VH-BQD   (1)  Cessna 180 Skywagon    (c/n  31120)

                                 

                                        There were actually two VH-BQD Cessna 180s.    Both were agricultural aircraft.  I am not sure
                                        if this is the first one, but I think it is.   Here's the situation.  C/n 31120 (ex N3622C) was imported
                                        in 1954.  It was lost in a crash at Beemery, NSW in August of 1956.  In May of 1957 it was replaced
                                        with an almost identical machine.  The second VH-BQD was c/n 31128 (ex ZK-BGG, N3630C).
                                        Now, was it pure coincidence that the replacement was almost certainly built on the same day as
                                        the first one?  Remember, they were purchased three years apart.  It was the eighth one down the
                                        production line.  Or were they originally purchased as a block, one of which went to a subsidiary
                                        in New Zealand?   Or did the owner consciously go out looking for a replacement with a c/n
                                        close to that of the original?