G-AUFQ  Curtiss Ireland Meteor                            (c/n M.8)

                                   

                                        When Curtiss engineer G. Sumner Ireland ran out of old Oriole fuselages (from which he had
                                        been re-manufacturing his Comet biplanes), he evolved this later hybrid, named Meteor.  One
                                        of these was imported into Australia in May 1927 by S.L. Tyler who also owned the Curtiss
                                        Ireland Comet G-AUFG.  G-AUFQ was sold to L.L. Nall of Longeuville, NSW in 1928 and
                                        in 1929 it took part in the East-West air race that was held as part of the West Australian cent-
                                        enary celebrations, flown by E.W. Leggatt.  By the end of August 1930 it had become VH-UFQ
                                        As such it crashed on landing at Mascot on 17 January 1931.   The unique shot above is from
                                        the John Hopton collection.   .