VH-AGB
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| Type: | Canadian Vickers Canso A |
| MSN: | CV-359 |
| Previous Identities: | 11055 CF-GKI |
History:
| Built by Canadian Vickers at Cartierville, Quebec. | |
| 20MAR44 | Brought on charge by the RCAF with the serial number 11055. Known in RCAF service as a Canso A. Stored in reserve with Eastern Air Command. |
| 02MAY44 | With Eastern Air Command (Western Hemisphere Operations). |
| 15MAY44 | From this date served with No. 5 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron at Torbay, Yarmouth, Dartmouth, Mont Joli, Sydney and Gaspe. |
| 04JUN44 | Unserviceable for patrol duties due to faulty radio. Restricted to local flying only. |
| 28SEP44 | Allotted to No. 4 Repair Depot (Scoudouc, near Moncton, New Brunswick) for major inspection. |
| 03JUN45 | Last operational flight was out of Sydney, Nova Scotia to look for a missing Ventura. (Source: David legg) |
| 14JUN45 | Placed in storage. |
| 11JUL45 | Stored in reserve with Eastern Air Command. |
| With No. 6 Reserve Equipment Maintenance Unit at Mont Joli, PQ. | |
| With Reserve Equipment Maintenance Satellite, Mt. Pleasant, Prince Edward Island. REMS was a sub-unit of No. 6 REMU. | |
| 23JAN46 | Awaiting disposal at REMS, Mt. Pleasant. |
| 26JUN47 | Time Since New 940:25 hours. Fitted with R-1830-92 engines s/n 350334/20110 and s/n A79812/20261. |
| 27JUN47 | Struck off charge by the RCAF and issued to War Assets Corp. for disposal. |
| 30DEC48 | Sold for $15,000 by The Babb Company (Canada) Ltd of Montreal to Photographic Survey Co Ltd of Toronto (a wholly owned Hunting subsidiary in Canada). At this time the aircraft was located in St. John, Quebec. (Source: David Legg) |
| 21MAR49 | A series of book transfers resulted in the aircraft being owned by Kenting Aviation Ltd (a Hunting associate company). |
| 13AUG49 | Registered CF-GKI-X to Kenting Aviation Ltd, Toronto, Ontario. Survey modifications had been carried out by Weston Aircraft Ltd. In the Experimental category, the aircraft was limited to daytime VFR and operation as a landplane up to a max weight of 30,500 pounds. (Source: David Legg) |
| 11MAR51 | CofA. Total Time 2448.15 hours. |
| 04DEC52 | CofA. Total Time 3825.50 hours. |
| 08DEC52 | Departed Oshawa for Montreal. (Source: David Legg) |
| 14DEC52 | Departed Montreal en route to Papua on survey work for Aeromagnetic Surveys Ltd. on behalf of Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. Canadian Dept of Transport records show the routing as Oshawa-Azores-Portugal-Cyprus-Baghdad-Pakistan-India-Burma-Malaya-Singapore-Java-Darwin-Papua New Guinea. The planned crew was Bill Howes (captain), R. Pettus (co-pilot), C.C. Fisher (navigator), P.E. Birchall (wireless operator), K. Mitchell (engineer) and H.J. Sandau, J.R. Gray and I.Hedges (magnetometer operators). (Source: David Legg) |
| 08JAN53 | Overnighted Darwin. This was the aircraft's first visit to Australia. |
| 09JAN53 | Arrived at Port Moresby, PNG. Actual routing had been Gander-Azores-Gibraltar-Malta-Beirut-Baghdad-Karachi-Calcutta-Singapore-Surabaya-Darwin. (Source: David Legg). Alternative source states 10JAN53. |
| 14JAN53 | Commenced
an aeromagnetic survey from a base on the Kikori River, Papua.
