VH-MIN
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| Type: | Douglas C-47A-25-DK |
| MSN: | 13459 |
| Previous Identities: | 42-93536 KG647 G-AIAZ KG647 VH-SMI |
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Note:
This aircraft never served with Adastra but as an Australian survey
DC-3 its story deserves to be told somewhere.
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History:
| 29MAY44 | Handed over to the USAAF 42-93536. (Source: 1) | |
| 04JUN44 | Delivered to the RAF at Montreal as KG647. (Source: 1) | |
| 12JUN44 | Arrived in the UK. (Source: 1) | |
| 02OCT44 | Issued to No 575 Sqn. (Source: 1) | |
| 29SEP45 | Issued to No 1680 Flight. (Source: 1) | |
| 03APR46 | Leased to BOAC as G-AIAZ. (Source: 1) | |
| 31JUL46 | Returned to No 22 Maintenance Unit, Silloth as KG647. (Source: 1) | |
| OCT46 | Sold to John Fairfax & Sons, Sydney. (Source: 2) | |
| 09DEC46 | Registered VH-SMI to Sydney Morning Herald. CofR 1125. (Source: 4) | |
| 14FEB47 | Arrived at Mascot. (Source: 2) | |
| 16APR47 | Ownership changed to John Fairfax & Sons Pty Ltd. (Source: 2) | |
| 11JUN47 | CofA application. (Source: 2) | |
| DCA file refers to SMI being fitted with a dropping chute capable of taking 1500 lb of newspapers in bundles in a single drop. (Source: 2) | ||
| 08JUL47 | First entry: CofA issue overhaul completed. (Source: 2) | |
| 09JUL47 | Test flown. (Source: 2) | |
| 10JUL47 | Newspaper delivery run 5 hr 35 mins. Then almost daily runs averaging 5.5 hours each day until 1949, then once every 3 or 4 days. (Source: 2) | |
| 25MAY52 | Last SMH flight "Prepared for long-term storage". (Source: 2) | |
| 27MAY52 | Struck-off Register as withdrawn from service. (Source: 2) | |
| 12SEP52 | Re-added Register: John Fairfax & Sons Pty Ltd. (Source: 2) | |
| 02MAR53 | Withdrawn from service. (Source: 2) | |
| MAR53 | Note in DCA file says SMI & Hudsons SML & SMM were all expertly stored at Camden and maintained in excellent condition. (Source: 2) | |
| 18MAR53 | Struck-off Register as withdrawn from service. (Source: 2) | |
| To VH-MIN. (Source: 2) | ||
| 10NOV53 | Inspection at TAA Essendon. (Source: 2) | |
| 20NOV54 | Test flown Essendon as VH-MIN. (Source: 2) | |
| 01DEC54 | Registered VH-MIN to Bureau of Mineral Resources, Melbourne. CofR 2318. (Source: 4) | |
| TAA provided flight crew, engineering and full airworthiness responsibility. (Source: 7) | ||
| JAN55 | Hobart, Essendon, Hamilton, Essendon, Broken Hill. (Source: 2) | |
| 12JAN55 | To 14JAN55 Sth West Tasmania and King Island (Project #131) 625 Kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 01FEB55 | To 15MAR55 Broken Hill NSW (Project #118) 7,700 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| APR55 | Based Essendon. (Source: 2) | |
| 26APR55 | To 03AUG55 Wodgina-Marble Bar WA (#144) 22,300 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 26APR55 | Essendon-Parafield. (Source: 2) | |
| 28APR55 | Parafield-Katherine. (Source: 2) | |
| 02MAY55 | Guildford-Geraldton-Pt Hedland-Geraldton-Guildford. (Source: 2) | |
| 09MAY55 | Based Guildford until 27JUL55. (Source: 2) | |
| 55 | Mid (?) 1955 Wilgie Mia WA (#143) 625 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 55 | Mid (?) 1955 Lake Dundas WA (#126) 188 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 28JUL55 | Kalgoorlie. (Source: 2) | |
| 02AUG55 | Ceduna. (Source: 2) | |
| 03AUG55 | Essendon. (Source: 2) | |
| 06SEP55 | Brisbane. (Source: 2) | |
| 12SEP55 | To 31OCT55 Chillagoe-Einasleigh-Gilberton Qld (with VH-GVC) (#119) 17,840 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 13SEP55 | Cairns. (Source: 2) | |
| 03OCT55 | To 04OCT55 Cloncurry-Mt Isa Qld (#121) 1,000 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 04OCT55 | Mount Isa then Cairns, Townsville. (Source: 2) | |
| 30OCT55 | Mascot. (Source: 2) | |
| 10MAY56 | To 11MAY56 Nowa Nowa Vic (#159) 1,025 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 21MAY56 | Cranbourne- Carrum Downs Vic (#149) 560 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 01JUN56 | To 11SEP56 Carnarvon Basin (Rough Range, Barrabiddy, Gascoyne, Freycinet WA) (#147) 41,730 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 24SEP56 | To 12OCT56 Southern Cross WA (#161) 11,000 kms. (Possible errors in dates. See following). (Source: 3) | |
| 21SEP56 | To 12OCT56 Carnarvon Basin (Corkscrew Well, Redcliffe) WA (#165) 34,140 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 27FEB57 | To 03OCT57 Perth Basin WA (#176) 50,540 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| MAR57 | Guildford then based Busselton until APR57. (Source: 2) | |
| APR57 | Based Guildford until JUN57. (Source: 2) | |
| 21JUN57 | To 22JUN57 Collie Basin WA (#167) 625 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| JUL57 | Essendon. (Source: 2) | |
| AUG57 | Carnarvon until NOV57. (Source: 2) | |
| JAN58 | Overhaul at Essendon. (Source: 2) | |
