VH-UGO de
Havilland D.H.60GX Moth
(c/n 424)
This
photo, from the Frank Walters collection, was taken at Maylands
Aerodrome, Perth in 1929.
By November 1931 it had become VH-UGO as seen in the image below, via
the Geoff Goodall
collection, taken at Wagin,
WA in 1933, just before it crashed. -UGO was originally
registered in
September 1927 to WA Airways Ltd
of Perth. It was then transferred to the Civil Aviation
Branch,
Dept of Defence and loaned
to the Australian Aero Club (WA Section). It crashed at Picton
Junc-
tion, WA on 29 November 1933
although not struck from the register until the following
February.
At the foot of the page is a
reproduction from the West Australian for the following day showing the
remains. The article
indicated that the aircraft was been flown by WA Aero Club member
R. Catlett
and was ostensibly going for
a short flight over the Darling Ranges. In
the event it flew down to
Bunbury (where his
passenger, Colin
Teede, a resident of Bunbury, lived) and, over Picton Junction
on the way back to
Perth stalled on turning and spun
in. Much was made in the report that the flight
to Bunbury had not been
authorized by the club,
plus the fact that a strong north east wind was blow-
ing and fuel capacity and
flight duration could
also have been a problem.