R T Fishall Posted May 23 Posted May 23 With the Comet underway I suddenly had a moment where I realised a build I’d fancied for a while would fit in here. So, despite common sense telling me to try not to have too many builds on the go at once, it’s time for another de Havilland product and another civil build. I read Stuart McKay’s de Havilland DH.60 Moth ‘The World's first successful light aeroplane’ the other year. One of the aircraft mentioned was G-AUGM (later VH-UGM) which was described as being operated by The Church of England in a fetching silver scheme with purple struts. It was used in New South Wales to help the Rector of Wilcannia traverse his vast parish. This rather took my fancy and got earmarked for a potential build scheme. A quick search revealed that the original pilot of G-AUGM, the Rev. Len Daniels, had actually written a book on his time flying her, Far West. Long out of print but fortunately Kerry Medway had, after his death, decided the story still needed to be told. The result was Wings Over Wilcannia, a copy of which I was able to pick up for less than a fiver. This reprinted Far West with some additional commentary and a wide selection of photographs, including a great number of the Moth. I’ll intersperse titbits from this with the build. I’m working with an Amodel DH 60 C kit which in theory should be better than the old Frog Moth kit (I mean it’s got an actual interior so that’s a start!). I’ve built an Amodel biplane before so I know what I’m letting myself in for; we’ll see if it proves to be an easier build than the Frog or not... This is what we get in the box. Quite a lot of those parts are going to be spare because they’re for other Moth variants. The decals in the box are for the Shuttleworth Collection’s G-EBLV. As, strangely enough, no decals of G-AUGM or her later VH-UGM incarnation appear to have been released, I’ll be trying my hand at masking the code letters and home made decals for the “Church of England” and “Far West” markings she also carried. As a quick starter to help watch over the build I’ve delved back into my pack of Dapol railway figures and roughly adapted one to make a figure of the Rev. Daniels based on photos in the book. Despite the heat of the region he is always depicted in dog collar and jacket; presumably even in the outback the clergy have standards to adhere to. One thing I did notice is that the dog collars seemed larger than I’ve seen before; possibly in Australia they were made larger and less tight fitting to avoid broiling their wearers or, since I’m unfamiliar with clerical couture, either now or in the 1920’s/30’s, possibly this was just the fashion of the day. So here's the Rev. Len Daniels, depicted here with a non-Australian Gipsy Moth courtesy of last year’s Frog GB. Right, time to get cracking with the Moth itself! Cheers, Richard. 13
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted May 23 Posted May 23 Welcome Richard should make for a good looking build. 1
Andwil Posted May 24 Posted May 24 3 hours ago, R T Fishall said: Despite the heat of the region It can get pretty cold in the winter though. AW 1
TonyTiger91 Posted May 24 Posted May 24 This is a fascinating topic for a build 👍 Hope that I can pull up a seat and enjoy. Good luck with the build Tony 1
R T Fishall Posted May 27 Author Posted May 27 Did I mention an interior? And that's about all you'll be able to see of it... A photo of G-AUGM with it's doors down show the interior colour of the doors being darker than the silver dope of the fuselage. Because de Havilland seemed to do light grey interiors as their standard I'd chosen to do it in a neutral grey, a little darker than the silver dope but not too dark. I've now taken a closer look at some other pictures and in one the interior looks almost black. Might need a quick repaint with something darker. It's quite a nice interior; the only possible issue is that they only provide a single control stick; not a problem in this case as you'd assume the Reverend wouldn't normally permit his passengers to 'give it a whirl' but if you were building it as a trainer with dual controls it might need perhaps 10 seconds of work with some plastic rod to add a second. I've just realised that the tape seatbelts I painted up are sitting on the desk next to me rather than inside the closed up fuselage. Ah well, I'll just have to try and add them through the cockpit openings. I got excited and rushed on, closing up the fuselage, adding the lower wings and tail assembly. You might notice I've also drilled out little 'dips' to locate the wing stuts in more easily; I've also pre-drilled holes for the rigging. Got that interior rework to do now but hopefully once I've done that I can pop some foam in the cockpit openings and get some silver on the exterior. On 24/05/2025 at 01:29, Andwil said: It can get pretty cold in the winter though. Fair point. That said, Len Daniels, being English born and bred, seemed to note the heat a lot more than the cold! He said that on being first driven to his parish by his Bishop; "Bishop Anderson looked tired after the gruelling day of travelling in a temperature well over 100 degrees". That's fahrenheit, which I think that would be in the high 30's celsius? On 24/05/2025 at 00:48, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: should make for a good looking build Thanks Dennis; that will be because de Havilland did a fine line in beautiful aircraft! 