Date:	Saturday 16 August 1952
Time:	afternoon
Type:	de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	Tasmanian Aero Club
Registration:	VH-BJU
MSN:	DHA.68
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Robbins Island, 7 miles North West of Smithton, Tasmania -   Australia
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Robbins Island Airport, Robbins Island, Tasmania (YRIS)
Destination airport:	Western Junction, Lauceston, Tasmina (LST/YMLT)

Narrative:
DH.82A Tiger Moth VH-BJU, Tasmanian Aero Club: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 16.8.52 when crashed on take-off from Robbins Island, 7 miles North West of Smithton, Tasmania 16.8.52. The incident was reported in a contemporary local newspaper ("The Burnie Advocate" (Burnie Tasmania) Monday 18 August 1952 - see link #2) although the report combines it with a separate - but otherwise unrelated - crash of an Auster near Devonport, Tasmania the same day (Saturday 16 August 1952)

"TWO PLANE MISHAPS ON COAST:
BOTH PILOTS ESCAPE INJURY
An Auster training plane glided about four miles to make a forced landing in a paddock near Don after losing its propeller when flying over Devonport at 1500 feet on Saturday morning.

A Tiger Moth plane was extensively damaged when it crashed during a take-off at Robbins Island on Saturday afternoon. The pilot» of both machines escaped injury.

The Auster was piloted by John Derick Meredith (Wynyard) and the Tiger Moth by Mis Mary Atkinson (Smithton). Both were Tasmanian Aero Club machines.

The Auster was being flown from Pardoe to Wynyard. John Meredith, who served with tie R.A.A.F., glided the machine to a cleared paddock on Mr. E. A. Gaby's property at Don. One of the wings was torn by the falling propeller, but the aircraft was landed without further damage.

It is believed the mishap was caused by a fracture of the propeller shaft. The propeller landed in a street at the rear of the Devonport Oval. Police and Aero Club officials were on the spot within a few minutes. Sergeant L. H. Rothwell noticed the propeller fall as the plane flew over his home. He Immediately rang for a police car and notified a club official.

Island mishap
The crash at Robbins Island, about seven miles from Smithton, occurred as the machine was leaking oil from the landing strip. A few seconds after it was airborne it seemed to lose height, and was carried towards the foreshore by a crosswind. The undercarriage struck a pile of rocks, and the plane bounced about 25 yards along the turf.

It struck a small outcrop of rock and was thrown over a five-foot bank. It tore down a barbed wire fence and was twisted sideways. It finished up nosed into the face of the bank".

Registration VH-BJU cancelled 3.8.54. Note that, the above incidnet rerfers to VH-BJU "the first". To confuse matters (and some sources) the registration VH-BJU was reallocated to another Tiger Moth (c/no.DHA,1064, ex-A17-1733 and VH-BJL) which was re-registered as VH-BJU ("the second") on 11.8.82, some 28 years later

Robbins Island is a 9,900-hectare (24,000-acre) island located in Bass Strait, lying off the northwest coast of Tasmania, Australia. The island, separated from the Tasmanian mainland by a highly tidal area known as Robbins Passage, lies south to the adjacent Walker Island.

1. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
2. Advocate (Burnie, Tas.) Monday 18 Aug 1952 Page 1 TWO PLANE MISHAPS ON COAST: BOTH PILOTS ESCAPE INJURY: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/69446636
3. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a17a.htm
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/pAus0.html
5. https://airport-data.com/aircraft/VH-BJU.html
6. https://www.austairdata.com.au/component/rsdirectory/entry/view/12015:vh-bju-1
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._7_Elementary_Flying_Training_School_RAAF.
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launceston_Airport#History
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_Island_(Tasmania)

c/no. DHA.68 (Gipsy Major #86824): Taken on charge as A17-71 at 2 Aircraft Depot, RAAF Richmond 2.9.40. To 6 EFTS RAAF Tamworth, NSW 16.9.40. To 2 Aircraft Depot, RAAF Richmond, NSW 4.5.41. To 11 EFTS RAAF Benalla, Victoria 25.7.41. Aircraft collided with fence at RAAF Benalla, Victoria 9.10.41: Port mainplane wing struts damaged. Forced landing due to engine failure (broken connecting rod) RAAF Benalla, Victoria 12.12.41. To 7 EFTS RAAF Western Junction, Lauceston, Tasmina 12.5.42. Spun in off gliding turn 1 mile West of Perth, Tasmania 28.12.43: Extensive damage to airframe, undercarriage, bottom mainplanes and airscrew. Airframe repairable at unit. Repaired and returned to service early 1944. Withdrawn from service and sent to the Care & Maintenance Unit, RAAF Western Junction, Lauceston, Tasmina 1.6.45; put up for sale 6.12.45.

Sold 31.5.46 to Tasmanian Aero Club; issued 26.5.46. Registrered as VH-BJU (C of R 1589) 21.10.48 to Tasmanian Aero Club, Western Junction. Damaged when nosed over on landing Western Junction 15.4.50; repaired. Written off (damaged beyond repair) when crashed on take-off at Robbins Island, 7 miles North West of Smithton, Tasmania 16.8.52 as per the above. Registration VH-BJU cancelled 3.8.54.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Apr-2025 17:04	Dr. John Smith	Added