G-AUEK de
Havilland D.H.50A
(c/n 131)
The above shot, from the Powerhouse Museum
Collection, shows -UEK with the original Armstrong
Puma
engine. The aircraft was probably owned by Larkin Aircraft
Supply Co at the time. The image
immediately below is an extract
(gleaned by Graeme Parsons) from the Sydney Morning
Herald of
11 May
1925 relating to G-AUEK and stating: "Mr E
W Timeke assistant State Meteorologist
left
Mascot aerodrome on
Saturday in the
Australian aerial service’s mail and passenger machine,
’Bluebird’
for
Adelaide, the object being to
ascertain temperatures & air pressure at great altitudes".
The # 3 image
is a small print from the Horrie
Miller collection, courtesy of the National Library of Australia
showing
-UEK following
an accident. As can be seen, at that time it still had its
original Puma engine . It was
clearly not
seriously damaged for it was repaired, re-engined and eventually sold
to Pacific Aerial Trans-
port
Co Ltd
(PATCO) in October of 1935. Finally, at the foot of the
page is a photo from the John
Oxley Library,
State Library of Queensland collection, showing -UEK after the Puma
engine had been
replaced
by a Bristol Jupiter XI. I
have no idea who the
worthies were or, in fact, what the machine
was doing in
Queensland,
since LASCO was strictly a
Melbourne outfit. It is possible that this photo
was taken while
the
machine was
transiting Melbourne to Wau, New
Guinea. It suffered a crash landing
at Wau, New
Guinea in May of
1936 and when its CofA came up for
renewal later that year it was
allowed to
expire.
