VH-UYA
Junkers
Ju86
(c/n
86/0952)
This image
above is from the Len Dobbin collection, via the Civil Aviation
Historical
Society
archives,
whilst the one at the foot of the page is via the National
Library of Australia showing
the
Junkers probably at Coffs Harbour, NSW, whilst awaiting a
replacement engine. It was
dogged by mechanical problems from the
outset, and its
short career in Australia was less than
spectacular. The
history of VH-UYA
is well documented by Australian
airline historian Fred
Niven and is
given, in part, as follows:
This
aircraft was
completed at Dessau in January 1937, as a
Ju.86B-0.
Originally
D-AGEY (Junkerswerke).
It
was named
'Lawrence
Hargrave' at
Junkerswerke, Dessau and was painted a light khaki color
overall, with black registration, fuselage-stripe
and engine
nacelles. It was acquired by
Dr. E.F.R. Beinssen, the German
Trade
Commissioner in Sydney, for £26000, in a
barter deal, for a
consignment of wool, for resale. An Australian registration
was applied
for in late January 1937 as
the aircraft
was being
imported "for re-sale for
commercial purposes". Later paperwork from Dessau described it as being a
"Ju86B-
Australien".
It departed Dessau 20 Feb 1937, as D-AGEY, flying
via
Europe & Asia; arriving Darwin, from Timor, 15 March
1937,
with a total flying time of 69 hours.
The German registration and swastika were removed whilst
the aircraft
was at Darwin.
It had
provisionally been registered VH-UYA on 18 Mar 1937,
to Dr.
E.F. Beinssen, to
cover
the flight from Darwin to
Melbourne.
It flew
Darwin-Charleville-Brisbane-Essendon on 26 April 1937, as VH-UYA, using its
provisional CoA. After inspection at Mel-
bourne, it was formally
registered
VH-UYA to
E.F. Beinssen of Sydney
as a 10 passenger machine. It was chartered by Airlines
of Australia, for evaluation
purposes, from 14 May 1937. It ferried
Melbourne-Cootamundra-Sydney
on that same day and
departed
Sydney at 0805 on 17 May 1937 on its first Airlines of
Australia
test flight
Sydney-Lismore-Brisbane, with 4 crew (Capts
J.
Mclaughlin (Airlines of Australia) and J. Kerr (on loan from the
Civil Aviation Dept.) and Engineers H. Wolfermann and W.
Gerisch)
plus six passengers.
It arrived Brisbane at 1100, after
a flying time of
2 hours 40 mins. In the afternoon of 17 May
1937, it continued on to
Townsville, with 10 passengers. On the return
Brisbane-Sydney
flight,
during the afternoon
of 20 May
1937
(with 5
passengers and mail), it was
forced-landed at Coffs Harbour, NSW, after the starboard engine
failed, 1.5km from
the
airport (Captains K. Virtue & J. McLaughlin; both of
Airlines of Australia, plus the 2 German engineers). Engineer
Wolfer-
mann
indicated that the
engine was
badly damaged and a
spare
had to be sent from Melbourne. Airlines of Australia
used a
Stinson A
to ferry the crew and passengers from Lismore to Sydney.
VH-UYA
was
then ferried to
Fishermans
Bend, Melbourne
by Keith Virtue. Despite
being praised by crew & passengers, the engines'
unreliability
ruined its chances of being purchased.
The aircraft was dismantled in
Melbourne and
departed for
Germany by
sea, from Melbourne, 25 Aug 1937,
on the S.S. 'Lippe'.
It was struck off the
register
on 26 Sept
1937. After its return to
the Junkers works in Germany, it was reregistered D-AGEY,
still with
the name 'Lawrence Hargrave', and its tails painted red with
swastikas
added again.It may
later have gone to Lufthansa,
or
possibly to
the South African Air Force.
