VH-MJR
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
||||||
| Type: | Douglas DC-3A-447 |
| MSN: | 6353 |
| Previous Identities: | NC34960
(NTU) 33818 (BuNo) NC9032H N9032H |
| Subsequent Identities: | VH-MMT PK-RDG PK-OSA |
|
Note:
This aircraft never served with Adastra but as an Australian survey
DC-3 its story deserves to be told somewhere.
|
History:
|
NC34960
|
||
| 42 | Built at Santa Monica for Pan American Airways as NC34960 but not taken up. (Source: 1) | |
|
33818
|
||
| 20JAN43 | Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the aircraft was taken over by the U.S. government and issued to the United States Navy as an R4D-4 with Bureau Number 33818. (Source: 1&5) | |
| 25JAN43 | Allotted to VR-2 Fleet Transport Squadron based at Alameda Naval Air Station. VR-2 came under the Naval Air Transport Service Pacific Wing operating to the Pacific theatre and to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. (Source: 1, 4 &5) | |
| 05MAR43 | Allotted to VR-4 under the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Service (SCAT). (Source: 1, 4 &5) | |
| 05JAN44 | Allotted to VR-5 under the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Service (SCAT). (Source: 1, 4 &5) | |
| 05FEB46 | Allotted to FAW-5 (Fleet Air Wing) at Norfolk NAS, Virginia. (Source: 1, 4 &5) | |
| MAR46 | Allotted to FAW-3 in Panama. (Source: 1, 4 &5) | |
| 31OCT46 | Struck off charge by the USN. (Source: 1&5) | |
|
NC9032H
|
||
| Registered NC9032H to Aero Service Corporation, Philadelphia PA. (Source: 1) | ||
| 47 | After civil certification as a DC-3 and fitment with survey equipment, the aircraft commenced its first overseas contract at Nassau in the Bahamas for most of the year. "At that time, Aero Service Corp's scientists were adapting wartime anti-submarine magnetic detection systems into effective civilian aerial survey technology to detect mineral and oil deposits under ground or water. NC9032H was among the first aircraft to be fitted with experimental magnetometer equipment." (Source: 4) | |
| NOV47 | The aircraft completed the Bahamas contract and returned to Philadelphia. (Source: 4) | |
| 08DEC47 | Arrived in Cuba. (Source: 4) | |
| FEB48 | Returned to Philadelphia. (Source: 4) | |
| 24APR48 | Positioned to Denver, Colorado. (Source: 4) | |
| 05JUL48 | Positioned from Philadelphia to Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique). Routed via Goose Bay- Bluie West 1-Keflavik-Prestwick-Marseilles-Casablanca-Dakar-Accra-Leopoldville-Elizabethville-Johannesburg and Lourenco Marques. (Source: 4) | |
| 18JUL48 | Arrived Lourenco Marques. Flying Time: 76 hours 25 minutes. (Source: 4) | |
| AUG48 | Based at Lourenco Marques and Inhambane, Mozambique until SEP48. (Source: 4) | |
| OCT48 | Positioned to South Africa due wet weather in Mozambique. (Source: 4) | |
| DEC48 | Based in South Africa. (Source: 4) | |
| APR49 | Returned to Mozambique. (Source: 4) | |
| JUN49 | Completed the Mozambique contract. (Source: 4) | |
| 49 | The aircraft was parked at Johannesburg. (Source: 4) | |
|
N9032H
|
||
| 49 | The presentation of the aircraft registration changed to N9032H (omitting the C). (Source: 4) | |
| MAR50 | Positioned Johannesburg-Cairo-Tunisia for a survey commencing 25MAR50. (Source: 4) | |
| 05APR50 | Flight tested at Johannesburg. (Source: 3) | |
| 50 | In mid 1950, on completion of the Tunisia survey, the aircraft positioned to Sicily for a survey. (Source: 4) | |
| JUL50 | Returned to Philadelphia via Lisbon-Shannon-Iceland-Labrador. (Source: 3) | |
| 09NOV50 | Departed Philadelphia for a survey in Venezuela. (Source: 4) | |
| NOV50 | In late NOV50 the aircraft departed Venezuela for Cuba where it was based at Camaguey then Santiago, Cuba. (Source: 4) | |
