Miles M.38 Messenger 2A          (c/n  6376)


                        


                            Some eighty or so Miles Messengers were built.    The original model was produced during the
                            war for the British Army as an artillery spotter. It had limited STOL/slow flying abilities. Field
                            Marshall Montgomery used one with which to tour the battlefields of France after D-Day. After
                            the war production of an all-civilian model produced some 60 further examples.  They differ from
                            their military counterparts in having a "D" shaped rear window (vs.a square one for ex-Army types).
                            Only five were imported into Australia, one of which, in the colors of the Royal Queensland Aero
                            Club, is seen above at Archerfield in 1952.   This aircraft was formerly registered G-AKAI.  It
                            was withdrawn from use in 1962.  British wooden aeroplanes tended to come unglued (literally)
                            in the harsh Australian climate, and by and large their C's of A were withdrawn.