VH-EMV CZL (Let) L200A Morava
(c/n 170411)
The Morava was designed as a successor to the Aero
145. The prototype first flew in 1957.
A few L.200s were built,
but most numerous was the L.200A. Having said that, VH-EMV
was the only imported
into Australia (although they were popular in Russia). The
aircraft above
arrived in 1962 as
OK-OHC. It was sold to Coastal Airways of Mackay for charter
work. It
was leased later to Ansett-ANA
initially, although the airline wound up purchasing the machine
in 1964. It
worked out of Mackay and was nicknamed "Eggs, Meat and Vegetables" for
obvious
reasons! It did
a tour of duty in New Guinea in 1966 with Ansett-MAL. Upon being
retired from
that service it
languished for a while in the graveyard at Essendon, where Barry
Maclean took the
above shot in
1967. It was sold soon afterward to J. Kemp of Currumbin,
Qld and has had
several owners (and
liveries) since. Geoff Goodall saw it at Wodonga, Vic in
September 1984.
(immediately below).
Finally, at the foot of the page is another Barry Maclean shot
showing it at
Richmond, NSW in 1991
wearing a slightly modified (blue vs black) color
scheme. There was
a move around 2003 to
repaint it in its
Ansett-ANA livery, but what
became of that idea I don't
know. In
any event, it is still
on the register and is currently based
in the Camden, NSW area.