ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 27190
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| Date: | Sunday 8 December 1935 |
| Time: | |
| Type: | de Havilland DH.50 |
| Owner/operator: | Rockhampton Aerial Services |
| Registration: | VH-UER |
| MSN: | 116 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Sea off Caloundra, QLD -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Ambulance |
| Departure airport: | Rockhampton, Queensland (YBRK) |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Originally built in the UK by DeHavillands at Hatfield (NOT an Australian-built airframe) and registered as G-EBIW (C of R 1059), on 11 March 1924 to DeHavillands at Stag Lane, Edgware, Middlesex. UK registration G-EBIW was cancelled 14 May 1924 upon sale to Australia.
This D.H.50A was imported in October 1924 as G-AUER for Qantas who named it 'Hermes'. It was used for general aviation until 1928 when it was refurbished for use as the first air ambulance for the Australian Inland Mission (AIM). The first flight in AIM service was on 17 May 1928, from Cloncurry, Queensland.
Upon starting service under contract for the AIM, The Reverend John Flynn, the famous Flying Doctor, renamed it 'Victory'. in its inaugural year, the AIM Aerial Medical Service (which changed its name to the Flying Doctor Service in 1942 and the Royal Flying Doctor Service in 1955) flew 50 flights to 26 destinations and treated 225 patients
(Qantas went on to name another D.H.50J, G-AUHI, 'Hermes'...thus causing much confusion among latter day historians!). G-AUER was re-registered as VH-UER on 28 March 1929
In 1934 VH-UER was sold to Rockhampton Aerial Services Ltd. It had a couple (at least) of accidents, including a forced landing on a beach 21 miles north of Bundaberg, Queensland, in May 1934 and another when it force landed in the sea off Caloundra, Queensland, on 8 December 1935. In the latter, although the actual landing did not completely destroy the aircraft, the pounding surf did, some three days later, and VH-UER was stricken from the register on 3 January 1936.
VH-UER was sufficiently historically significant, as the "founding aircraft" of the RFDS, to be featured on the Australian $20 note.
Sources:
1. http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austu/VH-UER.html
2. http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-EBIW.pdf
3. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/De_Havilland:_DH_50
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_VH-U.html
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p001.html
6. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/aeroplanes/15-aeroplanes/82-register-gb-g-eb
7. https://atributetoaustralianchristians.wordpress.com/2011/05/30/kenyon-st-vincent-welch/
8. https://atributetoaustralianchristians.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/vh-uer/_
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 07-Apr-2014 18:09 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 31-May-2022 22:32 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
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