VH-BSP DHC-1 Chipmunk T.10
(c/n C1/0063)
Aviation Services (SA) Ltd ran
flying schools in South Australian country towns with a modest fleet
of Chipmunks. VH-BSP, which
had been acquired from the Tasmanian Aero Club at Launceston,
was based at Whylla,
although Bob Neate's photo above was taken at Mildura (September 1962).
Maintenance was performed at Parafield which was where Geoff Goodall's
shot was taken (immediately
below). On 2
February 1963 VH-BSP was flown
into the ground some 9 miles south of
Turnby Bay,
SA by its 20 year pilot,
Miss R. Puckridge. The DCA report stated that it was a
"probable suicide
gesture". Local gossip at
the time conjectured
that Miss Puckridge was distraught over the
death of
the pilot of VH-UEK which
had crashed in the same general locale a week or so earlier while
low
flying. It was
rumored that she had a romantic relationship
with this pilot. In the
event the gesture
was in vain insofar as the
undercarriage of -BSP bore
the brunt of the impact and Miss
Puckridge
sustained only minor
injuries. However, these two
crashes within a fortnight of each other
were
probably the reason which
caused Aviation Services to abandon
their country flying training oper-
ations
and leave it to the Royal Aero Club of SA who had, for years,
received criticism for not
providing training
outside Adelaide. This was rectified when the club
purchased a large fleet of
Victa Airtourers and began
providing regional training. Meanwhile Aviation Services
concentrated
on Auster maintenance
at
Parafield and became agencies for Beagle and a few other obscure
types.
Finally, from Ron Cuskelly in Brisbane comes
news that the fin, rudder and tailplane of -BSP (along
with several other Chipmunk
bits and pieces) are now to be found amongst the Queensland Air
Museum's "Chipmunk Starter
Kits". Photo at the foot of the page taken in
2006.
