The Australian domestic airlines began to introduce jet aircraft into domestic operation in late 1964. In order to give the DCA an aircraft with the same general operational characteristics as the airline equipment a Hawker Siddeley HS.125 business jet was purchased.

VH-CAO (c/n 25015) was built as an HS125 Series 1B at Hatfield, UK, and delivered to Melbourne/Essendon on 20 January 1965, having departed Hatfield on 13 January. This photo shows VH-CAO at the DCA Flying Unit's Melbourne/Essendon base on 26 January 1965, six days after its arrival on delivery from the UK.

This was the second aircraft to bear the registration VH-CAO, the earlier one being a DC3.

In the photo above, engineers cluster around the starboard Rolls Royce Viper of VH-CAO, probably at Sydney/Mascot in the late 1960s. Note the DCA Flying Unit logo on the fin.

The lovely photo below shows VH-CAO in 1973.

(Photos: top - John Hopton/The Collection / middle - CAHS collection / bottom - CAHS collection 203B-73)

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