VH-BJC  (2)  Piper PA-30-160 Twin Comanche                (c/n  30-728)

                                     

                                             I have not been able to come up with a picture of the first VH-BJC, a Tiger Moth which crashed
                                             in 1951.  This, the second iteration, was seen at Parafield in February 1966.  It was registered on
                                             23 July 1965 to New England Aviation of Glenn Innes NSW, after being delivered from the USA
                                             as N7679Y.  It went to other owners before a fatal accident on 24 November 1969 near Totten-
                                             ham NSW.    It appears as if during cruise, one propeller broke off near hub. Resulting asymmetric
                                             forces tore engine off its mounts but it was restrained from dropping clean off the wing, causing it
                                             to go to an engine hanging down position . The resulting asymmetric drag caused the aircraft to go
                                             into a flat spin from which the pilot could not recover.    Cause of the propeller blade failure was
                                         ,   found to be corrosion on the inside of the hollow hub end.