VH-USC de
Havilland D.H.86A
(c/n 2307)
Imported into
Australia in 1934, VH-USC was
originally operated by Qantas on part of
Imperial
Airways' route from
London to Sydney. It was sold in 1938 to MacRobertson Miller
Aviation who
used it on their longer
distance routes out of Perth up
the
West Australian
coast to Darwin. It was
impressed into RAAF service
in 1940
as A31-5.
The photo immediately below, from the archives
of the Civil Aviation
Historical Society shows it circa 1934, probably at Darwin .
Following that
(photo # 4) shows it
in
wartime
camouflage although wearing civil
registrations. -USC was restored
to
Qantas in 1942 and was written off in a crash at Darwin on Oct 9th,
1944. By that time it had
amassed an
impressive 11,664 hours. Remarkable for a fabric covered
airliner. The image above is
from the Geoff Goodall
collection, while at the foot of
the page is a reproduction (via the John Oxley
Library collection) of
the cover of the 1936 Queenslander Annual which featured
-USC as its piece
de
resistance.
Photo No 3 is from the G.A. Robinson
collection.
.