Aircraft History
Built by Douglas, completed on September 1, 1938. Constructors number 2029. Powered by Wright Cyclone GR-1820G-2 engines.

This DC-3 was purchased for £32,400 by Australian National Airways Pty. Ltd. This was the third DC-3 imported to Australia. Transported aboard the S. S. Clydebank, arriving at Melborne on October 17, 1938. Assembled at Essendon and first flown October 29, 1938 by Captain P. T. L. 'Lyn' Taylor. Registered VH-ABR on October 31, 1938. Entered airline service on October 31, 1938, capable of carrying 21 passengers. Later, expanded to 28 passengers.

Wartime History
On September 10, 1939, chartered by the Commonwealth Government. Assigned RAAF serial number A30-3. Served with 8 Squadron on September 15, 1939 at Canberra and painted in camouflage markings.

Returned to ANA on May 17, 1940 and continued passenger service during the war. On February 1, 1942 during take off from Forrest Airfield both engines failed causing damage to both propellers during a flight from Adelaide to Perth. Afterwards repaired. On September 30, 1943 made a wheels up landing at Mascot Airfield.

Postwar
In 1946, engines were upgraded to GR.1820-G202A standard in 1946. It suffered engine failure & overshot the runway, during take-off at Mildura Airfield on December 13, 1947 when the undercarriage collapsed causing it to hit tree stumps. There were no injuries to the 27 passengers & crew.

Damaged at Narrandera on August 20, 1948. Forced-landed 6km south of Browning, 24km north-west of Yass, NSW 4/10/48, after a port engine fire, on A.N.A.'s daily Melbourne-Deniliquin-Griffith-Narrandera-Wagga Wagga-Sydney 'milk run' flight piloted by Capt. Arthur G. L. Hubbard, with First Officer J.C. 'Jim' King & Hostess Jean North-Ash. Took off from Wagga Wagga Airfield at 1125. Thirty minutes later, the crew felt the aircraft shudder. Rim ice had built up on the windscreen & the crew noticed ice forming on the propellers. Moments later the port engine coughed twice & the aircraft soon began to vibrate severely & the captain elected to return to Wagga Wagga Airfield. A passenger soon noticed white smoke coming from the port engine & the engine appeared to be running unevenly, followed by a 'grinding sound' & the aircraft began to shudder. He drew the hostesses' attention to the smoke & she quickly informed the captain. Captain Hubbard then noticed flames coming from the port engine & immediately turned off the fuel to that engine. Despite this, the flames increased rapidly & soon burnt through the upper nacelle, above the oil tank. Fearing loss of the wing, Capt. Hubbard closed both throttles, told F/O King to lower the undercarriage & began to descend rapidly. The land below them was hilly & rough. Whilst Capt. Hubbard positioned the aircraft to land, F/O King contacted Aeradio at Canberra & released the overhead escape hatch. Only some 30m into the landing run, the aircraft hit a fallen tree, wrenching the tail-wheel fork from the fuselage. The port wing then into other dead trees, tearing it back, outwards of the engine. After traveling beyond the crest of a hill, the DC-3 finally came to a halt. The port engine was badly damaged, the port wing damaged outboard of the engine & the tail-wheel fork wrenched out by tree stumps. However, there were no injuries to crew, or the 27 passengers. It was later found that a mechanical failure had breached the engine's crankcase, which burnt itself out on the ground. Afterwards, this DC-3 was trucked to Essendon and quickly rebuilt. Capt. Hubbard was later sacked.

On June 8, 1953, the starboard engine was shut down & propeller feathered, whilst on a Hobart-Melbourne flight. Painted in A.S.A. livery at Essendon on October 14, 1961 and engines changed. Test-flown at Essendon October 21, 1961, before leaving for Adelaide within days.

Registered to ANSETT-ANA on October 6, 1961. Registered to Airlines of South Australia 14/12/61. The rudder was blown off by 727-77 VH-RME at Adelaide 16/1/66. It was withdrawn from service 13/3/71 (67,224 hours), after operating Adelaide-Kingscote-Adelaide (Capt. John O'Hagen, F/O Tony Mooy, Hostess J. Greaves). It was ferried to Melbourne 15/3/71, with VH-ANW, for storage. Instead, returned to Adelaide 30/3/71 & re-entered A.S.A. service 1/4/71, after the loss of F.27 VH-FNE in a hangar fire.

This DC-3 made its last A.S.A. commercial flight was a charter flight Adelaide-Bathurst-Griffith-Adelaide, for the Bathurst 500 car race on October 3-4, 1971 piloted by Capt. Jim Evans. It was again withdrawn from service by Ansett Airlines of S.A. at Essendon on October 5, 1971, after ferrying from Adelaide the same day.

Returned to service with Ansett Airlines from December 1971 until October 13, 1975. Last scheduled flight was December 27, 1972. Officially struck off register on October 13, 1975.

Today
Owned by Ansett Historical Aviation Group, based at Tullamarine Airport flying condition. Painted in the markings of Ansett Airways. This DC-3 appears in The Pacific miniseries in Episode 3.

References
The DC-3 in Australasia reference to CN 2029
National Library of Australia - Two Ansett-ANA DC-3s (VH-ABR, VH-ANQ) and a TAA DC-3 (VH-AEQ) at Ivanhoe Airstrip
Air Crash Vol. 2

Contribute Information
Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned?
Do you have photos or additional information to add?

Last Updated
November 9, 2019