VH-USG  de Havilland D.H.86A                             (c/n  2311)

                                  

                                       The D.H.86A model was a two pilot variant of the original single pilot D.H.86.    Six were ordered
                                       for Qantas.  Two left the U.K. by air and four were shipped as deck cargo. Unfortunately VH-USG
                                       was totally destroyed at Longreach in central Queensland on 15 November 1934 while on the final
                                       stage of its delivery flight.   I am assuming that photos of it were taken at D.H.s before it departed
                                       but, in sixty-five years of looking, I have not been able to unearth one. The above grainy image of
                                       the remains came from a story in the Longreach Leader for 24 November 1934.  All crew members
                                       were killed in the crash.  Investigators expressed concern at apparent defects in the forward pin post;
                                       posing the question that a failure in that component caused its loss.    Further investigation revealed
                                       that VH-USG had been loaded with a spare engine in the rear of the cabin, and that one of the crew
                                       members was in the lavatory in the extreme aft of the cabin when control was lost.    It was theorised
                                       that the aft center of gravity condition that thus existed resulted in a loss-of-control at an altitude
                                       insufficient for recovery (the aircraft was at an estimated height of 1,000 ft (300 m) prior to the crash