VH-PND  Piaggio P.166                                       (c/n 401)

                                  

                                     Nice shot of a Patair Piaggio taken at Jackson's Strip, Port Moresby, New Guinea in December
                                     1964 by Newell Bell (via the John Hopton collection).      This aircraft was previously VH-PAR
                                     and was delivered to Papuan Air Transport directly from Italy in June 1961 as a replacement for
                                     the crashed VH-PAU.   It was re-registered VH-PND a month later.     It was withdrawn from
                                     Patair service in 1970, and went to General Aviation Air Freighters Pty. Ltd of  Jannali, NSW.
                                     VH-PND was finally withdrawn from active service in  December 1976 and scrapped at Banks-
                                     town at the end of 1983.   The two photos below are by Greg Banfield and were both taken at
                                     Bankstown.  In the upper shot, taken ion 16 January 1972 the rego is barely discernible on the
                                     dorsal fairing, being painted in black on red (I wonder why they didn't use white?).  Also, was
                                     the "P" a remnant of its Patair service?   The rego clarity situation had been rectified by September
                                     1974 when the lower shot was taken.   It was probably still on General's books at that time.