Date:	Wednesday 28 June 1939
Time:	midnight
Type:	de Havilland DH.60 Moth
Owner/operator:	Skyways Australia Ltd
Registration:	VH-UFR
MSN:	351
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Archerfield Airport, 2.5 miles South of Brisbane, QLD -   Australia
Phase:	Standing
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Archerfield Airport, Brisbane, Queensland (YBAF)
Destination airport:

Narrative:
c/no. 351: DH.60 [Cirrus II] to Qantas with C of A 1079 issued 11.1.27. Erected and first flown 16.3.27. Registered as G-AUFR [C of R 158] 21.3.27 to Queensland & Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd [QANTAS], Longreach. Re-registered 27.3.29 to Civil Aviation Branch, Dept of Defence and operated by Australian Aero Club (Queensland Section), Archerfield. Re-registered VH-UFR later in 1929.

Badly damaged in forced landing near Eagle Farm, Queensland 20.7.30; rebuilt September 1930 with Cirrus III engine. Spun in from 3,000 feet and crashed into house at Jurgens Street, Woolloongabba, Brisbane, Queensland 11.2.34. Fortunately, the old roof gave way, cushioning the impact and neither the pilot nor his passenger, nor the inhabitants of the house were seriously injured. Registration cancelled 26.3.34. Rebuilt as a DH.60M with unidentified (spare?) fuselage frame; registration VH-UFR restored 12.6.36 to Skyways Australia Ltd, Brisbane.

VH-UFR was one of six aircraft destroyed in a hangar fire in hangar 2 at Archerfield Airport, Brisbane, Queensland, whilst undergoing overhaul 28.6.39; registration cancelled with effect from same day

According to a contemporary local newspaper report ("The Examiner (Launceston, Tasmania) Thursday 29 June 1939 Page 7):

FIRE DESTROYS PLANES AT BRISBANE
BRISBANE, 1.30 a.m.
A fire which broke out in the No. 2 hangar of Qantas at Archerfield at midnight destroyed six privately
owned planes. The building was also destroyed.

None of the company's passenger 'planes was in the hangar.

The machines destroyed were two Taylor cubs owned by the University of Queensland, a Klemm owned by
Mrs. H. B. Bonney, a DH Moth owned by a Mr. White, and two Gipsy Moths".

Another local newspaper report goes into further details ("Warwick Daily News" Warwick Qld., Friday 30 June 1939 Page 4):

"Archerfield Hangar Fire
Damage Exceeds £4400
BRISBANE, Thursday
It was officially stated 'this -morning, that the machines and 'their owners involved in the Qantas fire at Archerfield early this morning were a Stinson Reliance (R. S. White), a Gipsy Moth, (T. M. Bishop), a Klemm; Swallow (Mrs. H. B. Bonney,) a Taylor Cub (Queensland Air University; Ltd.), a Miles Hawk (Mr. Shepperton, missionary of Darwin), and an experimental plane (D. Wright). The machines. destroyed were valued at £4200, and the damage to the hangar is estimated at more than £200

The crackling of flames attracted the attention of George Simms, Qantas caretaker who was in the company's other hangar. With the assistance of others employed at the aerodrome, Simms broke into the burning hangar, but the fire had such a hold and the heat was so intense that, it was impossible to save any of the machines, and within-half an hour nothing was left of the planes except the frames.

In some cases, engine cowlings and other metal parts had been melted by the fierce heat. Detectives and officials, were unable to say how and where the fire started.

An intensive search of the fire debris at Archerfield today revealed nothing suspicious. An inquiry into the fire was conducted by the Civil Aviation Officer for Queensland (Mr. T. Amos) and Mr. F. Miller Commonwealth electrical engineer) who will forward their report to Melbourne

MRS. BONNEY'S LOSS;
Mrs. Bonney learned of the loss of her plane, "Little Ship II" in the morning paper. I don't know whether I will ever have another 'Little Ship'," she said. "It is a terrible shock to me. My 'plane was not even insured." Mrs. Bonney's Klemm Swallow had an eventful history. It came to Australia in December, 1935, as a honeymoon 'plane with Mr. and Mrs. N. B. Littlejohn.

Mrs. Bonney used the machine in her long trip across India to Africa and around the African continent. Mr. H. U Shepperton, of Milllngimbi Methodist mission station, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, flew to Brisbane a few months ago on his Way south on furlough. He left his machine, in Brisbane for overhaul and repairs".

Archerfield Airport is a leased federal airport located in Archerfield, 11–12 km (6.8–7.5 mi) to the south of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

1. The Examiner (Launceston, Tasmania) Thursday 29 June 1939 Page 7: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/52316522
2. "Warwick Daily News" Warwick Qld. Friday 30 June 1939 Page 4): https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/187906899
3. http://www.airwaysmuseum.com/DH60%20G-AUFR.htm
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-AU.html
5. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/aeroplanes/15-aeroplanes/84-register-australia
6. http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austu/G-AUFR.html
7. heritage.brisbane.qld.gov.au/heritage-places/144
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archerfield_Airport#History

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
10-Jan-2014 21:17	Dr. John Smith	Added
07-Jun-2022 22:44	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]
02-Oct-2023 07:55	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Location]]
10-Oct-2023 12:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[Location]]]
11-Oct-2023 07:35	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[[Location]]]]