VH-AHR Percival P.34 Proctor 3
(c/n H.466)
As you might surmise, this aircraft had a red cowling and cheat line on
a silver fuselage when
named
'Rudolph'. The Proctor, ex G-ALCF and LZ684, was in the hangar at
Cootamundra,
NSW when John Hopton
took the above photo in April 1962. It was based there for many
years whilst owned by
Keith Ward and later Frank deBritt. By January 1965, when
Mike
Croker took the shot
immediately below at Goulburn, NSW, the rego had been moved to
the tail.
-AHR had been ferried from to Goulburn from Coota after its CofA
expired and
it was officially
cancelled from the register on 21 April 1964. Plans
for a rebuild to pass
the DCA wood glue
tests were abandoned, and it was flown out to a farm at Bethong near
Young,
NSW. Here it was damaged when
ground-looped during a "fast taxi", and dumped
in a dry creek bed on the
property A decade later (April 1975) Mike Vincent
took a shot
of the remains
(bottom of the page) at Bethong. Amazingly, when last
heard of, these remains
were salvaged and are
in a collection of Proctor parts held for restoration by Leigh Giles of
Lara,
Victoria