| 08MAY58 | To 16MAY58 Inverell-Tinha-Stannifer-Elsmore NSW (#188) 2,960 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 21MAY58 | To 29MAY58 Great Artesian Basin Qld (#187) 7,200 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 23JUN58 | To 09SEP58 Bonaparte Gulf Basin WA & NT (#183) 26,320 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 15SEP58 | To 20SEP58 Chillagoe- Mungana Area Qld (#186) 2,480 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 10APR59 | To 05MAY59 Eyre Peninsula (Nth) SA (#199) 15,120 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 27MAY59 | To 28JUL59 Boorabbin-Norseman WA (#197) 22,100 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 14AUG59 | To 10NOV59 Carnarvon Basin (Nth and Sth Areas) WA (#198) 37,360 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 22JAN60 | To 24MAR60 Burra Area SA (#205) 12,000 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 05APR60 | To 05MAY60 Forbes, West Wyalong NSW (#207) 15,100 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 13MAY60 | To 31MAY60 Bourke NSW (#206) 11,250 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 15JUN60 | To 14OCT60 [?] Tennant Creek NT (#222) 22,900 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 60 | Mid [?] 1960 Halls Creek WA (#208) 28,240 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 22OCT60 | To 23OCT60 Rawlinson Range- Young Range WA & NT (#219) 1,575 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 23OCT60 | To 25OCT60 Mann Area WA (#213) 2,015 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 26OCT60 | To 30NOV60 Lake Johnston WA (#210) 10,400 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 31OCT60 | To 30NOV60 Ravensthorpe WA (#220) 3,200 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 06FEB61 | To 22FEB61 Chowilla SA (#228) 7,800 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 08MAR61 | To 12APR61 Childara- Gairdner SA (#227) 23,800 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 01MAY61 | To 01AUG61 Carnarvon Basin (Onslow-Yarraloola) WA (#225) 24,700 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 01MAY61 | To 01AUG61 Carnarvon Basin (Geraldton- Yalgoo) WA (#226) 19,200 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 18AUG61 | To 06OCT61 Bowen Basin Qld (#223) 21,000 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 23NOV61 | To 12DEC61 Narromine NSW (#231) 17,300 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 23NOV61 | To 12DEC61[?] Bathurst NSW (#230) 8,800 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 03MAR62 | To 30APR62 Andamooka, Torrens SA (#234) 20,550 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 07MAY62 | To 24MAY62 Curnamona SA (#241) 10,960 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 09JUN62 | To 07AUG62 Tanami, The Granites NT (#255) 24,345 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 20AUG62 | To 30NOV62 Bowen Basin Qld (#238) 41,520 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 24JUL63 | To 23AUG63 Bowen Basin Qld (#262) 13,535 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 30AUG63 | To 17DEC63 Georgina Basin NT (#270) 42,870 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 03APR64 | To 31AUG64 Georgina Basin NT & Qld (#284) 91,040 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 01SEP64 | To 30SEP64 McArthur River Area NT (#287) 250 [?] kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 02OCT64 | To 02DEC64 Leonora- Menzies WA (#288) 24,130 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 03MAR65 | To 29APR65 Orroroo, Parachilna SA (#314) 22,820 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 25MAY65 | To 25OCT65 Amadeus Basin NT (#301) 53,650 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 26NOV65 | To 28JAN66 Goulburn NSW (with VH-BMG) (#310) 10,990 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 05FEB66 | To 27MAR66 High Level Tasmania (#329) 5,150 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 13APR66 | To 04JUN66 Central SA (#319) 22,120 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 16JUN66 | To 19AUG66 Laverton, Edjudina WA (#323) 23,840 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 16AUG66 | To 16AUG66 Merredin- Perth WA (#324) 1,920 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 06SEP66 | To 12SEP66 Sydney Basin (western part) NSW (#327) 1,630 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 26APR67 | To 13JUL67 Sir Samuel, Duketon WA (#342) 23,100 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 29JUL67 | To 21OCT67 Musgrave Block SA (#338) 30,860 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 01NOV67 | To 23NOV67 Herberton Qld (#337) 2,355 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 28MAR68 | To 18JUN68 Central Great Artesian Basin Qld (#346) 35,790 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 20JUL68 | To 03OCT68 Sandstone, Youanmi WA (#354) 18,890 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 04NOV68 | To 05NOV68 [?] Gosses Bluff NT (#351) 640 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 07OCT68 | To 16JUL69 Byro-Belele, Murgoo-Cue, Yalgoo-Kirkalocka WA (#371) 50,400 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 22AUG69 | To 18NOV69 Southern Cape York Qld (#367) 27,745 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 06APR70 | To 26AUG70 Eucla Basin (Cook, Oldea, Barton) SA (#375) 28,860 kms. (Source: 3) | |
