YI-ABK   de Havilland D.H.104 Dove                        (c/n  04097)

                              

                                     Iraqi Airways was founded in December of 1945 by the Iraqi State Railways with technical
                                     assistance from BOAC.    Because of this, of course, early equipment tended to be British.
                                     As part of a pool service with MEA, D.H.89A Rapides were used on a route from Baghdad
                                     to Beirut.    These were replaced with three Doves in 1946.    This Dove had a varied history
                                     and after it left Iraqi it was converted to Riley Dove 400 standard.   By 1974 it was registered
                                     in Australia as VH-ABM.   The shot below was taken at Essendon in 1993.   For a decade or
                                     so, it languished at Moorabbin, but left that locale on a truck in 2006.      It recently (2011)
                                     appears on a website http://www.charltonaircraftmuseum.com/?p=3 in a list of aircraft (under
                                     'Planes') as being at that locale.