ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 301240
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| Date: | Tuesday 9 August 1955 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | de Havilland DH.90A Dragonfly |
| Owner/operator: | Connellan Airways Ltd |
| Registration: | VH-UTJ |
| MSN: | 7562 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Tennant Creek Airport, Tennant Creek, NT -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | Standing |
| Nature: | Cargo |
| Departure airport: | Tennant Creek Airport, Tennant Creek, NT (TCA/YTNK) |
| Alice Springs Airport, Alice Springs, SA (ASP/YBAS) |
18.10.37 :Built at Hatfield by De Havilland Aircraft Co Ltd.
28.10.37: British C of A issued VH-UTJ: De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd, Mascot, Sydney. Ordered by the Australian DH agents for customer North-Western Airlines Ltd, Moree NSW. North-Western Airlines was founded at Moree in January 1937 by J.K.Richardson to provide the first air service linking Moree to Sydney. A DH.85 Leopard was first proposed but capital was over-subscribed by local investors, which allowed a twin-engined DH.90 to be purchased instead. Land was purchased and a new airfield with maintenance hangar constructed, before services could commence.
Jan 1938: Shipped to Australia. Assembled at Mascot Aerodrome, Sydney by De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd
28.01.38: First test flight Mascot after assembly
08.03.38: J.K.Richardson commenced a tour of north western NSW towns in VH-UTJ, to promote other towns joining the Sydney-Moree service
09.03.38: Added to Register as VH-UTJ: North-Western Airlines Ltd, Moree NSW. Prewar Australian registrations were allocated by CAB in strict sequence, with few exceptions. By 1938 allocations had completed the VH-U series and moved to the VH-A series. However, the Civil Aeronautics Board was issuing earlier unused registrations, as in this case. VH-UTJ had originally been reserved in 1935 for another aircraft, which failed to be registered. CofA issued at Mascot same day
12.03.38: Flew at an air pageant held at the new Moree airfield to celebrate the new airline
14.05.38: Flew North-Western Airline's first service: Sydney-Scone-Tamworth-Gunnedah-Narrabri-Moree. First company pilot was Flt Lt I.C.C. Thompson
23.05.38: Mail commenced being flown on the Sydney-Moree service.
16.01.40: Crashed on takeoff Moree NSW when port undercarriage collapsed. Pilot W.A.Hancock and 3 passengers unhurt.
Jan 1940: North-Western Airlines hired Tugan Gannett VH-UVU from Airlines of Australia for 6 weeks as a replacement while DH.90 was being repaired
03.10.40: Change of ownership: Qantas Empire Airways Ltd, Brisbane, Queensland.
05.10.40: Delivered to Qantas Empire Airlines at Archerfield aerodrome, Brisbane. It was needed urgently to replace DH.86 VH-USF which had been impressed from Qantas Empire Airlines for RAAF use.
24.10.42: Damaged, while on charter to the US Army
06.05.43: Ground-looped during landing at Breddan, Queensland due locked starboard brake. Port undercarriage collapsed and main centre-section spar broken. Pilot: Captain G.T. Morgan. No injuries
21.10.43: Ground-loop during landing at Townsville, Queensland. Port undercarriage collapsed and main centre-section spar broken. P8ilot, Captain J. T. Kiernan and three passengers on a charter flight for Allied Works Council. No injuries
14.10.45: Ground-loop during landing at Cloncurry, Queensland. Port undercarriage, propeller and lower wing badly damaged. Pilot: Captain L. L. McNeill. Pilot reported that during landing roll the aircraft swung slightly to port but then violently to starboard.
