VH-CEJ de Havilland D.H.82A Tiger Moth
(c/n DHA1077)
VH-CEJ was formerly A17-746 purchased ex RAAF Tocumwal in 1954 by
Rockhampton Aero
Club. It
was one many Tigers put into storage at Tamworth - dozens of them were
stored on their
noses with tails
in the air to get the
maximum into each hangar. Kept for postwar use, it
was
flown at Wagga by 1BFTS Uranquinty until
acquired by the Rocky Aero Club. Flown by the
club until retired and cancelled from
the register on 11 October 1966, it had always been shown
in registers with the identity
"A17-746". The following year a dismantled Tiger was
observed by
Australian aircraft registration
historian Mel Davis in the back of their hangar at Rocky which he
assumed was -CEJ but carried no
identification. There was some speculation that a Tiger
which
emerged from D.H.82 rebuilder Cecil Heit's
shop in Brisbane in 1968 as VH-CES (and carrying
the c/n of "1070") was a reincarnation
of VH-CEJ, but that appears not to be the case and -CES
is, in fact, a totally different
aeroplane. VH-CEJ meanwhile became the subject of a
long term
rebuild by Charlie Miller of Canberra,
emerging on 15 October 1982 with the corrupted c/n of
"T746" instead of its old identity
of
A17-746. . This is definitely not connected to the DHA "T"
series of
overhaul airframe numbers since they did not go that high, and just
where that number
came from is somewhat of a mystery
(although CAA accepted in in good faith - and it retains that
identity today). Phil Vabre
took the above shot at an air show at Tyabb in March 2004.
A rare shot
of this Tiger back in 1957 can be seen in the background for the entry
on VH-GWB.
Somewhere in
the early new
millennium it apparently force-landed in a swamp and was badly
damaged
during the recovery effort. Phil took a
photo of the remains at Penfield, SA in mid
2007
(below).
It is still registered and was rebuilt
by Rob Scott and
Kim Skyring of Transaero.
