ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 300968
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| Date: | Saturday 10 June 1961 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | de Havilland DH.84 Dragon Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | H.W.G.(Warren) Penny, t/a Independent Air Charter |
| Registration: | VH-PSZ |
| MSN: | 2064 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Lochinvar, 1/2 mile from West Maitland Airfield, Maitland, NSW -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Quirindi Airport, Quirindi, NSW (UIR/YQDI) |
| Bankstown Airport, Bankstown, Sydney, NSW (BWU/YSBK) |
04.43: Built Mascot by De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd as part of an RAAF order for 87 aircraft
11.04.43: Brought on RAAF charge as A34-75. Received at 2AP Bankstown ex De Havilland
20.05.43: Modified W/T (Wireless Telegraphy) fitment at De Havilland Aircraft, Bankstown, Sydney, NSW
29.06.43: Received 7 Aircraft Depot ex-2 AP for modification for Wireless Air Gunners schools
30.08.43: Received 2 WAGS ex 7 AD
09.12.43: Forced landing 2 miles south of Condobolin, NSW, no damage. Pilot and 3 crew on board uninjured, forced landing due to engine failure.
06.01.44: Issued 3 WAGS ex-2 WAGS
19.07.44: Held 3 WAGS Storage Reserve
10.08.44: Allotted 3 WAGS strength ex-3 WAGS Storage Reserve
19.09.44: Received 5 AD Storage ex-3 WAGS
19.09.45: Survey report submitted to CDC for disposal
25.09.45: 'Frozen' (grounded) until disposal
01.02.46: Sold by CDC for £50 to Royal Aero Club of NSW, Mascot aerodrome, Sydney, NSW
11.03.46: Director of Civil Aviation allocated registrations VH-API and VH-APJ to the Aero Club of NSW for A34-54 and A34-75 respectively
09.04.46: Issued to Royal Aero Club of NSW, Mascot, Sydney, NSW
01.10.47: Registration application: Royal Aero Club of NSW, Mascot Aerodrome, Sydney NSW.
28.10.47: Registered VH-APJ. Mac Job writes about his introduction to Dragons in the early 1950s: "The Royal Aero Club of NSW was where I learnt to fly Tiger Moths had a rather tired looking Dragon in their fleet. Registered VH-APJ, it was formerly A34-75, and with twin-engined training in mind, the workshop had modified it to incorporate dual controls. The instructor’s seat was immediately behind the cockpit on the centreline of the fuselage in place of the front pair of passenger seats. The club’s rather gluggy colour scheme of dull gold and blue with wavy stripes down the sides of the fuselage, did not seem an appropriate livery for an aeroplane to be taken seriously. Inside however all looked more professional. My eagerly awaited endorsement training proved disappointing. For reasons that escaped me at the time, the club instructors seemed no more anxious to fly VH-APJ than members who had to foot the bill. At the completion of 4 hours dual with 3 different instructors. I was signed out as competent to act as pilot in command of DH.84 aircraft. A fortnight later at Ceduna I made my first acquaintance with BCAS Dragon VH-AGI and was to fly her for the next 4 years.”
1949: Photographed at Bankstown, Sydney, NSW in silver, in service, Aero club insignia on tail.
1954: Photograhped at Bankstown, now allover navy blue Aero Club fleet scheme. Enlarged sloping rimmed cabin windows.
12.06.57: Re-registered VH-RSZ to the Royal Aero Club of NSW, at Bankstown, Sydney, NSW
01.06.58: VH-RSZ noted at Bankstown, Sydney, under overhaul in Aero Club hangar
01.09.58: Re-registered as VH-PSZ Royal Aero Club of NSW, Bankstown, Sydney, NSW. Leased to South Australian Air Taxis Ltd, Adelaide the same month. SAAT history states that this was the only dual-controlled Dragon remaining in service in Australia at the time.
31.03.59: VH-PSZ lease to SAAT ended, returned to Sydney. SAAT commenced operating DH.84 Dragon VH-BDS the same month as a replacement
03.03.60: Change of ownership: H. W. G. (Warren) Penny, Sydney t/a Independent Air Charter, P.O. Box 22, Woollahra, Sydney, NSW
15.03.60: Delivered from Adelalde to Sydney by Warren Penny. Warren Penny recalls:"I remembered that when I was in Adelaide to ferry Conley's Tiger Moth, I had seen a very nice Dragon VH-PSZ, with two boosted-up Gispy Major engines. I reckoned I could make some money with it, so I wired Adelaide and asked for a price, and then financed it through Lombards. I went to Adelaide on 14th March 1960 to pick it up, returning the next day. It carried 8 passengers and a pilot, and had previously belonged to the Royal Aero Club of NSW. I registered the name Independent Air Charter to operate the Dragon, had some special cushions and head-rest covers made for it, and then I approached some land developers to take clients to their various coastal resort developments. Nichols & Burrow, an estate agency working from Bankstown, came to the party and I did several trips to Moruya, Canberra and Cooma for them. I then got in touch with C. H. Degotardi Real Estate Pty Ltd. They chartered the Dragon from me to have a look up the coast as far as Laurieton. I also did a number of trips for them to Forster with buyers, and then talked them into buying a bigger and faster aircraft than the Dragon. I looked around and finally came up with a Lockheed 10 which was based at Charleville. It was decided to form a separate company, C. H. Degotardi Air Services Pty Ltd, to operate the Lockheed, with me as Aviation manager."
23.10.60: Flew at air show at Camden, NSW
31.05.61: Forced landing near Quirindi, pilot Warren Penny unhurt, minor damage. Warren Penny describes the events. "The Lockheed 10 was having maintenance when Degotardis asked me to collect a party of prospective customers at Gunnedah and take them to Forster. So I jumped into my Dragon and set off. At Quirindi I blew a cylinder head and had to force land in a paddock just near the town. I had just about had a kneck-full by this time. I still owed a few hundred pounds on the Dragon, but I realized that the land-selling business was not for me, particularly in small aircraft. I saw the finance company and told them the sad story. They took over ownership of the Dragon and eventually got their representative, Gordon Greig, to go up to Quirindi and have it fixed. Gordon retained Joe Palmer to fly it back to Sydney. On 10th June 1961, Joe ran out of petrol just half a mile short of West Maitland aerodrome, landed in a paddock and damaged the aircraft. He was lucky not to get hurt, but the Dragon was written off. The onus was on the finance company, as I had offered to fly it back for them. As a matter of fact I still have the cushions out of the aircraft". Total Time on airframe 9,050 hours. Pilot had 560 hours on type. Aircraft was on a flight from Quirindi to Sydney. Director of Civil Aviation Accident report: "Following an engine power failure arising from fuel exhaustion, the pilot landed the aircraft on a downhill slope in a paddock. The aircraft was damaged when it ran into a dry creek bed".
01.09.61: Struck-off Register
Sources:
1. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH84.pdf
2. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/pAus01.html
3. https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/dh84-pt2/dh84-dragon-pt2.htm
4. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a34.htm
5. http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austmz/VH-PSZ.html [photo of accident]
6. https://flyinghistory.com.au/warrenpenny.htm
7. https://www.radschool.org.au/Books/The%20Migrant%20Caper.pdf
8. https://www.airhistory.net/photo/455394/VH-PSZ [VH-PSZ at Moorabbin in 1958-59]
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lochinvar,_New_South_Wales
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quirindi_Airport
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Nov-2022 17:03 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
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