18.10.46: Change of ownership: Edward J. Connellan, Alice Springs, NT. Eddie Connellan established Connellan Airways at Alice Springs in 1939 with Percival Gulls flying passengers and mail on remote outback routes through NT to Wyndham WA. VH-UTJ was the second twin-engined aircraft introduced after WWII. Connellan Airways aircraft were also used on contract for the Flying Doctor Service of Australia until 1965. Delivered to Alice Springs by Qantas Empire Airlines Captain W. Forgan-Smith. On arrival he endorsed E.J. Connellan on the type, stressing techniques to avoid ground-loops
27.10.46: Eddie Connellan made a forced landing at Nicholson Station, no damage. He later wrote: "Those British aircraft with two engines would not fly on one engine in central Australia. However VH-UTJ proved me wrong. I had an engine failure on the way from Nicholson Station to Gordon Downs early in the morning: my only passenger was Edith Clough. I tried to return to Nicholson on one engine but gradually lost height until I was flying in ground-effect. At one stage I decided to land on a patch of clear ground, about 30 miles from Nicholson, then suddenly found I was able to gain a little height, so battled on and managed to make a straight-in approach at Nicholson to land. The trouble was in the carburettor, once again it was necessary to evolve a modification to prevent a recurrence of the problem."
26.11.47: Annual C of A renewal at Bankstown Airport, Sydney, NSW
09.01.48: Caught fire on the ground at Ammaroo, NT. Fire damage to wings, nose, fuselage, cabin Moved overland to Alice Springs for extensive rebuild by Connellan Airways.
30.04.50: C of A renewed at Alice Springs after rebuild. Airframe total time as at this date - 5,335 hrs
17.07.50: Swung on landing at Hermannsburg, NT, when a tyre burst. Port undercarriage structure was bent and the wing spar was split. Pilot F. Ogden unhurt.
Aug 1950: Repaired on site at Hermannsburg, NT
01.02.51: Change of owner's name: Connellan Airways Ltd, Alice Springs, NT
14.05.51: Annual C of A renewal at Alice Springs. Airframe time at at this date - 5,884 hrs
02.03.52: Ground-loop landing at Alice Springs, NT, damaged
09.05.52: C of A renewed after repairs at Alice Springs. Airframe time as at this date - 6,621 hrs
05.06.53: Annual C of A renewal at Alice Springs. Airframe time as at this date - 7,401 hrs
mid-1955: VH-UTJ appeared briefly in the film "A Town Like Alice" (see links #6, #8 & #9)
09.08.55: Destroyed by fire while refuelling at Tennant Creek, NT. Eddie Connellan later wrote: "One of our Dragonflies was destroyed by fire at Tennant Creek during a refuelling operation, apparently caused by a leakage in the motorised refuelling equipment provided by the agent, not by the Shell Company. However the Shell Company were very generous and offered compensation. I claimed that the only suitable aircraft on the market in Australia was a Beechcraft 18 VH-KFD. They bought it for us!"
It was in fact a significant breakthrough for Connellan, who had wanted Beech 18s since 1947. This had been continually refused on cost grounds by the Federal Government which paid a subsidy for his commercially-unviable outback services, but in return had frustrating control through the Department of Civil Aviation over aircraft types and operation of the airline. Instead of high performance all-metal Beech 18s, the Director of Civil Aviation dictated use of RAAF disposals DH.84 Dragons and Avro Ansons, both of which were quickly proven totally unsuitable. With the unplanned introduction of Beech C18S VH-KFD, Departmental opposition was dropped and Connellan acquired two more Beech 18s which improved all aspects of the airline.
28.09.55: Struck off register as "destroyed"
Sources:
1. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH90.pdf
2. https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/dh90/dh90dragonfly.html
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p075.html
4. https://www.airwaysmuseum.com/Connellan%20DH90%20Dragonfly%20VH-UTJ.htm
5. https://www.airhistory.net/photo/123397/VH-UTJ [VH-UTJ after accident at Cloncurry, Queensland on 14.10.45]
6. https://wings-on-film.fandom.com/wiki/VH-UTJ
7. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1777154 [VH-UTJ at Alice Springs, SA in 1955]
8. https://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=A_Town_Like_Alice_(1956)
9. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0049871/trivia/?ref_=tt_ql_trv
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennant_Creek_Airport
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-Nov-2022 00:59 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 16-Nov-2022 00:59 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 16-Nov-2022 01:00 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 16-Nov-2022 19:08 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
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