Attached is the aircraft’s RAAF E/E88 “status card”. It had a short WWII flying career indeed (perhaps why it survived) – for apparently only 2 weeks in Feb 1944!

24/11/43 delivered to RAAF – brought on charge at De Hav.
9/2/44 received 2 Aircraft Park from De Hav.
13/2/44 received by 1EFTS (Parafield).
28/2/44 taxy head-on into A17-378 (??) at Parafield.
6/3/44 ‘E’ storage at 1 EFTS crash repairs.
13/3/44 ‘C’ storage at 1 EFTS. [presumably repaired after crash and stored in a serviceable condition for later use].
7/10/44 transferred storage at Tamworth ex 1 EFTS

…basically then in storage until postwar use in 1951.

Batman
Rank 4 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Oz
Posts: 108

Hi, checked my Tiger pics and alas no A17-695 (c/n 827). Had -692 (a Navy aircraft) and 697 (painted as a Navy aircraft).

As you say, built for a UK order as DX784 for SA or Rhodesia, but delivered to RAAF. Service history was primarily training.
Firstly at 1 EFTS Parafield (ie No.1 Elementary Flying Training School at Parafield, Adelaide) during 1944, and then to storage from end 1944 until 1951.
Next, basic training with 1 ITS (Initial Training School, which became 1 Initial Flying Training School – 1 IFTS) at Archerfield (Brisbane) 1951-54.
Finally, to 1 BFTS (No.1 Basic Flying Training School) at Uranquinty 1955-1956.

Sold 1957, became VH-BVU until cancelled 1970, when sold to USA as N350JT (Art Scholl Aviation, California). Aircraft purchased and under restoration in Canada by S–.

So appropriate colour schemes:
1944 – late WWII overall training yellow, blue/white Pacific roundels, at 1 EFTS.
1951-56 – postwar training overall silver, yellow trainer bands, red/white/blue 1:2:3 roundels.

Mark_pilkington
Rank 9999 Registered User

c/n 827, built to UK order alloted RAF serial DX784 but not consigned due to Japanese entry into war, released to RAAF, brought on charge 24/11/43 as A17-695 issued to DHA Mascot for modifications,
held at Bankstown 9/2/44,
1 EFTS Parafield 13/2/44
1 EFTS Tamworth 29/5/44
storage Tamworth 7/10/44
CMU Tamworth 12/12/44
2AD Richmond 9/5/47
DHA Bankstown (overhaul) 1/7/49
2AD Richmond 23/12/49
1AD Laverton 6/3/51
3AD Amberley 4/12/51
1 ITS Archerfield 4/1/52
1 ITS Archerfield 26/5/52
1 BFTS Uranquinty 3/2/55
1 AD Tocumwal storage 3/5/56
Listed for disposal 28/8/56
Sold 21/8/57

post war VH-BVU 30/4/58 CofR 2392, registration cancelled 25/3/70, export to USA as N350JT

Hello Jamie

Glad to help, I thought I would summarise Pentland’s book’s coverage of the Tigermoth’s colour schemes and RAAF orders as its a lot of expense to buy both simply to identify the application to one type, such as the Tigermoth, (although if you can pick up a set cheap they are an excellent set of books – excellent paintings and photos of RAAF wartime aircraft.)

I know a photo of your aircraft would clinch it for you but I suspect it will be hard to find one of it during wartime service, although a post war shot in the silver scheme is much more likely to be found.

The reasons for the difficulty in finding a wartime shot is the number of wartime tigers in service,(over 850 including 100 in RAF serials) and the far fewer photographers (official and amateur) operating at RAAF training stations. (and of course the wartime and 1940’s scarcity of personal cameras).

I have a long term restoration project of a CAC Wackett Trainer which served along side RAAF tigermoths in some of the EFTS as well as in WAGS as radio trainers, and although there were only 202 built and serving I am yet to locate a photo of my aircraft in wartime service.

But the further issue is your own aircraft’s wartime service history seems to include significant time in repair or storage after a brief service in the 1 EFTS in February 1944.

See Batman’s extract from the RAAF history card that suggests an accident only two weeks after joining 1 EFTS in Parafield.

Batman attache the history card in his original post above, and you may be able to get him to email you a copy if that wasnt the entire set of cards (some aircraft’s RAAF service cover 2 or 3 cards)

You might consider approaching the South Australian Aviation Museum in Port Adelaide to see if they have any 1 EFTS photos of it at Parafield, and equally you might benefit from approaching the Aviation Historical Society of Australia and placing a request in their Journal, as there are many more photos in private collections than are in the museum collections. The AWM appears to have @ 3 pages of tigermoth photos online ie @ 60.

The RAAFM has an extensive photo archive sorted by RAAF Base and type (but not by units down to the EFTS level), probably therefore the most extensive of the museums (in my opinion) but most of these are either official RAAF photos, or copies from donated photo albums, so its photo collection will still only be a small sample of the total tiger moths that saw service.

The museum at moorabbin has a small photo archive and I will check its holdings on the weekend, but there is a member/historian with an extensive private photo collection that is fully digitised, indexed and archived based on his own photo efforts over the last 40 years as well as wartime album access and trades with other collectors and his would (in my opinion) be the most likely collection to hold a photo of your aircraft (his strong interest is civil aviation and therefore he will almost certainly have photos of it as VH-BVU in anycase.

Look forward to seeing photos of your project and the final colour scheme decision, as others have said there are a wide selection of interesting and accurate RAAF schemes that you could apply if the likely original overall yellow scheme doesnt interest you.

regards

Mark Pilkington