VHCXK *
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| Type: | L-14-WF62 Super Electra |
| MSN: | 1443 |
| Previous Identities: | PK-AFQ |
| Subsequent Identities: | 44-83235 |
History:
| 38 | Construction completed at Burbank. |
| 24JUN38 | Delivered to KNILM by Lockheed and subsequently shipped to the Netherlands East Indies. |
| JUL38 | Registered PK-AFQ to KNILM. |
| FEB42 | Used with other KNILM aircraft on evacuation flights from the NEI to Australia in advance of the Japanese invasion. After escaping to Australia the aircraft was operated by KNILM under charter to the military. |
| 28MAR42 | Acquired from KNILM by the USAAF. Subsequently allocated ADAT call-sign VHCXK and operated by the 21st Troop Carrier Squadron based in Brisbane. |
| 07OCT42 | Crashed on landing at Rockhampton and completely destroyed by fire. Four crew and six passengers jumped through the flames to escape, all sustaining burns, some serious. Source states that the aircraft was being operated by the 22nd Troop Carrier Squadron. (Source: ORB, No 21 Operational Base Unit, Rockhampton) Some sources state that the aircraft crashed at Cooktown on 08OCT42 but this is evidently incorrect. |
| Statement by Major James O. Cobb [no date given - c. 1945] 1st Lt. James O. Cobb - Pilot - 22nd Troop Carrier Squadron (Cobb was previously with the 19th BG c. March 1942) "About October 5, I made a flight to Archer Field near Brisbane, Australia to pick up American and Australian officers and an assorted load of such items as bomb detonators and machine gun ammunition. On October 7, returning to my home base at Townsville, I was to land at Rockhampton to exchange mail. Upon attempting to land, the main gear of my Lockheed transport collapsed, due to what was later determined to be sabotage damage, and as a result of the ensuing crash the airplane burned to the ground and all of the ten people aboard were severely burned and had to be taken to a hospital conveniently located in that town. When I was released, about a month later, the move of the Division was almost completed, and the first airborne invasion (so far as we know) was already underway. I was immediately assigned to help in hauling what remained of the Division into New Guinea, taking my flights on the run which departed Townsville about six o’clock in the morning and returned about 1 o’clock in the afternoon, and as further treatment for the burns I received, I took my ultraviolet treatments at night." | |
| 20JUN44 | In a retrospective book-keeping exercise, the aircraft was formally taken on charge by the USAAF under the designation C-111-LO and allocated the serial number 44-83235. It should be noted that this serial was never carried on the aeroplane. |
| * The only Australian identity carried by this aeroplane was the radio call-sign VHCXK. It is presented here without a hyphen to distinguish it from an Australian civil registration as this aeroplane did not appear on the Australian Civil Register. |
| Issue | Date | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 28JUL21 |
Added
a statement by Major James Cobb thanks to Edward Rogers
and Bob Livingstone. See 07OCT42.
|
| 4 | 05FEB20 |
Corrected
the details of the crash in OCT42 thanks to Gordon Birkett.
|
| 3 | 03APR16 |
Refreshed
page layout with no change to data.
|
| 2 | 27AUG15 |
Added
two images thanks to Nigel Daw of the South Australian Aviation
Museum.
|
| 1 | 17FEB00 |
Original
issue.
|
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