VH-AZY de
Havilland D.H.104 Dove 1
(c/n 04091)
This
Dove was delivered new to Airlines (WA) Ltd at Perth Airprt early in
1948. Photos of it as
VH-AZY
are extremely rare, and I am grateful to Geoff Goodall for this shot of
it, grainy though
it
may be. Before handing over to AWA it was test flown by
deHavilland Aircraft's chief test pilot
Brian
"Blackjack" Walker. It became VH-AWD in1953 when AWA
"personalized" their regis-
trations. This Dove may not hold the record for different
identities, but it must come close.
It has been, successively:
VH-AWD
VH-MMO
VH-FDV
VH-TDV
VH-RUW
VH-RUN
and finally
as VP-PAL with Megapode
Airways of Honiara, Solomon Islands. It
was returned to Hawker
de
Havillands at Sydney with advanced corrosion and ended up in a Sydney
scrapyard, where it was saved
by
agricultural pilot and aviation enthusiast George Greig.