VH-AMX (1) de Havilland D.H.82A Tiger
Moth
(c/n DHA133)
VH-AMX was another of
the original Royal Aero Aero Club of WA Tigers acquired after WW II.
(formerly the RAAF's
A17-136) It is seen above (after the club
had sold it) in action with Aero
Service Pty Ltd somewhere
in the WA wheatbelt, circa 1957. On 24 October 1954,
whilst still
with the club, it had
crashed into trees on Rottnest Island, 19 km off the coast of WA,
as seen in
the image immediately
below. Following that accident it was not rebuilt by the
club, but sold off
to Aero Service who
converted it into a crop sprayer. As a duster it had another
accident (bottom
of the page) on
31 January 1958 at Maylands, being yet another victim of the notorious
Swan River
levee bank on the
aerodrome boundary. The Tiger struck the levee during landing on
a training sortie
for a new Aero Service
ag pilot. It was quickly rebuilt and returned to crop dusting service
and was
later being re-registered
VH-WFQ when the Aero Service fleet was put into the VH-WF series to
acknowledge the supplier of
their superphosphate and spraying chemicals, Westfarmers. It has
now been rebuilt
as a standard two-seater and registered VH-EEI.