VH-ULQ de
Havilland D.H.60G Gipsy Moth
(c/n 976)
This shot, from the Frank Walters
collection, was taken at Archerfield in August 1929, the month that
this Moth was registered, new. Since the aircraft was still in
the hands of the distributor, Qantas, at the
time, I do not know why it is emblazoned on the rudder with the
Devil. The gentleman is Lester J. Brain*
who later became Chief Pilot for Qantas. The image
immediately below, also from the Walters collec-
tion, was taken at the same time with Brain in the center with
presumably two Qantas crew members.
Finally, at the foot of the page, the Moth is seen as one of a trio in
a photo from the Fairfax
(Sydney
Morning Herald) archives via the
National Library of Australia. This shot was
taken at Hargrave Park,
NSW
during
an aerial
derby on 21 September 1930. The other two aircraft are Moth
VH-UIC
and
Avian VH-UOE. In April 1930 -ULQ was sold to Australian National
Airways. Eighteen months later,
on
1 November 1931 it crashed into a tree on take off
after a forced landing at Delungra, NSW
and was
subsequently written
off.
* Lester Brain went on to become Flying Operations Manager for
Qantas in 1938. Joining the
RAAF Reserve during WW II, he was given the King's Commendation for his
efforts in rescue-
ing
persons from a Jap air raid at Broome, WA. After the war he
became General Manager for
TAA. He left TAA in 1955 and was appointed Managing Director of
de Havillands at Bankstown.
before joining the Board of Directors of East-West Airlines in 1961.
