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|
| 30 |
Built
by Detroit-Lockheed, with a metal fuselage and Pratt and Whitney Wasp SC1
engine. It was later registered NC372E.
|
| 30SEP30 |
Registered
as G-ABFE to Lieutenant Commander Glen Kidston of London. Kidston intended
to build Vegas under licence in the U.K.
|
| JAN31 |
Shipped
to the U.K.
|
| 03JAN31 |
Re-registered
G-ABGK at the request of the owner to incorporate his initials.
|
| 17JAN31 |
British
CofA No V45 issued.
|
| 31JAN31 |
Test-flown
by Kidston from Croydon Aerodrome, London.
|
| 14FEB31 |
A local
training flight was made from Croydon by Kidston and his partner Lieutenant
Owen Cathcart-Jones along with two other crew.
|
| 20FEB31 |
Another
local training flight was made from Croydon.
|
| 21FEB31 |
Flown
from Croydon to le Bourget, Paris in the record time of 1 hour 12 minutes.
The aircraft returned to Croydon two days later.
|
| 19MAR31 |
Test-flown
at Croydon after installation of long range tanks.
|
| 28MAR31 |
The Vega
was positioned from Croydon to Netheravon.
|
| 31MAR31 |
Kidston
and Cathcart-Jones departed Netheravon on an attempt to break the Capetown
record. Routing was Naples, Malta, Cairo, Kosti, Malakal, Kisumu, Salisbury,
Bulawayo and Pretoria. A wireless operator, T.A. Vallette on loan from the
Marconi Company, joined the flight as far as Cairo. At Cairo his place was
taken by an engineer, G.W. Hills.
|
| 05APR31 |
Forced
landing at Lichtenburg, Pretoria due engine trouble. The propellor was damaged
when the Vega ran through wire fences. The aircraft later departed for Capetown.
|
| 06APR31 |
Arrived
Capetown in the record time of 6 days 9 hours at an average speed of 134
mph.
|
| 05MAY31 |
Lt Cdr
Kidston and Capt T.A. Gladstone were killed in the crash of Puss Moth ZS-ACC
in the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa.
|
| 05DEC31 |
The Vega
was test-flown at Hamble, U.K. having been shipped back from South Africa.
The aeroplane was flown to Hanworth by Cathcart-Jones the same day. The
Vega was administered by a trust set up by the Kidston family.
|
| 12APR32 |
Cathcart-Jones
flew the Vega during Sir Alan Cobham's National Aviation Day Display at
Hanworth and later toured various air pageants throughout the U.K.
|
| 28MAY32 |
The Vega
attended the Guild of Air Pilots Civil Air Day.
|
| 19JUN32 |
The Vega
was demonstrated at the Royal Aeronautical Society's Garden Party.
|
| 17JUL32 |
Cathcart-Jones
flew the Vega to Stoke and return.
|
| 08AUG32 |
The Vega
was flown from Hanworth to Belfast.
|
| 22AUG32 |
The Vega
returned from Belfast to Hanworth via Dublin.
|
| 05OCT32 |
The Vega
visited Dublin.
|
| 25OCT32 |
Cathcart-Jones
demonstrated the Vega to His Highness the Maharajah of Jodhpur and to Sir
Frank Spickwell of Imperial Chemical Industries with a view to selling the
aeroplane, but no sale was concluded.
|
| 24MAR33 |
Cathcart-Jones
flew the Vega from Hanworth to Liverpool and return after which the aeroplane
was hangared at Hanworth awaiting sale.
|
| 15AUG34 |
Test-flown
at Hanworth by Capt James Woods on behalf of the new owner, Australian Horrie
Miller who intended to enter the Vega in the Centenary Air Race from England
to Australia.
|
| 16AUG34 |
Woods
flew the Vega from Hanworth to Heston and Rotterdam where the engine was
to be overhauled and a new propellor fitted by KLM at Waalhaven.
|
| 14SEP34 |
The Vega
returned to Heston.
|
| 20OCT34 |
The Vega
positioned from Heston to Mildenhall to join the Centenary Air Race. It
departed Mildenhall at 0639 crewed by Jimmy Woods and Don Bennett and carrying
the race number 36. (Australian D.C.T. Bennett later founded the famed "Pathfinder
Force" and eventually rose to the rank of Air Vice-Marshal.) The Vega was
named "Puck" in honour of the late Hugh "Puck" Grosvenor, Aide-de-Camp to
the South Australian Governor and a personal friend of Horrie Miller. The
Vega flew from Mildenhall to Marseilles, Rome and Athens where it overnighted.
|
| 21OCT34 |
Departed
Athens for Aleppo, Syria where the Vega landed heavily collapsing the undercarriage
and overturning. Although injured, both pilots walked away from the wreck.