7 hours ago, 81-er said: That's a fantastic thread title Thanks James! On 24/05/2025 at 04:22, TonyTiger91 said: This is a fascinating topic for a build Thanks, but be warned; here be History! Born on 8 November 1891 in Bitterne (just outside Southampton) in England Len Daniels originally trained as a teacher and was working in this occupation at Andover Grammar School when the first world war broke out; he enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment and went to India. In India the opportunity to join the recently founded RAF came up and he was, against the advice of his CO, transferred. After some initial training in India he was then sent to Egypt for flying training, learning to fly in a DH.6. The war appears to have finished before he completed his training but I presume he did complete it prior to demobilisation as while he mentions referesher and familiarisation training he doesn’t mention needing to obtain a licence. Before demobilisation he says the unit Padre convinced him to apply for the Anglican Ministry and, on his return to England, he entered Salisbury Theological College. He was ordained in 1920 and because a Curate in Woking. This work was interrupted by a brief spell as a chaplain to troops sailing for India. It appears this sparked a desire for travel as he couldn’t settle back into clerical life in Woking. He requested an oversea’s posting and, of the options offered, he accepted the Parish of Wilcannia in the Far West region of New South Wales, occupying the corner where it meets Queensland and South Australia. He sailed for Australia aboard the S.S. Balranald and arrived in Sydney Harbour at dawn on Christmas Day 1922. He was met by the Rev. Sydney Kirkby, the Organising Secretary of the Bush Church Aid Society, which still exists today, and which supported the Parish. He then caught the train to Hay where he met the Bishop of Riverina. The bishop then drove him for two days across the outback to reach his parish, crossing “an immense treeless plain without a bush or building in sight”, passing through a handful of settlements, spending the night at a grazier's homestead, getting stuck in sandhills, working themselves free and finally reaching the River Darling and Wilcannia at sunset on the second day. As he said “The “far west” adventure had begun." Cheers, Richard. 12
Andwil Posted May 27 Posted May 27 1 hour ago, R T Fishall said: That's fahrenheit, which I think that would be in the high 30's celsius? Yep, about 38C. Mind you out there it can get into the low 40s 🥵 The Moth is coming along nicely. AW 1
81-er Posted May 28 Posted May 28 Nice progress on the Moth, Richard, and it's nice to see some history of the man who flew it James 1
CliffB Posted May 30 Posted May 30 This definitely does look like an improvement over the old FROG kit. What a nice project 👍 1
R T Fishall Posted June 29 Author Posted June 29 Right, overdue an update here! So, the Moth was coming together nicely when I spent part of an enjoyable holiday doing serious reading of Wings Over Wilcannia. And I spotted an issue. The Cirrus Moth provided by AModel has, like G-EBLV, a cover over the top of the Cirrus engine. In all of the photos of G-AUGM the top of the engine is exposed, there is no cover. First job. Hack off the top of the engine. Right. Now to find a way to reproduce the top of a Cirrus engine. I happen to have a rather nice 3D printed De Havilland Gypsy Major engine. I did wonder if I could get away with flipping it over, cutting off the surplus and just sticking it on. No go, the Gypsy Major has rocker boxes on the top of the engine whereas the Cirrus appears to just have everything exposed. But it did give me something to roughly work from. I remembered a tip I saw on here (I think it was @TEXANTOMCAT) that a bolt could represent an engine cylinder. A quick comparison with the 3D printed engine suggested that an M2 bolt would be about the right size. And so I cut four bolts down to size and drilled four holes. And there we go. Not perfect but I think it's a start to getting an approximation of an engine. Next I've got to work out how to get the rather spiky springy mess at the top of the engine represented... Separately a number of second hand books have popped their way through my letter box. So, who was Myrte Rose White and what does she have to do with these builds? https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/white-myrtle-rose-9078 Well, she was an author and No Roads Go By and Beyond the Western Rivers are