| 07DEC50 | Positioned from Santiago, Cuba to Philadelphia via Miami arriving 08DEC50. (Source: 4) | |
| 20SEP51 | Commenced a survey in North Dakota and adjacent states. (Source: 4) | |
| DEC52 | To Miami for a major overhaul. (Source: 4) | |
| MAR53 | Survey in California concluding APR53. (Source: 4) | |
| MAY53 | Survey in Texas. (Source: 4) | |
| DEC53 | Survey in Louisiana and Gulf Coast. (Source: 4) | |
| JUL54 | Survey in Louisiana and Texas. (Source: 4) | |
| DEC54 | To Trenton, New Jersey for a major overhaul and survey installation. Work included the building and installation of a magnetometer sensor in a tail-mounted stinger. (Source: 3) | |
| 25MAY55 | After major works and modifications the aircraft was airworthy at Trenton. (Source: 3) | |
| AUG55 | To Galveston, Texas for a survey untik DEC55. (Source: 4) | |
| 29JUN56 | Survey system upgrade at Houston, Texas. (Source: 3) | |
| JUL56 | Survey in Santa Cruz, Bolivia concluding OCT56. (Source: 4) | |
| 27OCT56 | Survey system upgrade at Trenton, NJ. (Source: 3) | |
| DEC56 | Survey in Corpus Christi, Texas until APR57. (Source: 4) | |
| JUL57 | Survey in Southwest USA until DEC57. (Source: 4) | |
| 25JUN58 | Inspection at West Trenton, NJ. Total Time: 11,324 hours. (Source: 3) | |
| JUL58 | At Trenton, New Jersey being prepared for a magnetometer survey in Libya. A Doppler navigation system was installed, a new magnetometer fitted, double engine change, undercarriage rebuilt and two 200 gallon ferry tanks were fitted in the cabin. The aircraft was also repainted. (Source: 3) | |
| JUL58 | Ferried from Trenton to Tripoli by British ferry pilots Peter Nock and Janet Ferguson. (Source: 4) | |
| AUG58 | Based at Sebha, Libya and then the remote oasis at Kufra, 600 miles south of Tobruk. (Source: 4) | |
| DEC58 | The aircraft was located in Tripoli on completion of the Libya survey in NOV58. (Source: 4) | |
| JAN59 | Survey in Morocco concluding in JUN59. (Source: 4) | |
| JUN59 | Positioned to Las Palmas, Canary Islands for a magnetometer survey of the Spanish Sahara. (Source: 4) | |
| JUL59 | By mid JUL59 the magnetomer survey was completed but photo work was continuing. (Source: 4) | |
| DEC59 | Turkey survey until DEC60. (Source: 4) | |
| DEC60 | Libya survey. (Source: 4) | |
| 61 | In early 1961 commenced a survey in Cairo, Egypt. (Source: 4) | |
| APR61 | Moved base from Cairo to Luxor. (Source: 4) | |
| 17APR61 | Based at Idris, Libya. (Source: 4) | |
| 18JUN61 | Inspection at Idris, Libya. Total Time: 12,912 hours. (Source: 3) | |
| 18AUG61 | Arrived at Sydney, Australia after a ferry flight from North Africa. (Source: 4) | |
| SEP61 | The aircraft entered service on an urgent contract to survey oil deposits in Bass Strait. Morry Lawrence obtained DCA approval for the aircraft to operate this contract under its American registration. The aircraft was based at Essendon and Flinders Island and the survey was completed in DEC61. (Source: 4) | |
| 01JAN62 | The aircraft was ferried from Essendon to Camden for its Australian certification. Work included a double engine change and repaint. It is believed that Noel Notley was the certifying engineer. (Source: 3) | |
|
VH-MJR
|
||
| 19APR62 | Registered VH-MJR to M.J. Lawrence Holdings Pty. Ltd., Ramsgate, Sydney. The CofR and CofA were issued the same day. The American flag on the fin was replaced by the Australian flag. (Source: 2) | |
| JUL62 | Commenced aeromagnetic survey from bases at Karumba, Weipa and Horn Island. Survey continued until OCT62. (Source: 3) | |
| 30NOV62 | Commenced surveys at Broome, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing concluding on 04JAN63. (Source: 4) | |
| JUN63 | Survey at Alice Springs. (Source: 4) | |
