VH-PVL Piper PA-31 Navajo
(c/n 31-301)
Registered in March 1969 to Vaculug
Australia Pty Ltd of Toowoomba, Qld, this Navajo had
been flown out on delivery from the US where it was previously
N9233Y. It arrived in Sydney
on
24 January 1969. It replaced an Aztec VH-MFG which was previously
owned by Vaculug
and
operated on charter under the name Vacair. Interestingly,
VH-PVL had been allocated a
few months earlier to another
Navajo (c/n 31-285) which for some reason was
not delivered.
John Wheatley's shot above of it in Vacair titling was taken at
Bankstown in 1971. In
1971
Vaculug
sold -PVL to Perth charter outfit Airwork Australia Pty
Ltd and Geoff Goodall's shot
immediately
below shows it at Perth Airport in December 1971
. By 1974
it was with Santos
and operated their runs to the Moomba oil fields. Geoff's later
shot
(bottom of page) was taken
at
Adelaide in August 1974. It then
went to Australasian Jet Pty Ltd and was
re-registered
VH-TTM
in May 1997. As
such it is still flying.