VH-AAU Salamaua

History:

31JUL37	Completed at Burbank.
29SEP37	Arrived Melbourne on the S.S. "Wairuna". Assembled at Essendon by Brown and Dureau.
15OCT37	CofR No 667 issued to Guinea Airways as VH-AAU. Aircraft ferried from Essendon to Parafield same day.
05MAR38	Returning from Sydney in bad weather, control was lost and the aircraft entered a spin losing considerable altitude. Control was regained near the township of Mannum and the aircraft flew south to Murray Bridge with a faulty starboard engine. The aircraft landed after dark on the race course which was illuminated with car headlights. After examination, the starboard engine was changed. The aircraft was being flown by Capt Hugh Hughes and First Officer Jim Lang.
02NOV38	Chartered to the Department of Civil Aviation for testing the newly installed Lorenz navigation beacons on the main Australian air routes.
39	During the winter of 1939, the aircraft was holding prior to landing at Adelaide. In bad weather and strong winds, the aircraft drifted to the east and subsequently descended through tree tops at Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills. After landing safely, the aircraft was found to have foliage in the undercarriage and damaged leading edges. The aircraft was being flown by Capt Dallas Scott and First Officer Jim Corlette.
22JUL39	Departed Darwin on a survey flight to Dili in Portuguese Timor in preparation for Qantas flying boat operations. The Minister for Civil Aviation, J.V. Fairbairn, travelled on the flight.
11DEC39	Commenced a charter to the RAAF based at Richmond.
28MAR41	The aircraft was inadvertently landed wheels up on the grass at Parafield by Capt Bob Godsell with minimal damage and no injuries.
SEP41	Chartered to ANA for their daily Adelaide- Mount Gambier-Melbourne service.
DEC42	Participated in the Buna campaign in New Guinea.
43	Used extensively on the Adelaide to Darwin courier run with numerous forced landings.
30JAN44	Unscheduled landing at Parafield with u/s Sperry artificial horizon. Was operating a scheduled Guinea Airways service to Batchelor. Capt Schubert and F/O Austen. (NAA via G. Goodall)
05AUG46	Added to the N.Z. Register as ZK-ALI.
26AUG46	Struck off the Australian Register as withdrawn from service.
28AUG46	Sold to Union Airways of N.Z. Ltd. Flown to Essendon and shipped from Melbourne to New Zealand.
05OCT46	Arrived in Wellington on the "Salamaua". Because of problems with the supply of radio equipment, the aircraft was initially stored dismantled in a hangar at Rongotai, Wellington.
MAY47	Ferried from Wellington to Palmerston North.
05AUG47	CofA issued as ZK-ALI and later entered service with NAC as "Koweka".
20OCT49	Last scheduled passenger flight with NAC.
29OCT49	Last flight.
14APR50	CofA expired and aircraft stored at Palmerston North.
26APR51	Ownership transferred to Rural Aviation Ltd of New Plymouth.
MAR53	The aircraft was dismantled and taken by road to New Plymouth. A proposed sale to Overland Air Services of Condoblin, NSW was not completed.
24NOV53	Cancelled from the N.Z. Register.
61	Scrapped at New Plymouth.

Issue	Date	Remarks
3	03APR16	Refreshed page layout with no change to data.
2	06MAR06	Added reference to incident on 30JAN44.
1	08FEB00	Original issue

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