VH-UBN de
Havilland D.H.89 Dragon Rapide
(c/n 6253)
Formerly a
"prohibited registration" the marks VH-UBN were not issued until
1936. This Rapide
was the former
Hillmans Airways G-ACPO. Originally owned by Rockhampton
Aerial Services
Ltd, it is seen above
in the livery of Airlines of Australia Ltd who took over the North
Queensland
outfit in September of 1936 in order to extend their services up the
coast as far as Cairns. The
above shot, from the
Geoff Goodall collection, shows the aircraft at Mascot, circa
1938 . Note
Stinson Model A in
the background. Two more images from the Goodall album show the
Rapide
at Parafield, circa
1942 (immediately below, # 2) in wartime olive drab, and following that
(# 3)
a nice 1944
air-to-air shot of it, whilst it was in service with Guinea Airways.
(Note Royal Mail
logo, but no
Guinea titling). Finally, at the foot of the page (photo # 4),
from the John Oxley Library,
State Library of
Queensland collection, is a shot showing it outside the AOA hangar at
Archerfield in
the late 1940s.
Couldn't the photographer have waitied for the bloke to clear the
viewing area before
pulling the
trigger? VH-UBN had been impressed from
Airlines of Australia in 1940 as A33-5 then
released to DCA
for issue to Guinea Airways in April 1942 for their South Australian
passenger
services.
Its service with Guinea was short-lived as, on 20
July 1944, when the pilot attempted a
climb through
cloud, it struck
Mount Kitchener while on a
Renmark-Adelaide scheduled service,
with the loss
of all 7 on board.
2.
3.
4.
