VH-UOD General Aircraft Genairco (c/n 14)
Despite its obvious lineage to the D.H.60 Moth, the
Genairco was, in fact, a totally
indigenous Australian machine. Kind of a
"new improved" Moth, to quote local
detergent advertising slogans of the time. Two basic
versions were produced. A cabin
biplane, not unlike the DH 83 Fox
Moth with four passengers inside the under wing of the fuselage, (see
VH-UUI) and the
open biplane version shown
here as VH-UOD, seating two
side by side in the front cockpit with a single pilot
in rear. The
left hand shot
shows the aircraft with a Cirrus
Hermes engine, whilst the right hand photograph illustrates the same
machine
after it had been fitted with a de Havilland
Gipsy III engine
installed. This latter engine installation really makes the
aircraft
look like a Tiger
Moth! VH-UOD has been flying more
or less continuously since it was built in 1930 (with time-outs for the
odd registration lapses from time to
time, of course), but has now been restored and is owned by Charlie
Morris, of Caloundra,
Qld.. It is, in fact, the only Genairco
still
airworthy in Australia (or anywhere else, for that
matter!). Charlie provides the nice
air to air shot of it, taken in August 2006,
below. Finally, at the foot of the page are two "interim
period" shots of this old
bird from the Geoff Goodall
collection: (Left) at Condobolin in 1964 (photo by Bob Neate) and
(right) in the owner's shed
at Totenham, NSW
in 1975 (photo by Goodall).
.