G-AUMV  de Havilland D.H.60G Gipsy Moth            (c/n  896)

                                 

                                       This Moth was registered to Matthews Aviation Pty Ltd of Essendon, Victoria in 1929.   Does
                                       this image, from the Hood Collection Pt II (Aviation), via the State Library of New South Wales
                                       collection show Mr. Matthews?   It had a series of owners, mishaps and rebuilds in the 1930s,
                                       was re-registered VH-UMV in 1932 and impressed into RAAF service in 1940 as A7-97.   It
                                       did not survive the war and was probably reduced to spares.  The shot below, from the Frank
                                       Walters collection, is an enlargement from the photo of -ULP and shows -UMV at Essendon,
                                       circa 1939 when with the Royal Victorian Aero Club.        As indicated in the narrative for the
                                       former machine, I am not sure who the smartly turned out cadets were.        Also, is that bloke
                                       standing on the fuselage or is this an optical illusion?  I suspect the latter since this is not even
                                       a Metal Moth!   Whilst with the RVIC it crashed 3 miles from Essendon in July 1936.        The
                                       photo at the foot of the page, from the CAHS collection shows it in the hangar at Essendon
                                       being rebuilt from that crash.  Its CofA was renewed in 1938.