VH-MJD  de Havilland D.H.104 Dove 6            (c/n   04313)

                              

                                 This Dove was originally delivered to the French Cie Nord Africaine de L'Hyperphosphate as
                                 F-BFVL in 1951.   It was re-registered F-OABL when it went to Textile Cotoniere.  Returning
                                 to mainland France in 1956, it went to SNCA de Sud Ouest as a company hack and reverted to
                                 F-BFVL.    In August 1957 it was sold in the U.K. to the brewery conglomerate Ind Coope and
                                 Allsopp becoming G-APCZ.  After shuttling brewery management around for a decade it was sold
                                 in Australia to Chartwell Pty Ltd in September 1967 as VH-MJD.   Geoff Goodall saw it (above)
                                 at Adelaide Airport in August 1968 with its dba livery.  The photo below by David Eyre shows it
                                 at Bankstown, somewhat earlier in April 1968.       I suspect the color scheme was the one it was
                                 wearing at Ind Coope's and just not changed when it went to Chartwell    .  Anyway, Chartair did
                                 not have it long since it soon went to Air Oasis and then in in 1970 it was registered in Indonesia
                                 as PK-LEA with PT Saatas East Indonesia.  As such it was one of the the many aircraft badly
                                 damaged at Darwin Airport by Cyclone Tracey on Christmas Day 1974.