VH-URB  Simmonds Spartan Three Seater          (c/n  63)

                                

                                    Imported from England in April 1932, this two-in-the-front-and-one-behind biplane was initially
                                    registered to Australian agents Bryce and Co Pty Ltd at Essendon.  It was sold the following year
                                    to J.J. Thorpe of Perth, then to James Taxi Planes Ltd and finally to Airlines (WA) Ltd in 1935.
                                   VH-URB was written off in a crash at Mundaring in the Perth Hills on 16 October 1938.   Both
                                   the shot of the wreckage (above) and the close-up (below) are from the Geoff Goodall collection.
                                   Regarding the accident, pilot J.H. Moore reported that he had been caught in a severe downdraft
                                   over heavily wooded terrain.   Both he and passenger escaped injury, although the Spartan was
                                   deemed dbr.  Airlines (WA) manager Charles Snook indicated that this Three Seater had been
                                   fitted with an enclosed front cockpit (to give better performance) although it appears not to have
                                   had that modification when the close-up below was taken.