This stainless
steel plate was being carried on Adastra aircraft when the company ceased
operations in the early seventies. The top example is a scan of the
original plate which was removed from Hudson VH-AGP when it was converted
back to military configuration. The original plate is held in the Ron
Cuskelly Collection.
The lower example is a photograph of the plate that is still carried
by Hudson VH-AGJ which is preserved in the RAF Museum at Hendon. The
plate is fixed inside the cabin door. Note that the wording appears
identical to the top plate except for the addition of the apparent afterthought,
"TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED".
Both plates bear the signature of Lou Pares. It is not known when or
why this notice was introduced but evidently it was during the period
when Adastra used the name of its associate company Sepal for administrative
purposes such as registration of aircraft and employment of aircrew.
This came into effect on 1 July 1961. It is possible that the need for
this notice arose with the death of a young passenger in the crash of
Hudson VH-AGE in September 1966.
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