VH-ACY (1) Aeronca 65C Chief
(c/n C4919)
The rare shot above is from the Len
Dobbins
collection and is shown here courtesy of the Civil
Aviation Historical
Society collection. It depicts the only (so far as I can
ascertain) Aeronca 65
series ever to be
registered in Australia. This photo was taken
outside
Airflite's hangar (the
importers) at
Bankstown. By the time the press publicity photo (below, from
the John Hopton
collection) was taken at Archerfield in 1949, showing the diminutive
Aeronca under the nose of
ANA's DC-4 VH-ANG, it had had a complete repaint
job. VH-ACY waa first registered in
November 1939. It survived the war
(although was not impressed
into service with the RAAF)
and was sold in
August of 1949 to Sarawak,
becoming VR-WAA, probably soon after the lower
shot was
taken.