JU52 Friday 13.05 hrs

Interesting stuff James, I never knew there was a problem with the DH86’s safety. From an aesthetic point of view I think it’s lovely, one of DH’s best, and far nicer than the Drover.

Were any DH86’s lost in New Zealand at all? They flew with Union Airways here prewar and when war came the three they had were impressed into the RNZAF and became frontline reconnaisance bombers in Fiji for a while till Hudsons and Singapores arrived and they were withdrawn to Ohakea, NZ, to train Navigators on. I think our ones at least have an interesting history.

Here’s a few shots of our DH86’s in civil and war schemes.

Have a dig dH – I’m a few though miles from my refs at the mo!

Um. It’s not widely reported, but a summary of the summary of the summary was:

“There aeroplanes are dangerous, we’ve lost two without explanation or good reason.”

“Shut up you stupid colonials, it must be your pilots.”

“No, we’ve investigated and it looks like there’s some design flaws, can we sort this out?”

“What would you know? We are deHavilland, now stop complaining.”

End – fundimental structural problems discovered, rush fixes, no PR about same, kept (understandably) quiet. Except at least one Express went down and people died (QANTAS IIRC) after the Australians had started questions which were ignored by dH and the British AAIB of the day.

Express NOT a good a/c – the dH pointed wing – dH-88 Comet, Hornet(? – can’t remember) Rapide and Express all having ‘interesting’ stall and assoc charecteristics as a result; Hornet having manadory new square wings as a result.

This is all off the top of my head, so the facts are vague, but someone with references should be able to clarify.

dH – great company, and like Fokker, good at PR about some v. second rate a/c too…

Cheers / Salut!

I’d be interested to read it, James.
I know very little about it except it was designed, built, tested and certificated in about 10 minutes as part of the contract.

I agree it’s far from being the most attractive DH aeroplane but what do you expect from Colonials.

Er hem. Watch it Mister.

You might like to check the ‘Colonial’ reports on the safety (or lack theof) of the dH 86 Express, and the appalling British & deHavilland response. (A VERY low point in dH history.) Another reason for a slight frostyness between Aus and the UK.

Yours from the colonies (you know, the places with sun, steak and money?)

A fair bit more about Drovers here
http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=22295

Seems longer ago. I must be getting really old.

I agree it’s far from being the most attractive DH aeroplane but what do you expect from Colonials. 🙂

A terrible illness?

There’s one Drover (in bad nick) in the UK, IIRC, as well as at least one in good nick in Aus…

Alice.

Christopher Robin went down with it.

Flying Doctor Museum, Alice Springs, Australia – May 1987

Mark

…or…Russia 😉
Check either the WIX forum or CW, Issue 38 for details.

Dave

That’s good news then, thanks. It’s a horrendously ugly aircraft but they have an interesting history.

By the way, as to my question about the Polikarpov, it obviously cannot be one of the AFC’s as I just realised it’s an I-15 and not an I-16. Sorry. So where has that come from then, the USA?

There’s one Drover (in bad nick) in the UK, IIRC, as well as at least one in good nick in Aus…

Hi Dave…. according to the HARS website, there are four drovers surviving. It sounds like theirs is maintained in airworthy condition, though whether it is flown or not, I am not sure.

Cheers,
Richard

http://www.hars.org.au/fleet/drover/

As far as I’m aware there is only one DH Drover left in the world and its non-flying (can anyone correct me?). I think it is in Aussie.

Who’s Polikarpov is at Duxford? Is it one of Sir Tim Wallis’s or owned by someone else? I still haven’t had the chance to see one flying yet (only in the AFC museum) but I hear they’re very impressive little beasts.

As for Trimotors – is the wonderful replica of the Southern Cross that was built in Australia and did a trip to NZ in 1988 still flying? I think it is with a museum now, but I wonder if they still take it up occasionally?

I was at silverstone today and the Ju52 did several circiuts before departing i guess for duxford. was a nice supprise and made the day even more enjoyable. well off to Duxford tomorom to see it again then back for the grand prix on sunday.

Hmmm. OK, time for a thread hijack. “Take this thread to Cuba…” No, not that one.

Soooo. If it WASN”T a Ju52, what could it have been?

Ford Trimotor
Savoia Marchetti Sm79.

My, they are pulling the stops out at Legends this annum…

Any other guesses?

How about an Upside down Ford Tri-Motor? 🙂

Keep up Melv. I know it is difficult – but Ashley has already posted its arrival.

Mark

Tailwind!

A DH Beaver arrived around 4pm. Possible? Th Ju52 wanted to take his passengers over Silverstone but was advised by ATC that intense helicopter traffic made it inadvisable.It is the busiest heliport in the world for this weekend! I suppose he went as near as he dared. 🙂
mmitch.

Definitely not here, and AFAIK, one has never flown in the Northern hemisphere so not even near here.
Over to our Antipodean department.

😀 😀 @ dhfan. Now that WOULD be a turnup. Any airworthy folks?

Heavily disguised DH Drover?

Hmmm. OK, time for a thread hijack. “Take this thread to Cuba…” No, not that one.

Soooo. If it WASN”T a Ju52, what could it have been?

Ford Trimotor
Savoia Marchetti Sm79.

My, they are pulling the stops out at Legends this annum…

Any other guesses?

WSA…sorry I can’t help more 🙁 I did run outside and jump up and down furiously trying to get a better look much to the amusement of my colleagues (ugh, I hate trying to spell that word!) but was none the wiser 🙁