VH-UEK de
Havilland D.H.50A
(c/n 131)
This aircraft was probably owned by Larkin Aircraft
Supply Co when this photograph was taken,
although the original Armstrong Siddeley Puma engine had been replaced
by the Bristol Jupiter XI
which it has up front in
the photo above. The image is from the
John Oxley Library, State Library
of Queensland
collection. I
have no idea who the
worthies were or, in fact, what the machine was
doing in
Queensland,
since LASCO was strictly a
Melbourne outfit. At the foot of the page is a
small print from the Horrie
Miller collection, courtesy of the National Library of Australia
showing
-UEK following
an accident. As can be seen, at that time it still had its
original Puma engine. It
obviously was not
seriously damaged for it was repaired, re-engined and eventually sold
to Pacific
Aerial Transport
Co Ltd
(PATCO) in October of 1935.
It is possible that the above shot was
taken while the
machine was
transiting Melbourne to Wau, New
Guinea. It suffered a crash landing
at Wau, New
Guinea in May of
1936 and when its CofA came up for
renewal later that year it was
allowed to expire.
Below is a
newsprint image and excerpt
(gleaned by Graeme Parsons) from the
Sydney Morning
Herald of 11 May
1925 relating to G-AUEK and stating: "Mr E
W Timeke assistant
State Meteorologist
left Mascot aerodrome on Saturday in the
Australian aerial service’s mail and
passenger machine,
’Bluebird’ for
Adelaide, the object being to
ascertain temperatures & air pressure
at great altitudes".