VH-UVL  de Havilland D.H.83 Fox Moth                  (c/n  4015)

                                   

                                      The above image. from the Jimmy Woods collection (via the State Library of WA) is a close up of the
                                      photo immediately below and shows VH-UVL parked at what appears to be a DCA control building
                                      at Derby, WA in the 1930s. Note early 'tower'. Named 'John Flynn', it was owned by MacRobertson
                                      Miller Aviation and based at Port Hedland, operating the Australian Aerial Medical Service flying doctor
                                      service contract.  The # 3 photo, from the Geoff Goodall collection, shows it being assembled at May-
                                      lands, Perth in September 1935 for MMA having just been imported second hand (oops, previously
                                      owned) from England, ex  G-ABXS.       VH- UVL was wrecked by a cyclone at Port Hedland on
                                     11 January 1939 when  its hangar collapsed.      Jimmy Woods, MMA's chief pilot reported at the time:
                                      "When we landed at Port Hedland on Saturday we found that our hangar was flat on the ground.  Our
                                      Fox Moth used by the flying doctor and valued at about £900, was underneath, almost a total wreck." 
                                      The remains were later shipped to Sydney and  rebuilt by Marshall Airways early in 1940 for their air
                                      ambulance service in NSW.    Geoff's photo at the foot of the page shows it just after this rebuild.  In
                                      October 1942 it was impressed into the RAAF as A41-2 for use as a military ambulance aircraft in
                                      the New Guinea campaign and was broken up for parts at Goodenough Island.  By that time it would
                                      have worn a camouflage livery.  
                                      Note:   In July 2000 a Fox Moth registered VH-UVL was restored to the Australian Civil Register
                                      quoting the same c/n 4015.   However, this was a new-build fuselage constructed in NZ with Tiger
                                      Moth wings, and although painted to represent the original VH-UVL in WA flying doctor scheme,
                                      it is believed that no parts of the original survive in this 'new' Fox Moth.       A picture of this aircraft
                                      is shown at the foot of the page, taken by phil Vabre at Echuca on 17 March 2017.