ZK-AMC
Short S..30 Empire Class
(c/n S.884)
The Short Empire 'boats were quite handsome
looking aircraft. This is TEAL's second, and
was
formerly G-AFCY "Awarua". The second aircraft was to have been ZK-AMB
(ex G-AFCZ
"Australia")
but came to grief after it ran aground on a mud flat whilst taking off
from Basra, Iraq
on 9
August 1939. It was returned to Hythe for repairs and, in the
event, never did wind up on the
New
Zealand register. ZK-AMB was re-assignd to a Sandingham 4
instead.
ZK-AMC was withdrawn from service in 1947, having spent the war years
on the Auckland-
Sydney
route. The provenance of the above shot is unknown, but shows it
in war-time livery
with the red,
white and blue rudder flash, and the rego
underlined.. It was broken up in the
Tamaki estuary, Auckland in 1947.