ZK-BJM         Lockheed 18-56 Lodestar                (c/n  2090)

                                       

                                             This Lodestar led an interesting life.  It was originally delivered to BOAC as G-AGBU for
                                             operation of its African services out of Cairo.  After WW II it joined Warren Penny's motley
                                             fleet (doing ad hoc charter work and trading under the name of Intercontinental Aiirlines,
                                             registered on Sydney).  When Penny went bankrupt it passed to South Coast Airways as
                                             VH-BKH.   Since Fawcett Aviation were the corporate owners of South Coast it was
                                             re-registered VH-FAD.   In 1955 Fawcett converted the old lady for topdressing and
                                             sold it to Fieldair Ltd.  The aircraft crossed the Tasman sea and was registered in New
                                             Zealand as ZK-BJM.   Jim Dyson took this nice photograph of it at Auckland (shown here
                                             via the David Molesworth collection).   In 1960 it went to Airland (NZ) Ltd and was retired
                                             from active duty in 1963.  It was scrapped at Gisborne the following year. For a full and
                                             complete history of this Lodestar, plus more historic images, go to Ron Cuskelly's fantastic
                                             "The Lockheed File" website at:
                                                                               http://www.adastron.com/lockheed/lodestar/vh-fad.htm