Ansett Airways Ltd Hangar Fire - 1939
Fokker Universal VH-UTO - click here for more


These photos show the aftermath inside the Ansett Airways Ltd hangar at Melbourne/Essendon following a disastrous hangar fire on 28 February 1939.

The upper photo shows, on the left, the frame of the burnt out Porterfield 35/70 Flyabout VH-UVH, in which Reg Ansett had won the Brisbane to Adelaide air race in 1936. In the centre background lies the wreckage of Ansett's original passenger aircraft, the Fokker 4 Universal VH-UTO.

The photo below shows more of the burnt-out frame of the Porterfield, while in the background engineers and police inspect the wreckage of what is possibly the Shell Percival Vega Gull VH-ABS. The total damage bill was estimated at £40,000.

 


Click here to go outside.

(Photos: Lindsay Wise collection)

Back to the main Items of General Interest index


If this page appears without a menu bar at top and left, click here