These photographs show the Larkin Aircraft Supply Co. (Lasco) Lascoter monoplane (VH-UKT) during a journey from Melbourne Australia, to Charleville (Queensland) over the 13th and 14th of January 1933. The aircraft, which was scrapped during WWII, is notable as the first airliner designed and built in Australia to receive airworthiness certification. No other aircraft of this model were ever built. Also shown is a de Havilland DH.50 biplane (VH-UFK 'Bell Bird'), which the Lascoter was flown to Charleville to replace, as part of a routine change-over for the airplane used by Lasco on the aerial service that it operated between Camooweal and Daly Waters. This was flown back from Charleville to Melbourne the next day, on the 15th of Jan. 1933.
Three pupils of the Lasco School of Flying joined as passengers on the three-day round trip, each gaining experience at flying the Lascoter, which featured dual controls, alongside pilot Flight-Lieutenant Raymond W. Garrett. The passengers were Miss Kathleen Howell, Mr Ernest W. Capuano, and Mr J. Kemp. Kathleen Howell was known with her friend Jean Robertson for a number of widely reported motor car endurance feats in the 1920s and early 30s, including driving from Victoria to Darwin, and breaking the time record for driving from Perth to Adelaide in 1928. Ernest W. Capuano was a company director of the firm E. A. Machin and Co.. Pilot Raymond William Garrett later commanded an RAAF airbase at Mallala (South Australia) during WWII, he went on to become a politician in the Liberal party and served on the Victorian Legislative Council for eighteen years.
The flight was reported in some magazines as an example of the possibilities of air travel, whereby Mr Capuano was in one day able to eat his breakfast in Charleville and his dinner in Melbourne. A couple of these photographs were used in the articles.
These images were scanned from original prints, some of which were of different sizes resulting in different resolutions. Wherever there was writing on the other side of photographs, this was also scanned and those images are named with the prefix "underside_". This zip file contains all the scans, for easier downloading.
Some of the magazine articles, as well as documentation including Mr Capuano's notes and original flight logs for the journey, have also been scanned and uploaded at the following links:
Passenger Notes