autobiographical descriptions of her life on isolated stations in the outback from the 1910's through to the 1930's; the struggles to run the stations and raise a family in such remote and isolated conditions. Beyond the Western Rivers is set on the Wonnaminta Station in, you may have guessed, the Far West Region of NSW. So Myrte Rose White and her family were parishioners and friends of Len Daniels; and he, and G-AUGM, get a mention in Beyond the Western Rivers which I'll quote in full. “a strange hum coming out of the east drew all eyes skyward. A large silver bird rapidly grew in size as it swooped low over the drafting yards, rose again and passed on towards the station - an aeroplane! It was the first aeroplane the boys had seen, except in pictures. It came to rest on the plain near the blacksmith's shop, right at their own back door. They watched it with eyes that almost started from their heads, and then all hands urged the Boss to hurry for home. Many of the men, too, had not seen an acroplane before and could not reach the station fast enough to see at close quarters this new wonder of the age." "Our airman was the flying parson from Wilcannia, a Church of England clergyman with a parish larger than Great Britain. His wife, the daughter of a well known explorer, was with him. They spent several days with us; they were dear friends whom we loved to see when their duties or holidays brought them our way. The Little'un was taken up for a short flight that afternoon. She was the envy of two small boys, and, of course, many big ones, though some of the onlookers stated very decidedly that nothing on earth would induce them to risk their necks in that queer contraption. To trust oneself in that "contraption" certainly looked like tempting providence unduly, it was so small and frail in appearance, a veritable toy in comparison with the planes of later days. Although two small boys did not get a "fly" they at least gained a new interest in life and for the next few weeks worked overtime modelling weird and wonderful aeroplanes with sticks, strips of calico, and the office pot of glue. The only plane that pretended to fly was one constructed by the Man of Knowledge from a sheet of stiff foolscap. As well for me that I could not see into the distant future and know the part planes were to play in the lives of my sons. Our Sky Pilot friend had many adventures with his small plane. One very murky day the Man of Knowledge answered a ring on the telephone. He was astounded to hear a voice ask, "Where am I?" "Well," answered the M. of K. facetiously, "I’ll be the mug where are you? The telephone ran through two boundary-riders' huts before it connected with Mount Arrow-smith Station, one of the Boss's group. The voice might have been speaking from any one of these three places. The Man of Knowledge thought it was an employee on the station trying to be funny, but it proved to be the Sky Pilot. He had left Tibooburra in a dust storm that had thickened to an alarming degree when he got up. Seeing, through a break in the storm, a claypan near a group of huts, he decided to come down and find out where he was, since all landmarks known to him had disappeared.” Now, there's something further. There's the line there; "As well for me that I could not see into the distant future and know the part planes were to play in the lives of my sons.". Later in the book she provides more details on this. "Early in 1940 both boys joined the R.A.A.F", then "the dread news that Garry was missing on that first fateful night when the Japanese entered the Kelantan River below Kota Bharu". Garry was Sergeant Garet Sidney White. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2133949 He was killed in action on 8 December 1941 flying in Hudson A16-19 of 1 Squadron RAAF. Which @Magpie22 has produced a superb model of in this very GB. So, in this GB we appear to have both the first aircraft Garry ever saw (which encounter quite possibly helped lead to his joining the RAAF) and that in which he was to meet his death some 10 years later. Might just be me but I find that rather remarkable as coincidences go. Cheers, Richard. 8 2
Magpie22 Posted June 30 Posted June 30 Great story, Richard. Amazing tie in between our models. That is one of the things that keeps me modelling: the story behind the model. Thanks for your research, I've copied that and added it to my notes on A16-19 and the 'Hudson Boys'. Peter. 1
