VH-UIA de Havilland D.H.60G Gipsy Moth
(c/n 835)
The above image is from the John Oxley
Library, State Library of Queensland collection. This is the
Gipsy
Moth given to pioneer Australian aviator Keith Virtue by his father
when Keith secured his pilot's
licence
at the age of 19. He had trained under the instruction of
Captain Lester Brain at the Qantas
Flying School at Archerfield where this shot was taken.
The two photos below are from the Bruce
Robinson
collection. The upper one shows -UIA on the beach at Brunswick
Heads, NSW in
1930,
whilst the lower depicts Keith having his helmet adjusted at Lismore in
1931 (the year I was born).
. Just
love that "Virtue's Air Travel No.
1" in the upper shot. Forerunner of
many?
In the event
Keith,
along with Bruce's grandfather, G.A. Robinson, went
on to found New England Airways,
and
became
Flying Superintendent for Airlines of Australia, and a senior
captain with ANA until his well
know faux pas
in 1954 when he landed a DC-4 wheels up at Eagle
Farm. VH-UIA, in the meantime
had been sold
in 1934 to the Victorian Flying School and Taxi Service
in Melbourne
and then to Holy-
man's
Airways
Pty Ltd in 1936. It was picked up
by ANA when that
airline was formed at the end
of 1936
and went
on the serve with the RAF during the war as
A7-105. At the foot of the page is a
rare shot of it with the ANA livery on the tail at a line up
Its
ultimate fate is unknown,
but I
suspect
it was scrapped or RTP'd.
