                 (c/n  4089)

                                    

                                        When, in late 1937 the Asiatic Petroleum Company decided to have its Grumman Goose shipped
                                        directly to, and registered in, the Dutch East Indies, the rego VH-AAZ to which it had been assigned
                                        was quickly reissued - to this Fox Moth.   This aircraft was operated by pioneering aviator and New
                                        Guinea gold miner Ray Parer and was imported from the U.K. ex G-ACRU.    As such it had been
                                        owned by the Royal Aeronautical Society, London and operated on floats for The British Graham
                                        Land Expedition 1934-1937, flying in Antarctica and the Falkland Islands. It was first registered in
                                        Australia on 20 November 1937 and flown from Wewak by Parer carrying supplies and miners to
                                        their diggings, as well freight and passengers between Wau and Salamaua.    It had a hard life with
                                        several accidents before being wrecked at Black Cat Range on 6 November 1939 en route from
                                        Salamaua to Wau when treacherous weather forced the pilot Bill Forgan-Smith into tree tops.   He
                                        was injured but trekked through thick forest for days until rescued, later going on to a long airline
                                        career with Qantas.  The above image is from the Geoff Goodall collection and is a take-off from
                                        the official CofA photograph.