R T Fishall Posted July 4 Author Posted July 4 I drilled 16 holes into either the bolts or the plastic piece on the starboard side of the engine (that I think must represent part of the ignition system?) and inserted lengths of stiff wire into them with a touch of CA to try and represent the various sticky up bits on top of the engine (technical term; I think they're the connecting rods, tappets and valves?) Anyway, it looks busy at least. I'm going to stop there as I'm sure trying to do anything more will just make things worse and I can't think of a way of easily reversing this right now. It might just about pass muster with some paint splashed around and viewed from a suitable distance (at least 10 feet...) Maybe don't look too closely. Ouch, too late! Some of the wires appear to have disappeared and been replaced by some sort of fiberous growth. No idea what has happened there but I suspect rogue CA has played a part somehow. At least some of this will hopefully be hidden by the exhaust... Quickly; distract everyone with a little more on the history behind this build. The Wilcannia parish, while centred on the town, covered a huge area; in the book Daniels mentions that when fund raising in England he would put up on a screen a map of his parish and then overlay it with a map of England to the same scale which would fit within the map of the parish! Despite the size this was a sparsely populated region, he notes that he had either 3000 or 5000 parishioners (confusingly he gives both figures!) spread across the area in various homesteads, stations and small villages. Some of the small settlements had once been larger mining towns but the mining boom had passed and there were a number of ‘ghost towns’. The first clergyman had arrived in the area in 1874 on horseback and in the early period horses, either ridden or hitched to a buggy, were the only way to travel around the parish. This changed when one Rawlings, an Oxford graduate, arrived with a bicycle and proceeded to cycle across the bush on his clerical business. Then motorised transport came on the scene with Rev. Hugh Linton (known as the ‘Fighting Parson' as he would go around challenging shearers to box with him) who bought a motorcycle to speed across the bush (although Daniels notes that “he usually arrived at his destination pushing the machine”). After the First World War Daniels’s predecessor, the Rev. Fred Harvey, drove a Model T Ford up from Sydney and it was this vehicle that awaited Len Daniels on his arrival in Wilcannia. He’d never driven a car before and so the locum tenens had to teach him. Part of this teaching involved a trip through the bush to the next town when it transpired that the radiator hadn’t been filled before the journey and they arrived in a “shower of steam and hot water”. It turned out that his instructor had himself only been driving for two weeks… On his first trip across country, to Tibooburra, around 200 miles from Wilcannia, he was accompanied, as a first timer, by a member of the local constabulary who assured him “if we come to a bad patch, I’ll take over as I know the tricks against getting bogged.” As soon as they hit an area where the road was boggy Daniels obediently passed over control to his experienced companion who promptly got them “stuck fast for twenty-two hours”. On arrival into Tibooburra after several days of travel the local churchwarden laconically greeted him with “You’re late”! He notes that it was on his return trip from Tibooburra that he first met Myrtle Rose White and her family. It appears that even today Tibooburra is subject to bad roads; apparently there is a sign on the outskirts of the town that tells you which of the local roads are open. Daniels subsequently grew more accomplished at bush driving but still had a number of incidents with the Ford, ranging from a broken petrol tank that lost him much of his precious fuel to one where he managed to drive it up a tree. But it was with the Ford that Daniels traversed his parish until in 1926 he was chosen by the Colonial and Continental Church Society (which effectively acted as a UK partner to the Bush Church Aid Society) as their “Australian Deputation” and he returned to the UK to spread word of the activities of the Church in the Australian bush. Now, in Wings over Wilcannia there’s a rather nice photo of G-AUGM parked up outside the ‘hanger’ constructed for it at the Wilcannia airstrip with a Model T Ford parked next to the ‘hanger’ (it’s referred to as a ‘hanger’ but because the DH Moth had folding wings I think it was pretty much a wooden box with doors, not much larger than an ISO container, so probably not matching most people’s mental image of a hanger…). Model T Ford? What’s this hidden away in a corner of the stash? Right scale, hopefully adaptable with a bit of work. I think a vignette might be in order somewhere down the line. Kit is an interesting one, two little sprues, one for the chassis, one for the body. Instructions on the back of the box. Should prove a fun little addition, fortunately at least it shouldn’t require much in the way of painting (Any colour you like as long as it’s black?)... Cheers, Richard. 5 1
marvinneko Posted July 5 Posted July 5 Great story, Richard, and the connection between builds is cool. I'm digging into bushplane Canadiana and I'm delighted to read similar stories about our upside-down cousins It easy for people to not get the scale of just how big our countries are.
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