VH-UNS
Blackburn Bluebird IV
(c/n SB.212)
This Bluebird was imported in
March 1930 by the Larkin Aircraft Supply Co Ltd. of Melbourne.
It was sold to Ludwig Nudl who
invented a device intended to improve the spark from magneto
ignitions when running on low grade fuel. . Dubbed
the 'Raysola Ignition' aeroplane, VH-UNS
was
used to test the system in its105 hp Genet Major.
A close up of the titling so indicating
appears below. This
photo is from the archives of the Civil Aviation Society of South
Australia.
The aircraft
was flown around Australia (with limited success) by R. W.
McKenzie with Nudl as
passenger. Following
a lapse of its CofA in 1931, the Bluebird was taken over by Australia
Aerial Services Ltd, and was later
acquired by K.R.M. Farmer, also of Melbourne in 1936.
Whether the Raysola device was still fitted or not I
am not sure, but, in the event, the aircraft
crashed at
Essendon in January 1937 and was stricken from the register.