VH-EWA  (3)      Douglas DC-3CS1C3G             (c/n  9286)

                           

                                  This DC-3 was purchased from Qantas (ex-VH-EAM) in 1953 to upgrade the airline from its
                                  aging Hudsons.   This marked the beginning of an expansion era for East West Airlines, although
                                  for a while it was the only DC-3 the airline possessed.  It achieved quite remarkable operational
                                  statistics making daily trips from Sydney's Mascot Airport to country towns up and down the Great
                                  Dividing Range.  In the above shot the crew is seen walking out to the aircraft for one such trip in
                                  1954.  The lower shot was taken in 1955.  Note the dropping of the hyphen in the name carried
                                  above the cabin windows (although the registered corporate name was still East-West). Yet another
                                  variation of a theme appears in the somewhat grainy photo at the bottom of the page taken by Jeff
                                  Atkinson (reproduced here courtesy of Nigel Daw) showing -EWA at Mascot in 1958.  The DC-3
                                  was re-registered VH-EWF(2) in 1959 when the first Fokker F-27 arrived, since the cream of the
                                  fleet obviously had to carry the coveted VH-EWA markings.