VH-UVC Comper Swift CLA-7 (c/n
S32/10)
Here's Comper Swift
VH-UVC when it was owned by the Royal Victorian Aero Club with a very
young Richard
Maclean in attendance! This shot was probably taken in the late
1940s. The identity
of the
other two gentlemen (one of whom looks distinctly like a gauleiter
of yesteryear!)
is unknown.
Below is
a shot I took of it in 1955 at Moorabbin. And finally, just
received, is the lovely color shot
(bottom) by intrepid airman Barrier Colledge, seated
in the cockpit just prior to his second sortie in the
machine on 12 May 1958. Note the
Townend ring cowling fitted at this time and the all consuming
orange day-glo paint. The
then owner Keith Torr, is seen standing behind the engine, clutching the
mandatory rag for wiping the
excessive oil spillage. Keith turned the aircraft over when he
had an
engine failure on approach to Moorabbin the
following year. It has not, we think, flown since.
Dr Roy Fox currently holds the airframe for
prospective restoration, and a photo in a magazine about
5 years ago showed it in a very
dismantled condition. Incidentally, the Pobjoy Niagra came
from the
Klemm Swallow VH-UUJ.