ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 345917
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| Date: | Sunday 16 December 1945 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.60X Moth |
| Owner/operator: | Royal Aero Club of NSW |
| Registration: | VH-AAQ |
| MSN: | 878 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | near Long Bay Gaol, Sydney, NSW -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Mascot Airport, Sydney, NSW (SYD/YSSY) |
| Mascot Airport, Sydney, NSW (SYD/YSSY) |
c/no 878: DH.60G [Gipsy I engine #80]. Registered to Dept of Defence, Australia with C of A 1687 issued 14.11.28. Registered as G-AUHQ [C of R 246] 21.1.29 to Civil Aviation Branch, Dept of Defence; loaned to Aero Club of NSW, Mascot, Sydney. Registered VH-UHQ later in 1929.
Registration cancelled 2.32; re-registered 3.32 to same owner. Re-registered 27.7.37 to Royal Aero Club of NSW, Mascot, Sydney. Badly damaged in forced landing at North Brighton Golf Club 27.7.38; repaired [post 1.39].
Heavy landing Wagga Wagga, NSW 10.12.39 and later badly damaged by fire. Registration cancelled 19.12.39. Rebuilt with Gipsy Major; test flown 14.12.43 and registered as VH-AAQ 31.12.43 to Royal Aero Club of NSW, Mascot (quoting new c/no '1'). Crashed Mascot 12.9.45; repaired.
Spun in & crashed near Long Bay Gaol, Sydney 16.12.45; pilot Betty Faux killed. According to a contemporary local newspaper report (The Sydney Morning Herald of 17 December 1945, page 1 - see link #1):
"Woman Pilot Killed in Plane Crash
A woman pilot member of the Royal Aero Club of N.S.W. was killed yesterday afternoon when a. low flying Gipsy Major Moth aeroplane went into a spin and crashed between Prince Henry Hospital and Long Bay Gaol.
The pilot was Miss Betty Faux, 30, an electrical worker, of 34 Boronia Street, Kensington. She received, a compound fracture of the skull and other injuries. The plane crashed in a small paddock a few hundred yards from the outer wall of the penitentiary. Witnesses raced to the scene and cut the woman free from the wreckage.
Sister A. Cummins hurried from the Royal Prince Henry Hospital to give first aid. but Miss Faux died a few minutes later without regaining consciousness.
Plane Wrecked
Mr. Ernest Keegan, who lives with his two brothers nearby, saw the plane crash. He said it was no higher than 300 feet and appeared to be gliding normally with the motor idling. Then it fell away into a slow spin and hit the ground almost vertically.
He reached the machine a few seconds after it crashed, he said, and cut Miss Faux free from the safety belts. His two brothers assisted in carrying her away from the wreck. The petrol tank was leaking and the air was heavy with fumes. Miss Faux was bleeding from a severe facial injury.
The Eastern Suburbs Ambulance and Constable J. F. Varcoe, from Daceyville, arrived soon afterwards. Officials from Civil Aviation and the chief instructor from the Royal Aero Club, Mr. D. Collins, later inspected the plane. Both cockpits were wrecked and the wings had been ripped off. The engine switches were on, indicating that the pilot was not contemplating a forced landing.
Mr. Collins said that Miss Faux had been flying for three years. She was an experienced Advanced 'A' pilot and had "a reputation for being a cautious and skilful flyer". She left Mascot-shortly after 2.30 p.m. for a half-hour flight on normal solo flying exercise.
She was a well-known Sydney flyer with'80 solo flying hours to her credit. Her pilot's licence was endorsed to carry passengers, and last week-end she took several nurse friends for flights over the city. She learned to fly during the war with the intention of joining the air ferry service in England.
Miss Faux had spent nearly all-her time on the aerodrome, and had worked for aircraft companies assembling engines for some time. She was employed on the staff of Tecnico Electrical Ltd. and was a highly skilled member of the installation staff.
She was the youngest of a family of four daughters. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Faux, live in Wynnstay Avenue. Enfield".
Registration cancelled 14.10.47 as "destroyed".
Wreckage sold 1947 to Keith Campbell & Dr Tony Fisher; The fuselage of VH-AAQ, along with that of VH-UFV lay in the back of a farm hangar at Jerilderie, NSW for up to 30 years while owned by Dr. Tony Fisher of Sydney who also kept his Ryan STM VH-CXR along with a Mustang A68-104 at the farm strip. Aviation historian Geoff Goodall advises that, at one stage in the 1960s, no less than two ex-RAAF Mustangs and three Ryans were flying from this farm which was owned by Val Chapman! Evidently Dr. Fisher commuted to Sydney in those days in his Lockheed 12A VH-ASV. Link #6 shows a photo of the remains of VH-AAQ at Jerilderie in November 1969. There was also a P-51D Mustang canopy sitting on the rear fuselage of VH-AAQ.
The remains of both Moths VH-AAQ and VH-UFV were sold from Jerilderie to Jim Starr of Walbundrie, NSW somewhere around 1976-78, and while VH-UFV was restored in 1994, VH-AAQ (or what was left of it) remained in storage so far as is known.
Re-registered VH-UFV 3.5.96 to Jim Starr, Walbundria, NSW [with 'original' DH c/no 878]. Re-registered 3.8.2009 to Kevin James Star, Denistone East, NSW. On rebuild at Albury, NSW [in 4.14]
Sources:
1.The Sydney Morning Herald of 17 December 1945 p.1: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17963325/995395
2. Hobart Mercury for 17 December 1945 p.2: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/26147664/1875424
3. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60giii-moth-major-sydney-1-killed
4. https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/VH-AAQ.html
5. [photo dated 1944] https://www.airhistory.net/photo/213266/VH-AAQ
6. https://edcoatesaircraftphotos.com/ac1/austa/VH-AAQ.html
7. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh60.pdf
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Bay_Correctional_Centre#Long_Bay_Jail_history
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 26-Sep-2023 02:31 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 04-Dec-2023 09:20 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Destination airport, Source] |
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