VH-UPC  de Havilland D.H.80 Puss Moth               (c/n  2021)

                                 
 
                                     This image, the only one I have been able to glean of this Puss Moth, came from Geoff Goodall who
                                     got it out of a book.  It shows -UPC at Maylands WA immediately after assembly in September 1930.
                                 .   It was built for Western Air Services who had changed their name to Wings Limited by the time the
                                     aircraft was delivered.     Unfortunately no rego is visible in this photo..    It only lasted a week before
                                     becoming the first of a series of Puss Moth structural failures, a total of 18 around the world . The photo
                                     was actually taken by Frank Coulquhoun who later became senior engineer for MMA into the turbine era.
                                     The Puss Moth had taken part in an air show at Maylands Aerodrome on 12 October 1930 and then
                                     crashed the next day at Chidlow Wells in the Darling Ranges, WA when it was returning to Maylands
                                     from a cross-country training flight.  Pilot Captain Charles Nesbit and the two trainee pilots William Bell
                                     and Miss Heidie Rae were all killed.  Inspection found that the starboard wing had separated from the
                                     airframe, caused by failure of the main spar at the root of the wing.     A writ was issued in the Supreme
                                     Court of Western Australia by Wings, Ltd against de Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd of Sydney claiming
                                     damages of £1,040 due to breach of warranty, the first time such legal action had been taken in regard
                                     to an aeroplane.  No record of the outcome.