VH-CLV  de Havilland (Riley) D.H.114 Heron 2D                  (c/n  14124)

                                  
                                 
                                       This was originally the second of the Luftwaffe Herons (CA+002), which returned to the UK in
                                       1962 as G-ASCX.   Connellan Airways acquired it in May 1970.                           
                                       Eddie Connellan's autobiography "Failure of Triumph" is a depressing story of his endless annoy-
                                       ance and frustration at being at the mercy of DCA for every action he took - he needed a Govern-
                                       ment subsidy to survive and that subsidy was administered by DCA whose bureaucrats stopped
                                       him from buying Beech 18s immediately after the war, insisting he flew ancient DH.89 Dragon
                                       Rapides instead.   They then obstructed his next choice of Herons for 10 years.   Finally, when 
                                       when his son Roger, who was destined to become the General Manager of the airline, was killed
                                       by the suicide Baron pilot, Connellan decided to sell out to East-West Airlines,  predicting that the
                                       company they floated to operate his outback routes, Northern Airlines, would go broke within a
                                       year.......and indeed they did.    Greg Banfield's shot of -CLV above was taken at Mascot in Sept
                                       1974.  Immediately below, the ex-Connellan Heron is seen all decked out in the short-lived North-
                                       ern livery in a shot from the Chris O'Neill collection, taken at Alice Springs in August 1980.
                                       When Northern folded VH-CLV went to Sydney based AvDev Airlines Davey, and was used
                                       on scheduled services to NSW country centers.  The third and fourth shots show -CLV in two
                                       variations of the airlines' scheme.  The upper, by Chris O'Neill at Mascot in June 1982 with full
                                       AvDev Airlines Davey livery and the lower, by Greg Banfield at the same airport in March 1983
                                       showing it sans 'Davey'.    Finally, at the foot of the page, -CLV is seen at Essendon in January
                                       1985 in a photo by Mike Madden when with Airlines of Tasmania.   AoT had, by then, adopted
                                       the Riley Heron as their standard equipment.     C/n 14124, along with the remains of VH-CLZ
                                       (c/n 14075) have been donated to the Queen Victoria Museum in Launceston, although on a
                                       return trip to my old home town in 2006 I could not find evidence of either of them.  .