| JUL63 | Survey at Charlotte Waters. (Source: 4) | |
| AUG63 | Commenced a survey of the North West Shelf based at Wyndham concluding in OCT63. (Source: 4) | |
| 01DEC63 | Survey at Townsville. (Source: 4) | |
| JAN64 | East-West
Airlines' house magazine Skyline reported that East-West had
recently fitted an £8,000 Swiss camera using nine inch colour film
to an Aero Service DC-3 at the EWA Tamworth workshops. The article
reported that it would be the first time in Australia that colour
film had been used in the search for oil. The survey will cover 40,000
square miles on behalf of Gulf Oil Exploration Pty Ltd (USA) and will
extend 200 miles out to sea from a base in Rockhampton. (Source: 7) Another article in the same publication reported that East-West would be replacing the engines in an Aero Service DC-3 with super-charged engines for high altitude photographic survey work. (Source: 7) | |
| APR64 | Survey of the Great Barrier Reef based at Rockhampton concluding in SEP64. (Source: 4) | |
| SEP64 | Commenced a survey of western NSW and the Tanami Desert concluding in OCT64. (Source: 4) | |
| NOV64 | The aircraft undertook a large survey of the Coral Sea. (Source:3) | |
| 26NOV64 | Departed Mascot for Adelaide. (Source: 4) | |
| 27NOV64 | Commenced a survey of St Vincents Gulf based at Adelaide and concluding on 09DEC64. (Source: 4) | |
| 10DEC64 | Departed Adelaide. (Source: 4) | |
| 22DEC64 | Noted at Mascot, Sydney. (Source: 4) | |
| 28FEB65 | Commenced a survey of southern Tasmania based at Hobart. (Source: 4) | |
| 31MAR65 | Departed Hobart having been replaced by Aero Commander 680F VH-MJJ. (Source: 4) | |
| APR65 | Parked at Sydney Airport. (Source: 4) | |
| 19APR65 | Sold to MacRobertson Miller Airlines, Perth who agreed to allow Aero Service to use the aircraft to ferry survey gear from Sydney to Carnegie Station. (Source: 4) | |
| MAY65 | The aircraft returned to Sydney in early May. The survey equipment was removed and the aircraft handed over to MMA. (Source: 4) | |
|
VH-MMT
|
||
| 08JUN65 | Registered VH-MMT to MMA. (Source: 2) | |
| 09JUN65 | Departed Sydney for Perth on delivery to MMA flown by MMA Chief Pilot Captain Alex Whitham, First Officer Nichol and Senior Engineer Frank Colquhoun. (Source: 4) | |
| In MMA service the aircraft was configured with 28 seats and was named RMA Turner. The aircraft was polished natural metal overall to conserve payload. (Source: 4) | ||
| 29SEP69 | Registered to Ansett Transport Industries, Melbourne. (Source: 2) | |
| OCT69 | Sold to Australian Aircraft Sales. (Source: 1) | |
| 19NOV69 | Cancelled from the Australian Register. (Source: 2) | |
|
PK-RDG
|
||
| 17DEC69 | Sold to Seulawah Air Service, Indonesia as PK-RDG. (Source: 1) | |
| 71 | Seulawah Air Service merged with Mandala Airlines. (Source: 6) | |
|
PK-OSA
|
||
| JAN78 | Registered PK-OSA with Mandala Airlines. (Source: 1) | |
| APR80 | Noted withdrawn from service at Jakarta. (Source: 1) | |
| Presumably broken up. |
|
SOURCES
|
|
|
1
|
J.M.G. Gradidge, The Douglas DC-3 and its Predecessors, Air-Britain 1984. |
|
2
|
Tony Arbon, AustAirData. |
|
3
|
Doug Morrison quoting official sources, Aero Service documentation and personal reminiscences as an Aero Service employee. |
|
4
|
Geoff Goodall and Doug Morrison, Globe-trotting DC-3, Aviation Heritage, AHSA, December 2019. |
|
5
|
Joe Baugher: http://cgibin.rcn.com/jeremy.k/cgi-bin/gzNavySearch.pl?target=33818&series=3 33818 |
|
6
|
Geoff Goodall's Aviation History Site www.goodall.com.au |
|
7
|
Skyline, East-West Airlines, January 1964. |
| Issue | Date | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29MAY26 |
Original
issue. With thanks to Doug Morrison and Geoff Goodall.
|
