VH-WAB  (1)  Avro 652A Anson 1

                            

                                  Here's the entire 'fleet'' of Jimmy Woods' one man airline Woods Airways at Perth Airport in 1958.
                                  The airline provided a very popular service on the "world's shortest airline service" between Perth
                                  and Rottnest Island, a holiday island just off the coast of West Australia.  At least this claim held up
                                  if compared to the comparable Santa Catalina to Long Beach route running at about the same time
                                  in the Southern california area.  This latter was roughly 40 km compared to Woods' 25 km. 
                                  VH-WAB was ex RAAF MG841 and was one of three acquired by Woods from RAAF Station
                                  Port Pirie, SA during 1947.  It was originally allocated VH-BKE but Woods requested the VH-WA
                                  series during the CofA conversion for him by Macrobertson Miller Aviation at Perth.  Its CofA was
                                  granted on 25 October 1948.  See VH-WAC(1) for the identity of the other two Ansons.  Photo # 2
                                  is a nice color shot from the Geoff Goodall collection showing VH-WAB at Rottnest Island, WA on
                                  Boxing Day in 1958, on its scheduled airline services from Perth Airport.   Image # 3 depicts the
                                  Anson on 6 August 1959 after an emergency landing with a suspect undercarriage.  Sadly, DCA
                                  restrictions on passenger carriage in Ansons prior to the final grounding of them forced "Woodsy"
                                  to shut down his little airline and the final flight from Rottnest Island to Perth Airport was flown by
                                  -WAB on 31st December 1961, with local dignitaries on board including the WA Premier David
                                  Brand.  The name "Willem de Vlamingh" on the nose was in honor of the Dutch explorer who first
                                  discovered Western Australia.   The next image, # 4, by Alistair Coutts, shows -WAB on a farm at
                                  Bordon WA in December of 1963, still more or less in one piece, and showing its final livery.  The
                                  registration appears either to have been obliterated or worn off by the weather.  It had been delivered
                                  to a friend's farm as its final resting place by Jimmy Woods in February 1962, just before the DCA
                                  grounding order in order to become a playhouse for his children.  Finally at the foot of the page is
                                  yet another picture (# 5) from the vast collection of Geoff Goodall, this one taken by Geoff himself
                                  when  he visited the remains of -WAB on the farm in 1969.  The forward fuselage was later rescued
                                  from the farm's rubbish tip by the Aviation Heritage Museum of WA.
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