Click here for more information on this survey. |
| 06MAR53 | Last survey flight from Kikori. |
| 12MAR53 | The aircraft arrived in Cairns and over-nighted before departing for Sydney where the crew were to go on leave. (Source: Cairns Post, Friday 13 March 1953) |
| 08JUL53 | Ferried through Croydon, U.K. |
| 16JUL53 | Ferried through Dublin, Ireland. |
| 06OCT53 | CofA. Total Time 4879 hours. |
| JUL54 | The aircraft again carried the experimental markings CF-GKI-X until September 1954. |
| AUG56 | Adastra technicians undertook electronics equipment familiarisation with Photographic Survey Co/Kenting Aviation at Toronto and Kapuskasing. (Source: Ken Richards) |
| 18SEP56 | Application to ferry aircraft to Australia and requesting approval for a once only take-off from Gander (to the Azores) at 2,440 pounds in excess of certified gross weight. The request was approved three days later. (Source: DoT, National Archives of Canada, Microfilm Roll T.7502 via Doug Morrison) |
| 24SEP56 | Sold to Hunting Aero Surveys Ltd., Boreham Wood, Herts., U.K. |
| OCT56 | Ferried from Canada to Sydney. Ferry pilot was Jim Greenshields, Chief Pilot of Kenting Aviation. (Source: Doug Morrison) |
| 07NOV56 | Registration Application by Adastra Hunting Geophysics Pty Ltd. (Source: DCA files) |
| 08NOV56 | Adastra applied for an airwork licence for one Canso. (Source: NAA via Geoff Goodall) |
| 16NOV56 | Registered VH-AGB to Adastra Hunting Geophysics, Sydney, NSW. CofR No 2868. CofA issued same day. (Source: DCA files) |
| 24NOV56 | Adastra pilot, Ted McKenzie, commenced conversion training on the Catalina. (Source: Ted McKenzie) |
| 18JAN57 | DCA issued Adastra with an airwork licence for the aircraft. (Source: NAA via Geoff Goodall) |
| 15OCT57 | Test flown at Mascot after CofA renewal. (Source: DCA files) |
| JUL58 | Letter to DCA from Adastra Hunting Geophysics Pty Ltd: "This company carries out survey operations with electronic equipment designed to investigate the physical properties of the ground over which the aircraft flies. Generally this equipment is satisfactorily effective at heights of 500-600 feet at which the aircraft have in the past operated. Later trends in these methods of investigation however indicate that it would be more effective to operate at lower heights with our present equipment." Request approval to operate at 200 feet AGL. DCA approve the request but add a proviso that the Crown Solicitor warns that the company will be liable for any legal action that might be taken by persons on the ground. (Source: NAA via Geoff Goodall) |
| 58 | The
wing tip floats were removed to reduce weight and thus enable the
uplift of extra fuel. At the same time, some of the controls were
removed from the pylon. (Source: Les Snape, March 2004) |
| 01JUN59 | Test flown at Mascot by Ken Rowlands after CofA renewal. (Source: DCA files) |
| 29JUN59 | A letter in Canadian DoT files bearing this date refers to "the sale of GKI to Hunting Aero Surveys Ltd. Boreham Wood, Herts on the 24 Sep 56. Registered as VH-AGB. The Canadian certificates had been left with the aircraft. Kenting inquired with Adastra Airways Pty Ltd present owners of VH-AGB, but there was no sign of the missing documents. Deletion from CCAR recommended." (Source: DoT, National Archives of Canada, Microfilm Roll T.7502 via Doug Morrison) |
| JUL59 | Adastra request renewal of their airwork licence for the Canso. Later the same month, Adastra advise that the airwork licence for VH-AGB is no longer required. (Source: NAA via Geoff Goodall) |
| 09AUG59 | The
aircraft commenced an aeromagnetic survey of the Great Artesian Basin
in the Tambo-Augathella area of Queensland with the aircraft based
at Charleville and Roma. The contract covering approximately 25,250
square miles was awarded by Magellan Petroleum Corporation to Aero
Service Corporation of Philadelphia but because Aero Service were
fully committed elsewhere, the survey was subcontracted to Adastra.
