VH-AVQ   (2)  Miles M.38 Messenger 2A          (c/n  6373)

                        

                            Formerly G-AJKG, this Messenger was a fairly common sight at Moorabbin in the mid-1950s. 
                            On the original of my photograph the warping of the plywood in the fuselage can be discerned.
                            For more on the history of the Messenger see my notes under VH-AVD.  Along with several
                            other wooden aircraft, its C of A was not renewed in 1962 by the (then) Department of Civil
                            Aviation due to doubts regarding the glue bonding of the wooden components.  This aircraft
                            has been preserved at the Australian National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin in full WW II
                            D-Day markings.  (I frankly think it looked better plain, as my shot above shows, but it
                            appears to be de rigueur today to deck 'em up as warbirds!).  The following site has more
                            on this aircraft as it now appears:
                                                                    http://www.aarg.com.au/Messenger.htm