Date:	Sunday 18 October 1970
Time:	12:45
Type:	de Havilland DH-82a Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	Vowell Air Services Pty Ltd
Registration:	VH-GVA
MSN:	DHA.1014
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Location:	Tyabb Airfield, Tyabb, VIC -   Australia
Phase:	Standing
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Tyabb Airfield, Tyabb, Victoria (YTYA)
Destination airport:	Tyabb Airfield, Tyabb, Victoria (YTYA)
Investigating agency:	BASI
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
de Havilland DH-82a Tiger Moth MSN DHA.1014; Built by DH Australia at Bankstown, Sydney, NSW. Taken on charge by the RAAF as A17-579 at 2 Aircraft Depot, Richmond 22.7.42. To 1 AOS Cootamundra 27.7.42. To 11 EFTS Benalla 25.11.42; to storage reserve 25.7.45. Transferred to Care & Maintenance Unit 1.3.46. To 1 FTS Point Cook 5.3.46; stored. To 2 AD Richmond 16.12.48. To DH Australia at Bankstown, Sydney, NSW 27.3.52 for overhaul. To Base Sqdn, Point Cook 25.7.52. To 1 Aircraft Depot (Detachment B), Tocumwal 9.1.57; put up for sale 22.5.57.

Struck off charge when sold and issued to purchaser 9.9.58. Australian civil registered as VH-GME (C of R 2391) 29.4.58 to Mrs Gertrude Josephine McKenzie, t/a McKenzie Flying School, Moorabbin; named ‘Aries’. Re-registered as VH-GVA (in 1961) to Goulburn Valley Aero Club, Shepparton, Victoria. Re-registered 14.8.67 to Richard W W Vowell, Mount Eliza, Victoria. Damaged when ran-away on start-up and struck fence Tyabb Airfield, Stuart Road, Tyabb, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria 18.10.70; according to the ATSB report into the incident:

"The pilot under instruction had no prior experience with DH82 aircraft. His instructor gave him a preflight briefing on the external and internal checks and the engine starting procedure but did not point out that the mixture control lever on the throttle quadrant was disconnected. With the pilot under instruction occupying the rear cockpit and the instructor standing behind the propeller the starting procedure was commenced without the aid of wheel chocks.

In response to the instructor's call, the pilot under instruction set what he believed to be the throttle lever in the start position and switched on the magnetos. The throttle was in fact in the full forward (fully open) position and the pilot under instruction had mistakenly operated the mixture control lever in the belief that it was the throttle lever. The instructor swung the propeller from behind and, when the engine started, the aircraft surged forward under high power. The instructor was forced to jump clear and the aircraft commenced to swing in a wide left arc through 180 degrees until it struck a cyclone wire fence and came to rest, tail high, on the fence line".

Repaired and returned to service. Re-registered (in 1971/72) to Ken E Orrman, Kialla, Victoria. Damaged when overturned on take-off Port Arlington, Victoira 7.11.72. Registration cancelled 8.9.75. Re-registered 26.2.79 to same owner. Re-registered 10.5.79 to Ray P Vuillermin, Melbourne, Victoria. Re-registered 1.6.83 to P F McConnell, Sunbury, Victoria.

Re-registered 28.2.84 to John J Sagar, Eltham, Victoria (aircraft based at Tyabb). Re-registered 10.4.95 to John Fisher, Kirribilli, NSW. In January 1996 this aircraft was flown from Maitland, NSW to Perth, WA and return, a trip of 7,409 km (4,604 miles). In April that year it was flown from Maitland to Alice Springs, NT and return, a distance of 5,557 km (3,453 miles). Flown UK to Australia by Fisher, departing White Waltham 1.9.96; arrived Darwin, NT 5.10.96 and Mascot, Sydney, NSW 12.10.96, covering 22,228 km (13,812 miles)

Written off (destroyed) when struck trees on take-off; crashed and destroyed by fire at Maryborough, Victoria 27.1.2012; both persons on board - John Fisher & David Oxley - killed. Registration VH-GVA cancelled 24.2.2012.

1. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a17b.htm
2. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/pAus10.html
3. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
4. ATSB Accident Summary: https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1970/aair/aair197002587/
5. ATSB Full Accident Report: https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/24746/197002587.pdf
6. Tiger Moth VH-GVA (various photos 1965-2011): https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/VH-GVA?f=&sort=date_taken_formatted&order=asc
7. Tiger Moth VH-GVA at Melton Airport, Melton, Victoria Australia (YMEL) on 20.3.2010: https://www.airhistory.net/photo/36238/VH-GVA
8. https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/117404-tiger-moth-accident-in-australia
9. https://aeropedia.com.au/content/de-havilland-dh-82-tiger-moth/
10. https://www.australianflying.com.au/news/tiger-moth-crash-reports-points-to-fuel-blockage
11. Fatal 27.1.2012 Crash: https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2012/aair/ao-2012-017.aspx
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyabb_Airport

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

9 September 1995	VH-GVA	John Fisher	0	Maitland Airport, Russell Field, Rutherford, NSW		sub
27 January 2012	VH-GVA	John Fisher	2	Near Maryborough Airport, Maryborough, VIC		w/o

Tiger Moth VH-GVA at Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire in 1996:

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-Jul-2018 03:12	Pineapple	Added
04-Jan-2022 16:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category]
04-Jan-2022 16:47	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Embed code]
10-Jun-2022 02:47	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]