VH-ALB  Supermarine Seagull V                                              No c/n

                               
                               
                                 Twenty-four Seagull Vs were acquired by the Royal Australian Navy in 1935-36 for distribution among
                                 its 'County' and 'Leander' class cruisers.  VH-ALB was the former A2-4.  The aircraft was the forerunner
                                 of, and almost identical to, the well known Walrus.    Following its retirement at the end of 1946 it was
                                 converted for civil use ostensibly for Eric McIllree's Amphibious Airways in New Guinea.   In the event,
                                 McIllree had received so much grief from (the then) DCA obtaining Cs of A for his first two Walruses that
                                 he abandoned the effort and sold -ALB to Peter J. Gibbes.  The machine remained in storage at Camden,
                                 NSW from 1952 until 1960 when Gibbes managed to remove it and base it at Moorabbin for his Amphair
                                 Pty Ltd.   Following brief ownership by Barrier Reef Flying Boat Service of Mackay, Qld it was then sold
                                 (1964) to Sydney aviation enthusiast Hockey Treloar.    Geoff Goodall's shot above was taken at Camden,
                                 NSW in January 1967, while immediately below is Bob Neate's photo taken at Moorabbin in 1962 and
                                 showing the Walrus with Gibbes'Amphibious Air Charter titles.   The lovely take-off shot (# 3) is courtesy
                                 of the CAHS archives.   In 1969 -ALB was readied for the London - Sydney Air Race dressed in wartime
                                 livery.   It never made it to the U.K.(this time) but retired at Singapore.       Back in Australia it suffered an
                                 undercarriage mishap during a take-off at Taree, NSW in January 1970  It was trucked back to Bankstown
                                 and remained there in open storage until 1972.  The  color image (below, # 4) by Roger McDonald shows
                                 it taxiing at Bankstown on 6 December 1969 whilst  at the bottom of the page (photo # 5) is a John Wheatley
                                 shot of it also at Bankstown, circa 1971.  In 1972/3 it was exchanged by its owner for a Spitfire (TE384)
                                 with the RAF Museum, and the Seagull was air-freighted to the Museum's store at RAF Wyton.  Between
                                 1973 and 1979 it was fully restored to  A2-4 status and is now part of the static display at Hendon.
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