VH-KAV  Auster J/5 Adventurer                     (c/n  2894)

                                 

                                     This Auster led a varied life after it had been imported by KSAS in May of 1951.  After several
                                     owners in virtually every state (except Tasmania) it wound up in Kalgoorlie, WA in 1968 where
                                     the two shots (above and below) were taken by Geoff Goodall.      The lower image is an earlier
                                     one, taken in the hangar in 1971, whilst the running-up photo above was in 1973.    Interestingly,
                                     the patched fabric had not been painted over in the interim two years!.  At the foot of the page is
                                     an historic shot of -KAV (from the John Hopton collection) taken at the original townsite aero-
                                     drome at Alice Springs, whilst it was with Connellan Airways circa 1953.     In the background
                                     are a Connellan Dragon Rapide and Dragonfly.   That's Eddie Connellan holding the port wingtip
                                     of -KAV.     By 1974 the Auster was employed as a tug by the Goldfields Gliding Club. In Sept-
                                     ember of 1975 the poor old thing sustained a hard, nose-over landing and was finally laid up.  It
                                     was ultimately rescued "as is" by the then embryo RAAF Aviation Heritage Museum and is now
                                     on permanent display in their facility in Bull Creek, Western Australia, having been nicely restored
                                     to static display status as seen in David Eyre's contemporary photograph of it at:
                                                                                  http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=1235682