G-AUFK de Havilland D.H.60
Moth
(c/n 277,278 or 279)
G-AUFK was a hybrid Moth, assembled by WA Airways Ltd in 1927 from
components of three
machines. WAA had commenced pilot training on behalf of the
WA Section of the Australian Aero
Club in May
1927 flying Moths -UFI and -UFK, and using the name Perth Flying
School. By 1930
the Civil Aviation Branch of the
Dept of Defence (as DCA was then) undertook pilot training on its
own behalf and took over title of the aircraft, loaning them to the
Australian Aero Club, WA Section,
based at
Maylands. Incidentally, the c/n given by the CAB at the time was
"162" but this was, in fact,
the Certificate of Registration number. (They also labeled it a
D.H.60X, but since that type did not fly
until 1928, that
too, proved false!). VH-UFK was extensively damaged in a forced
landing near May-
lands Aerodrome in October 1931
and struck off the register the following year. The shot above,
from
the Geoff
Goodall collection shows it at Maylands, circa 1928, while the image
below shows noted
West Australian aviator Jimmy Woods with the Moth, circa 1929.