Dakota
A65-104 in the garden of the residence of the Officer Commanding RAAF
Darwin. Because there was no crew to fly the aircraft out, it was chained
to tie-down rings set in the concrete floor of Hangar 124. So strong
were the winds that the aircraft was blown out of the hangar, coming
to rest 200 yards away. Gouge marks left in the ground indicated that
the props had been turning in the wind. Deemed a write-off, the aircraft
was subsequently cut up and sections dispersed to various locations.
The tail section, wing centre section and both wings are held by the
Australian Aviation Heritage Centre in Darwin. The nose section was
last sighted at East Sale, VIC and the fuselage was last sighted at
Sydenham, NSW. The AAHC are hoping to restore A65-104 to static display
standard so any leads on the existence/location of the fuselage and
nose section would be welcome.
Source: RAAF Official via Air Commodore David Hitchins Collection |