ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 74147
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| Date: | Thursday 13 December 1951 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | De Havilland DH.84 Dragon |
| Owner/operator: | Qantas Empire Airways Ltd |
| Registration: | VH-URV |
| MSN: | 6089 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 6 miles from Yaramunda, Enga -
 Papua New Guinea
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Survey |
| Departure airport: | Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea (HGU/AYMH) |
| Madang, Papua New Guinea (AYMD) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
25.5.34: De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd write to CAB requesting Australian registrations for 2 “Dragons” on order from England. Civil Aeronautics Board allocate VH-URU & URV.
mid-1934. Built Hatfield as production Dragon II c/no 6089
5.9.34:British CofA issued as VH-URV De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd, Sydney, NSW. Shipped to Australia. Assembled at Mascot, Sydney, NSW by De Havilland Aircraft.
8.11.34: Registration Application: Butler Air Transport Co, Cootamundra, NSW. To be used for “passenger and mail carrying on the Cootamundra-Charleville route”
9.11.34: Registered VH-URV Butler Air Transport Co, Cootamundra NSW, later Sydney. CofA issued same day, fitted with 6 passenger seats
11.11.34: C.A.Butler pilot logbook: Mascot-Cootamundra, delivery flight, 3 passengers
16.11.34: C.A.Butler pilot logbook: Mascot-Essendon, 3 passengers: 2 hr 50 mins.
19.11.34: C.A.Butler pilot logbook: Essendon-Cootamundra, 4 passengers: 2 hr 15 mins.
20.11.34: C.A.Butler pilot logbook: Cootamundra-Canberra, 5 passengers: 55 mins. His Excellency, acting Governor General Lord Gowrie christened the Dragons "Cootamundra" and "Charleville". Returned same day after christening ceremony
5.12.34: C.A.Butler pilot logbook: Cootamundra local flight
10.12.34: First Butler Air Transport departure from Cootamundra for Charleville in the early hours of the morning, to Cootamundra carrying 1,200 lb of mail, which had arrived by train from Sydney the previous evening. Same day: C.A.Butler pilot logbook: Arthur Butler flew VH-URV’s first airline service: Cootamundra-Narromine-Bourke-Charleville, flying time 5 hrs 30 mins
13.12.34: Departed Charleville Queensland on first Butler Air Transport southbound service to Cootamundra. Same day: C.A.Butler pilot logbook: Charleville-Bourke-Narromine-Cootamundra, flying time 5 hr 30 mins
18.12.34: C.A.Butler pilot logbook: Cootamundra-Narromine-Bourke-Charleville, flying time 7 hrs 10 min
12.34: VH-URU & VH-URV commenced scheduled mail and passenger services between Cootamundra and Charleville.
2.35 High summer temperatures inland led to fuel line vapor locks and several forced landings. Company engineer Thomas Williams redesigned the DH.84 fuel system, which eliminated the problem.Arthur Butler wrote in his book Flight : “….the Dragon with full load could not maintain height on one engine. The Civil Aviation Board established two emergency landing grounds between Cootamundra and Parkes where an aerodrome had been constructed several years earlier. These were never used during the 3 years and 8 months that the Cootamundra-Charleville service operated; in fact the service was practically free from mechanical trouble during the whole of this period, except for the vapour locks at the beginning of the service.”
12.38: By now the company is reformed as Butler Air Transport Co Ltd, Sydney
3.11.39: Total airframe time as at this date 3,085 hours
6.3.44: Photographed at Coonamble, NSW in camouflage, operating Butler Air Transport service
26.5.49: Change of ownership: Qantas Empire Airways Ltd, Brisbane Queensland. Based in New Guinea
13.12.51: Written off (destroyed) when struck mountain near Yarramunda, Enga Province, New Guinea, 6 miles from Yarramunda. Operating a charter for Director of Civil Avaiation to inspect airstrips, departed Mount Hagen for Ogelbeng, Tremearne, Baiyer River, Wabag, Wapenamanda, Yaramunda and Madang. Pilot Qantas Empire Airways First Officer Sydney W. Peebles and 2 passengers were killed and aircraft destroyed by fire. Director of Civil Aviation investigation found the cause was solely pilot error: Sydney Peebles had 6,000 hours flying experience, but little Highlands experience and was restricted by Qantas to the Madang-Goroka route. He took the Director of Civil Avaition charter work against company regulations, and flew the wrong way up a narrowing valley, attempting to out-climb the rising terrain while throwing passenger's baggage out to reduce the load.
13.12.51: Struck-off Civil Register as "Destroyed".
Sources:
1. http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austu/VH-URV.html
2. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p060.html
3. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh84-dragon-yarramunda-3-killed
4. http://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/15-aeroplanes/84-register-australia
5. http://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/dh84-pt1/dh84-dragon-pt1.htm
6. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH84.pdf
7. https://www.airhistory.net/photo/130442/VH-URV [VH-URV at Charleville, Queensland]
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enga_Province
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Apr-2010 23:42 | Petro | Added |
| 01-Jan-2012 11:09 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 08-May-2014 20:15 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 08-Jun-2022 23:54 | Ron Averes | Updated [Operator] |
| 31-Oct-2022 13:41 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
| 31-Oct-2022 13:44 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 01-Nov-2022 19:27 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Embed code] |
| 01-Nov-2022 19:28 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Embed code] |
| 26-Jun-2023 05:02 | Ron Averes | Updated [[Embed code]] |
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