One of my modelling labors over the past month has been part of a larger historical project of understanding the arrival, operation and impact of Douglas airliners in Australia before World War 2. I've already delivered a couple of academic papers on this topic at historians conferences and am to give another talk on the subject for the Civil Aviation Historical Society in December.
As part of this I decided to make some models as well of the DC-2s and DC-3s that came to Australia before the war and flew with the major airlines then. Here are the results of these labors so far, two DC-2s.
First is VH-UYC, the Kyeema, the CMR 1/144 kit with home made decals. The Kyeema was the last of the the first four DC-2s to arrive in Australia and initially flew for Airlines of Australia before being transferred over to ANA. It crashed in the Dandenong Ranges in October 1938 and, as a result, Australian civil aviation was thoroughly reviewed and one of the results was the creation of the Department of Civil Aviation.
Then there is VH-USY, the Bungana, the MPM 1/72 kit again with home made decals. The Bungana was the first DC-2 to arrive in Australia and began flying services in April 1936. It was initially flown by Holymans Airways before geing transferred to the ownership of ANA when that airline was established. It initially flew on the Tasmania-Melbourne route and when the second DC-2 arrived it was transferred to the Perth-Adelaide and later Perth-Melbourne route, a 12 hours flight on a good day.
And here they are together
Next, two pre-war DC-3s
Leigh