| 08DEC70 | Last flight, withdrawn from service. (Source: 2) | |
| - | Ferried Tamworth-Canberra. (Source: 2) | |
| 13MAY72 | Ferried Canberra-Tamworth. (Source: 2) | |
| 06JUL72 | Registered to Keith Singh, Tamworth, NSW. (Source: 4) | |
| 12JUL72 | Test flown Tamworth: Owner in logs as Airfast Helicopter Utilities Pty Ltd, Sydney. (Source: 2) | |
| 20JUL72 | Registered to Helicopter Utilities, Mascot, NSW. (Source: 4) | |
| 17OCT72 | Registered to Airfast Helicopter Utilities, Mascot, NSW. (Source: 4) | |
| 01AUG74 | Registered to Connair, Alice Springs, NT. (Source: 4) | |
| 18JUN80 | Registered to Northern Airlines (Operations), Alice Springs, NT. (Source: 4) | |
| 05FEB81 | Registered
to Setair, Melbourne, Vic. (Source: 4) In Setair service the aircraft was named "Karen". | |
| 11AUG83 | Registered
to Rebel Air, Mascot, NSW. (Source: 4) Australian Log Book 1 quotes VH-SMI "serial number 13459". (Source: 2) | |
| 01FEB84 | Registered to Wan-See, Hamilton, NSW. (Source: 4) | |
| 03FEB84 | Withdrawn from use for minor overhaul. (Source: 4) | |
| 24FEB84 | Restored to Wan-See. (Source: 4) | |
| 08DEC88 | Registered to Koomeela Australia, Maitland, NSW. (Source: 4) | |
| 10JUN94 | Registered to South Pacific Airmotive, Connells Point, NSW. (Source: 4) | |
| 01MAY98 | Registered to Dakota National Air (Australia), Bankstown, NSW. (Source: 4) | |
| 16FEB04 | Discovery Air Tours (formerly Dakota National Air) went into administration. (Source: 5) | |
| 25JUN04 | As of this date Discovery Air Tours were still operating with three DC-3s including VH-MIN. (Source: 5) | |
| 10OCT04 | By this date, VH-MIN was stored at the Australian Aviation Museum at Bankstown along with several other DC-3s from the Discovery Air Tours fleet. (Source: 5). | |
| 25MAR09 | The Discovery Air Tours fleet of six DC-3s was auctioned at Bankstown but all were passed in and no sales eventuated. (Source: 5) | |
| 10DEC09 | The Discovery Air Tours DC-3s were progressively transported by road from Bankstown to a property at Larras Lee near Molong, NSW. VH-MIN arrived at Larras Lee on this date. (Source: 6) | |
| 16 | While at Larras Lee, the aircraft was broken into and the cockpit stripped by thieves. The aircraft was subsequently sold to Moose Toys of Moorabbin where sections of the airframe are on display. Presumably the remainder of the airframe was scrapped. Picture (Source: 6) See update below. | |
| 06JUN24 | A fuselage, clearly marked as VH-MIN, was photographed intact at Larras Lee on this date. Clearly, the previous report that VH-MIN was sectioned for display at Moose Toys is incorrect. It is speculated that the sectioned aircraft at Moose Toys may be VH-BPN. Picture |
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SOURCES
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1
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J.M.G. Gradidge, "The Douglas DC-3 and its Predecessors", Air-Britain 1984. |
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2
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Geoff Goodall. |
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3
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Doug Morrison. Compiler's Note: References to VH-MIN in Bureau of Mineral Resources geophysical survey indexes. The index is fairly reliable although it does have errors. The dates shown here indicate the first flight on a survey to the last flight on a survey - sometimes the aircraft did leave the survey midstream for maintenance or other projects so it is not a true record of aircraft movements. There are at times overlapping dates in projects. I have listed BMR project numbers (#) and reported approx kilometres flown on the project. This list gives a good idea of movements of VH-MIN in the period 1955-1970 but it does have flaws. No mention of survey bases/airports are shown in this index. |
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4
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Tony Arbon, AustAirData. |
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5
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The late Allan Bovelt. |
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6
|
Ralph Chrystall. |
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7
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Australian Airlines Engineering Department Engineering Report 147 Aircraft Owned / Operated / Maintained by TAA. Provided by Leigh Ryan. |
| Issue | Date | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 17JUN24 |
A
fuselage marked as VH-MIN was photographed intact at Larras
Lee on 06JUN24.
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| 4 | 31DEC22 |
Added
a Slideshow
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| 3 | 02SEP16 |
Aircraft
has been sectioned and parts displayed at Moose Toys in Moorabbin.
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| 2 | 06FEB16 |
Added
information from Source 7 at DEC54. Thanks to Leigh Ryan.
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| 1 | 02FEB11 |
Original
issue. Thanks to Geoff Goodall, Doug Morrison, Allan Bovelt
and Tony Arbon.
|