The flying was completed on 10OCT59. VH-AGB was crewed by: Ken Rowlands (Captain) Bruce Sellick (Co-pilot) Joe Tidey (Navigator) Bob Cozens (Engineer) Maurie Miller (Chief Electronic Technician) Les Snape (Technician) (Source: Bureau of Mineral Resources, Petroleum Search Subsidy Acts, Publication No. 31, 1963) |
| 25NOV59 | The aircraft commenced an aeromagnetic survey of the Roma district in Queensland. Report |
| 04JAN60 | The aircraft was unserviceable (oil cooler port engine). This was the only day the aircraft was u/s on the Roma survey. |
| 11FEB60 | The Roma survey was completed. |
| 01JUN60 | CofA expired. (Source: DCA files) |
| 08JUN62 | Change of ownership to Trans Australia Airlines, Melbourne, Vic. Parked at Bankstown, NSW and used as a source of spares for TAA's Catalina VH-SBV. (Source: DCA files) |
| 09MAR66 | Sold to Australian Aircraft Sales Pty Ltd. (Source: DCA files - see 01MAY67) |
| 12MAY66 | Struck off Australian Register. |
| 01MAY67 | DCA Internal Memo: TAA have advised that AGB & SBV have both been sold to Australian Aircraft Sales Pty Ltd, effective dates being 15.3.66 for SBV on the slipway at Port Moresby and 9.3.66 for AGB "fuselage located at Bankstown Aerodrome". AAS agree to remove AGB within 40 days of sale and are liable for any storage charges after 9.3.66 imposed by Hawker deHavilland or DCA. "Hawker deHavilland is being pressed by DCA to remove AGB from the aerodrome" (Source: DCA files) |
| 04MAY67 | Broken up at Bankstown by Garthon Scrap Metals of Caringbah. |
|
Operating the Catalina - by Ted McKenzie |
| Issue | Date | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | 20OCT19 |
Added
details of a survey of the Tambo-Augathella area commencing
on 09AUG59. Thanks to Doug Morrison.
|
| 15 | 30MAY18 |
Added
details of a survey of the Roma district in NOV59.
|
| 14 | 15JUN17 |
Added
detailed notes on the 1953
survey of Papua. Thanks to Doug Morrison.
|
| 13 | 23MAY17 |
Added
the name of the pilot who ferried the aeroplane to Australia
in OCT56. Thanks to Doug Morrison.
|
| 12 | 02MAR13 |
Added
several references to Adastra's airwork licence for VH-AGB.
These additions are attributed "NAA via Geoff Goodall".
|
| 11 | 18OCT04 |
Several
additions extracted from Department of Civil Aviation files
in the National Archives of Australia by Geoff Goodall. All
are annotated "DCA files" in the above chronology,
|
| 10 | 14JUL04 |
Several
additions, all attributed to National Archives of Canada via
Doug Morrison.
|
| 9 | 10JUL04 |
Several
additions, all attributed to David Legg.
|
| 8 | 27APR04 |
Added
a reference to the removal of the floats in 1958 thanks to Les
Snape.
|
| 7 | 13SEP03 |
Added
six new images thanks to Bob Love.
|
| 6 | 16JUN03 |
Added
extra detail of Canadian military service received from Jerry
Vernon via Doug Morrison.
|
| 5 | 07JUN03 |
Added
a reference to the further use of experimental marks
Clarified the reference to the 1953 Kikori River survey. Doug Morrison has pointed out that the Kikori River was the base for the operation and that the survey was conducted over a much wider area than the river itself. Also added a reference to TAA's date of purchase. Also added reference to radio unserviceability in 1944 and airframe hours in 1947 thanks to Doug Morrison. |
| 4 | 18MAY03 |
Added
further details of the aircraft's survey career thanks to Doug
Morrison.
|
| 3 | 15MAY03 |
Corrected
the aircraft type from PBV-1A to Canso A and also added details
of its RCAF service. Thanks to Ragnar Ragnarsson and Doug Morrison.
|
