VH-AIE (1)
Percival
P.44 Proctor 5
(c/n AE13)
Proctor 5 VH-AIE was a
new, post war built machine imported in July 1948. It is seen at
at Perth
Airport in May 1958 in this shot by Ern
Flanders (via Geoff Goodall). . Named "Jennie Wren", the
aircraft crashed on 25
August 1962 when the leading edge of the starboard wing broke away while
flying in support of a
ground party rounding up isolated flocks of sheep on "Wildara" Station,
70 miles
north of Leonora
WA. The DCA investigation found that "the glue
used in the assembly of the star-
board wing had deteriorated to such a
degree as to render the wing considerably under the design
strength." . The Proctor had only logged 632 hours since built, and had
been hangared all its life, and
CofA renewals had been done by MacRobertson
Miler Airlines in Perth. A month after the crash,
DCA announced that all Proctor 5 models
in Australia would have their CofAs suspended effective
31 December 1962. The ban on wood bonded
aircraft applied also to Ansons and certain Miles type
aircraft.