Holymans Airways DH86As VH-USW & VH-UUB c.1935


Pride of the Fleet! Holymans Airways De Havilland DH86As VH-USW Lepena ('The Eye') and VH-UUB Loila ('The Sky') outside the Holymans hangar at Melbourne/Essendon, together with staff and the vehicle used to transport passengers between the city and the aerodrome. The slogans on the hangar roof read 'Aircraft Operators & Engineers', 'Inc In Tasmania', and 'Aircraft Service Station'. The left-hand hangar door is partly obscured, however the following can be read: 'Sydney / Launceston Hobart / King & Flinders Islands'. On the right-hand door is, rather optimistically, 'Taxi Flights To All Parts Of The Commonwealth'.

On 7 October 1935 Holymans Airways Pty Ltd opened a scheduled service between Melbourne and Sydney, via Canberra using DH86A VH-UUB Loila. Click here to see a postcard flown on this flight.

VH-USW (c/n 2315) was registered new to Holymans Airways on 13 May 1935 (CoR 521) and had its first flight the same day. It was fitted for the carriage of 12 passengers. The aircraft was damaged in a forced landing on Hunter Is. (Tas.) on 13 December when Capt. A M Bayne became alarmed by an apparent wing failure. Subsequent inspection revealed a loose strut fairing, however this was at a time when the structural integrity of the DH86 was under question. The aircraft was shipped to Essendon and repaired, returning to service by 1 October 1936. The aircraft went to Australian National Airways (ANA) when this airline was formed from the merger of Holymans and Adelaide Airways in 1936. VH-USW was impressed by the RAAF on 13 September 1940, becoming A31-4, however it was subsequently leased by DCA as VH-USW to Qantas Empire Airways (QEA) between 27 March and 4 May 1942. Following the QEA lease, the aircraft was returned to the RAAF and converted as an air ambulance. It was returned to DCA on 6 September 1944 for sale by Commonwealth Disposals. It was purchased and placed into service by MacRobertson Miller Airlines (MMA) until sold to the UK in 1946. VH-USW departed Perth/Guildford on 19 November 1946 but was abandoned at Allahabad, India, on 26 December due to the "unsafe condition of the aircraft".

VH-UUB (c/n 2326) was purchased for £12,000 and registered new to Holymans Airways on 27 September 1935 (CoR 542). The aircraft arrived at Geelong, Vic., on the SS Taranaki and was fitted for the carriage of 12 passengers. It too went to Australian National Airways (ANA) when this airline was formed from the merger of Holymans and Adelaide Airways in 1936 and was similarly impressed by the RAAF on 13 September 1940, becoming A31-3 (received by the RAAF 4 November). It was allocated to 1 Air Ambulance Unit on 1941 but was destroyed in a collision with Beaufighter Y7804 on 19 April 1942 at Heliopolis, Egypt.

(Photo: CAHS collection)

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