VH-ANH Douglas DC-3-396
"Tullana"
(c/n 4120)
This aircraft was a "true"
DC-3 (as opposed to a converted C-47A) and was built as
NC33657 for American
Airlines in 1941. In the event the US Government intervened
and
the machine was immediately
drafted into the USAAF as a C-50-DO, with serial
number 41-7698.
It joined
the 5th Air Force in 1942
(South East Asia theatre) and
was loaned
to No. 36 Sqdn, RAAF with the call sign VHCDJ. Note, the absence
of
the dash. It had the name
'Waltzing Mathilda' at this
time (later changed to 'Winnie')
In 1944 it was
released for use in
the civilian airline contract courier service and went
to Guinea
Airways.
Oftentimes ADAT (Allied Directorate of Air Transport - the air
transportation agency during
the war) aircraft operated with a dash in the call sign,
in this case making it
VH-CDJ and looking for all the world like a civil registration.
However, they were still military call
signs and not true civilian regos, even if they
looked like
they were. Guinea
Airways operated it in support of the war effort
and
it
probably remained in camouflage during this
period. It
was properly civilianized in
1946, brought back to full DC-3 status,
and
given the registraton VH-ANH. It passed
to the Ansett-ANA
fleet
when Ansett took over ANA in 1957, and
went to subsidiaries
Airlines of
Australia in 1961, Victorian Air
Coach Services in 1963 and to
Airlines of
NSW in 1966. VH-ANH has been restored
and is currently on
display at the Australian
National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin Airport, just
south of
the city of Melbourne.
On a seperate page
are more photographs
of this aircraft.