With no hope of completing the race, Bennett returned to the U.K. and Woods
stayed with the aircraft pending receipt of funds to ship it to Australia.
|
| JAN35 |
The Vega
arrived at Fremantle, W.A. and was trucked to the MacRobertson Miller Aviation
Company's workshops at Maylands Aerodrome in Perth for repairs which lasted
eight months.
|
| 22AUG35 |
The Vega
was test-flown at Maylands, W.A. by Horrie Miller. As the Vega was not a
British aircraft, there ensued a long dispute regarding the aeroplane's
CofA. In the interim, the Vega was approved to operate under its British
CofA.
|
| 05OCT35 |
Capt Woods
flew the Vega in the Perth Aerial Derby beating an RAAF Hawker Demon!
|
| 13OCT35 |
The Vega
departed Perth for Adelaide via Kalgoorlie, Forrest and Ceduna under the
command of Capt Woods on its first commercial service.
|
| 20OCT35 |
The Vega
departed Adelaide on its return flight but was delayed for two days at Forrest
while the airstrip dried out.
|
| 19JUN36 |
The Vega
was test flown by Horrie Miller prior to formal issue of an Australian CofA.
|
| 23JUN36 |
Registered
VH-UVK to H.C. Miller of Perth, W.A. (CofR No 540). (Horrie Miller had earlier
requested the registration VH-BGK to minimise repainting but his request
was denied.) The Vega was used for charter flights and for communications
between MMA bases at Perth and Adelaide. It was occasionally used to pickup
mails from delayed flights.
|
| 05OCT36 |
The Vega
flew from Perth to Adelaide, returning on October 9th.
|
| 14OCT36 |
The Vega
operated a charter flight to Kalgoorlie.
|
| 17NOV36 |
The Vega
operated a charter flight from Kalgoorlie to Adelaide, returning to Perth
three days later.
|
| 09JAN38 |
Horrie
Miller flew the Vega in the Aerial Derby at Maylands.
|
| 05MAY38 |
Horrie
Miller flew the Vega to the newly built RAAF Base at Bullsbrook (later RAAF
Pearce).
|
| 10NOV38 |
Capt Woods
flew the Vega to Darwin returning three days later.
|
| 13APR40 |
The Vega
spent the day joyriding.
|
| 02JUN41 |
Horrie
Miller flew the Vega to Geraldton, returning the following day. This was
the aircraft's first long distance flight since returning from Darwin in
November 1938, the aeroplane having been hangared for much of this time.
|
| AUG41 |
MMA applied
to have the Vega included on their airline licence as wartime impressments
by the RAAF had depleted the MMA fleet. However, the Vega was destined never
to enter airline service with MMA, for it too was about to be impressed.
|
| NOV41 |
The Vega
was taken over by the RAAF under Impressment Requisition No 9020. Prior
to being released to the RAAF, the Vega was given a CofA overhaul by MMA
at Maylands. At this stage, the aeroplane had only 246 hours in its logbook.
|
| 11NOV41 |
The Vega
was ferried from Perth to Laverton, Victoria where it was accepted by the
RAAF at No 1 Aircraft Depot.
|
| 12NOV41 |
The Vega
came on charge to the RAAF as A42-1. It was painted in camouflage and issued
to Northern Area HQ to whom it was delivered in late December.
|
| 17JUN42 |
The Vega
ground-looped on landing at Cairns, Queensland and incurred serious wing
damage. The aircraft was trucked to Townsville where it was stored by No
24 Squadron and later by No 33 squadron.
|
| 12OCT42 |
Received
by Aircrafts Pty Ltd at Archerfield, Brisbane for repair under contract
to the RAAF.
|
| 10NOV43 |
Repairs
were completed.
|
| 24NOV43 |
The Vega
was issued to No 3 Communications Unit.
|
| 09MAR44 |
The Vega
was issued to the Department of Civil Aviation for disposal having been
declared surplus by the RAAF. DCA had intended to issue the aeroplane to
Ansett Airways, but as a result of reports by RAAF pilots that the Vega
had longitudinal instability problems, the DCA decided that the aeroplane
should remain in storage with 3CU at Mascot.
|
| OCT44 |
The Vega
was still stored at 3CU awaiting a new engine and other maintenance. DCA
recommended to the RAAF that the aeroplane be scrapped.
|
| 28AUG45 |
Butler
Air Transport expressed interest in acquiring the Vega from DCA.
|
| 17SEP45 |
Conversion
to components approved.
|
| 12OCT45 |
The Vega
was allotted to No 2 CRD at Richmond, New South Wales for conversion to
components. The aeroplane was dismantled at Mascot and trucked to Richmond.
|
| 15OCT45 |
Capt James
Woods advised DCA that he wished to purchase the Vega. DCA replied that
the Vega was to be scrapped because of instability problems. This action
was protested by Capt Woods who indicated that he had flown the aeroplane
more than anyone else in Australia and was fully aware of its capabilities.
DCA replied that they would not renew the Vega's CofA. By this time, the
Vega had been chopped up with axes at Richmond RAAF Base. Thus ended the
career of Australia's only Lockheed Vega.
|
| 30JAN73 |
Horrie
Miller wrote to the Department of Defence in Canberra indicating that he
had no record of having received any acknowledgement of the military impressment
of the Vega nor was he ever compensated for the loss of the aircraft. Horrie
Miller's letter was evidently prompted by an erroneous report that the Vega
was held by the RAAF Museum at Point Cook! (It would appear, furthermore,
that the aeroplane was never offered back to Horrie Miller!)
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