VH-BVZ de Havilland D.H.82A Tiger
Moth
(c/n 82808/T329)
VH-BVZ seen on a farm near Canberra in March 1978 in
this Mike Vincent photo, via the Geoff
Goodall
collection. Identified by DCA paperwork only by its
de Havilland Aircraft wartime over-
haul
number of T329, it is believed to be in fact British built c/n 82808
which served with the RAAF
as
R4891. It was sold by Commonwealth Disposals
Commission to the Royal Aero Club of NSW
at Mascot
aerodrome, Sydney in March 1946 as VH-APG. It was a
cropduster in NSW before
joining Farmair Pty
Ltd, Maylands in August 1959. On the long ferry flight
from Sydney to Perth,
this Tiger
overturned when landing to refuel alongside the Transcontinental
Railway line at Reid on
the Nullabor Plain.
Taken to Perth as rail freight it was quickly rebuilt at
Maylands. It ended its
agricultural
service in a crash in a lupin paddock at Dalwallinu in Sept 1963 and
became a rebuild
project with a
private owner at Geraldton WA, later moving to Goulburn NSW where it
was com-
pleted by Dick
Nell in January 1978. It still flies and is registered to
an owner in South Australia.