VH-ADQ Douglas DC-2

This aircraft was ordered new by General Air Lines - 1934

Construction was completed at the Douglas Santa Monica plant - September 1934

It was built as a Douglas DC-2-112

Entered onto the United States Aircraft Register as NC13733 - ?

Delivered to General Air lines but possibly did not enter service with General Air - October 04, 1934

Ownership was transferred to Eastern Air Lines - December 15, 1934

Sold to Eastern Air Lines - January 06, 1935

Purchased by the British Purchasing Commission for the Royal Australian Air Force - July 31, 1940

The B.P.C. were acting as the purchasing agents for the R. A. A. F. and it bought 10 ex Eastern DC-2s

The Australian Import Licence was granted - August 02, 1940

Departed New York as deck cargo on the steamship S. S. Port Auckland - October 15, 1940

It arrived at Port Melbourne - December 03, 1940

Transported to Melbourne (Essendon) for assembly by Australian National Airways - December 06, 1940

This aircraft had flown some 15,390 hours to date

Received by 1 Aircraft Depot - December 12, 1940

Entered onto the Australian Military Aircraft Register 'A30-6'

It was issued to No 36 Squadron

Issued to 1 WAGS - January 13, 1941

The Australian radio call-sign 'VHCRJ' was allocated to this aircraft - October 1942

It acquired standard brown/green camouflage livery with duck-egg blue on under surfaces

It was extensively damaged on landing at Stock Route Strip near Townsville, Queensland - December 23, 1942

The aircraft ran off the runway avoiding a clump of trees but struck a pile of gravel

The port undercarriage collapsed causing considerable damage to the wing

Flight crew: Flt Lt H. R. Clarke

Recovered and transported to 12 RSU at Garbutt, Queensland - December 1942

Transferred to A.N.A. at Melbourne (Essendon) for complete rebuild and overhaul - June 24, 1943

The repair work had been completed with seating for 14 passengers - November 25, 1943

Reported that the aircraft was then operated by A. N. A. under charter to the A.D.A.T.

Entered onto the Australian Aircraft Register as VH-ADQ (CofR 788) - November 26, 1943

Registered to Commonwealth of Australia, Melbourne

Crashed at Bendigo East, Victoria whilst attempting to land in very poor weather and darkness - December 04, 1943

It was undertaking the scheduled Brisbane - Sydney - Melbourne service

Flight crew: Captain K. T. E. Shersby; F/O H. V. Kenna; Hostess J. Westbrook; 6 passengers

This flight had been delayed by a faulty / inoperative radio compass at Brisbane

The planned departure time of 23:00 was pushed back to 00:20

It was unable to land at Melbourne (Essendon) due to the poor weather over Melbourne at that time

At 03:20 the pilot advised Ground Control that he would return to Benalla

The crew became disoriented and arrived over Bendigo at 04:05

With fuel becoming critical the aircraft circled the Bendigo area for 30 minutes making several low runs

The crew dropped flares in prepartation for a landing in a field some 4 km northest of the Bendigo township

During the landing roll the aircraft hit a post and wire fence before plunging into dense trees and scrub

The undercarriage collapsed, tearing off the wings outboard of the engines

Starboard cockpit area was crushed when it struck a tree-trunk killing the First Officer instantly

Subsequent investigation found that a faulty connection had prevented the radio range receiver working properly

If this had not been the case then the flight crew could have received signals from Melbourne (Essendon) radio

Atmospheric interference around the Essendon - Holbrrok area had also contributed to poor radio reception

The main passenger cabin had escaped major damage in the crash

Cancelled from the Australian Aircraft Register - December 20, 1943

The damaged aircraft was transferred back to the R. A. A .F. - February 1944

Sold to A. N. A. as a source of spares - 1944

Inspection of the damaged aircraft indicated that it could be rebuilt to an airworthy condition

Rebuilt by A. N. A. engineers at Melbourne (Essendon) using the wings & centre section from DC-2 'VHCXG'

Undercarriage, engines and tail section were acquired from RAAF sources

The wheel units were manufactured locally and new Hamilton Standard propellers were obtained

A CofA and CofR were applied for - April 12, 1944

An Authority to Operate was issued - April 16, 1944

Operated the Melbourne (Essendon) - Adelaide service - April 17, 1944

Unfortunately this aircraft was damaged again the following day

It force landed at Bonnie Vale, 30 km west of Kalgoorlie when the fuel tank selector failed - April 25, 1944

It was operating the Adelaide (Parafield) - Ceduna - Forrest - Kalgoorlie - Perth service

Flight crew: Captain A. Lovell; F/O K. L. Richards

Repaired in-situ and flown on to Kalgoorlie the same day

Returned to Melbourne (Essendon) for repairs - April 26, 1944

Following a CofA inspection on April 30 an official CofR was issued - May 05, 1944

Entered onto the Australian Aircraft Register as VH-AEN (CofR 791) - May 05, 1944

Registered to Australian National Airways Pty Ltd, Melbourne

The aircraft had been reconfigured to seat 10 passengers

It was named 'Mungana' (wing)

Utilised on the Melbourne - Adelaide - Ceduna - Forrest - Kalgoorlie - Perth route from 1944 to 1947

Operated the inaugural A. N. A. Perth - Kalgoorlie service - August 01, 1946

Was operating in competition with Airlines W. A. DH-89 service

It was withdrawn from use at Melbourne (Essendon) when its CofA lapsed - April 18, 1947

Cancelled from the Australian Aircraft Register - January 09, 1948

Sold to New Holland Airways Pty Ltd for charter work - January 09, 1948

Entered onto the Australian Aircraft Register as VH-AEN - April 02, 1948

Registered to New Holland Airways Ltd

It was damaged when it swung on landing at Darwin Airport - May 09, 1948

With severe damage to the wing center section it was withdrawn from use and scrapped

Cancelled from the Australian Aircraft Register - December 03, 1948