PJ-AIW  Douglas DC-5                            (c/n  424)

                                    

                                        The DC-5 was quite an elegant looking machine.  But for WW II it is possible that many hundreds
                                        of them would have been plying the worlds air lanes. It was well liked by passengers and crew alike
                                        and is reputed to have been easy to work on.  In the event, only a dozen were built.  KLM ordered                                           
                                        four of them.  Two of these were sent to the Dutch East Indies and two to the Dutch West Indies
                                        Division, in whose markings PJ-AIW is shown above. (The other one was PJ-AIZ). All four wound
                                        up in the former mentioned colony at the outbreak of war and were used to evacute civilians from
                                        the area to Australia just ahead of the Japanese invasion.  PJ-AIW was the former PH-AXB and
                                        went out to Curacao in 1939.  It was named "Wakago"  (Wild Goose).   As states, it was trans-
                                        ferred to Batavia in 1940 and re-registered PK-ADD with K.N.I.L.M.   Early in 1942 the aircraft
                                        escaped with many evacuees from Bandoeng and flew to Australia.  Once there it was sold to the
                                        Australian government and became VHCXC with the ADAT.