VH-SJC de Havilland D.H.82A Tiger Moth
(c/n DHA66)
This photo of -SJC was taken at Pialba, Queensland in June 1968
by David Tholar. The previous
year (September 1967)
a complete
rebuild had been accomplished from the remains of crash damage
sustained by
VH-KLA and the Tiger re-emerged as VH-SJC complete with a striking
allover red scheme.
As VH-KLA it had been a crop dresser
with Les Keys Aviation and prior to that as VH-DDS with the
Darling Downs Aero Club at
Toowoomba, Queensland.. Built by DHA at Bankstown as
DX816 for
the Empire Air Training Scheme it
was destined to go to South Africa but, in the event, was diverted to
the RAAF instead becoming
A17-629. It was rather late coming on to the civil
register, not doing so
until 1958.
Barry Maclean's shot (below) was taken at Mangalore in the early 1990s
by which time
the aircraft was dressed in
a weird olive overall livery with even weirder roundels. To each
his own,
I guess. VH-SJC is
still current,
although the rego has now been repositioned to the fuselage.