G-AUCR  Avro 547 Triplane                                    (c/n  547/1)

                                     

                                            The image above, from the Dave Horn collection,  is a rare shot showing the first of only two
                                            Avro 547 tri-planes with its Australian rego.    The three shots below (upper from the CAHS
                                            files and the two lower from Geoff Goodall's collection) illustrate it sans rego, probably taken
                                            at Melbourne after it first arrived from the U.K. where it had been registered G-EAQX, 
                                            It had been acquired by Qantas in November 1922 ostensibly to provide service between
                                            Charleville and Katherine.  Although it placed second in the 1922 Australian Aerial Derby,
                                            it is doubtful whether it actually ever flew revenue passenger services for QANTAS since it
                                            was deemed to be totally unsuitable for outback conditions plus apparently it was somewhat
                                            structurally unsound, particularly in the undercarriage area.      Its registration was allowed to
                                            lapse one year later, and the fuselage wound up as a chicken house in Sydney.