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VH-BFW. Douglas C-47A-25-DK. c/n 13587. Was also registered as: 42-93652; KG720; VH-MAC; B-251. |
The construction of this aircraft was completed at the Douglas Oklahoma City plant - June 1944 It was built as a Douglas C-47A-25-DK It was allocated the United States serial number '42-93652' Delivered to United States Army Air Force - June 21, 1944 Transferred to the Royal Air Force as a Dakota III under the lend-lease agreement - July 01, 1944 It was allocated the British serial number 'KG720' The aircraft was delivered to Air Command, South-East Asia - July 27, 1944 Allocated to No 117 Squadron - ? Allocated to No 62 Squadron - ? Transferred to the Indian Government - January 30, 1947 The aircraft was deemed to be surplus to requirements, withdrawn from use and struck-off charge - 1947 Sold to New Guinea Co t/a Mandated Airlines Ltd - November 30, 1947 It arrived at Lae for conversion to civilian standards - January 1948 Entered onto the Australian Aircraft Register as VH-BFW (CofR 1486) - March 24, 1948 Registered to New Guinea Co t/a Mandated Airlines Ltd Registered as a Douglas DC-3C-S1C3G It was configured to seat 28 passengers Leased to Guinea Air Traders - 1949 - 1950 Reregistered as VH-MAC - August 10, 1951 The aircraft sustained minor damage on landing at Kaiapit, Papua New Guinea - May 29, 1952 Unbeknown to the pilot (Capt T. G. Deegan) the starboard tyre had gone flat during the flight It was operating the scheduled service from Port Moresby to Kaiapit This resulted in the starboard undercarriage causing drag on the landing roll The aircraft tipped over onto its nose - it was repaired and returned to service Leased to Guinea Air Traders - 1953 Registered to Ansett-MAL, Port Moresby - January 20, 1961 The aircraft was withdarwn from service and stored at Lae - June 1967 Sold to Far Eastern Air Transport (FEAT), Taiwan - June 08, 1967 Departed Lae on the ferry flight to Taiwan - June 20, 1967 It arrived at Taipei on completion of the ferry flight - June 24, 1967 Ferry route: Lae - Madang - Wewak - Vanimo - Koror - Mactan - Manila - Taipei Known flight crew: Capt J. Cronin; Navigator B. S. McEwen Entered onto the Taiwanese Aircraft Register as B-251 - June 24, 1967 Cancelled from the Australian Aircraft Register - July 03, 1967 The aircraft was destroyed whilst landing at Phan Thiet, Vietnam - April 24, 1969 It was hit by unfriendly ground fire, causing the port wheel to strike the runway first This caused the aircraft to swing to port, striking a small hut on the airfield It was written off as uneconomical to repair Cancelled from the Taiwanese Aircraft Register - ? |