On the 12th August 1940, Frank Follett wrote to the Minister for Air (J.V. Fairbairn) to advise that the Dragonfly VH-AAD was being modified for aerial survey work and that Adastra were then carrying out work formerly executed by the RAAF on behalf of the Northern Territory Survey Committee (1).

On the 21st October 1941, the Report (2) of the Aerial, Geological and Geophysical Survey of Northern Australia (AGGSNA) for the period ended 31st December 1940 was presented to the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. This report includes a summary of Adastra's activities during the period (see below). Although the report does not mention the identity of the aircraft used, it does name the pilot as Mr. N. Rodoni and the photographer as Mr. Payens. Given that the Dragonfly VH-AAD had been withdrawn from the Bega service and was still undergoing aerial survey conversion, together with the fact that Eagle VH-UUY had replaced the Dragonfly on the Bega service, there can be little doubt that this survey was flown by the Waco YKS-6 VH-UYD.

The report states that Adastra had developing and printing facilities set up at Cairns and field prints were made available to on-site AGGSNA geologists. The developing and printing of the Alice Springs areas was done in Sydney. Photomosaics were produced and delivered, along with negative rolls and contact prints, to the AGGSNA Brisbane office. According to the report, the 1940 aerial photography cost £3,018 for an area of 850 square miles of which 55 square miles was at low altitude.

The "Mr. Payens" mentioned in the government report is Peter Volkert Payens, whose biography (3) refers to these survey flights as follows:

"We photographed a strip of country from Cairns to Cooktown for a proposed road, then photographed old goldfields there. Next we were off to a speck on the map called The Granites, north-west of Alice Springs, which a man called Chapman was trying to bring back into production as a goldfield. We were flying over country which was mostly white space on the maps, in a single-engine plane with no wireless. It took six months and it was interesting, though once again there was no extra pay."

Special thanks to Doug Morrison, who provided the report on which this page is based.

Historical Footnote:

Doug Morrison advises that Adastra's Waco was the last aircraft used on the Aerial, Geological and Geophysical Survey of Northern Australia (AGGSNA). The first was Smithy's Fokker F-VIIB-3m "Southern Cross". During September-October 1934, the "Southern Cross" flew 143 hours on the survey crewed by Pat Hall and Harry Purvis. It will be remembered that the "Southern Cross" was engaged on this survey when it met up with Smithy and P.G. Taylor in the Lockheed Altair "Lady Southern Cross" at Cloncurry. The Altair was en route to England to compete in the Centenary Air Race and it was during the meeting at Cloncurry that Harry Purvis discovered that the cowling of the Altair was cracking, leading to Smithy's withdrawal from the race.