I flew in and out of EN for a few years with a couple of SAL (Supplemental Air Line-for those who either cant remember the older CAO 82 or wern't born yet!)companies: Promair and Flinders Island Airlines.
Promair operated 3 PA31s to EN, MB, KI, FLI, LT, DV and Welshpool. They also had a very sad C182 for VFR charters (mainly fish and fruit and vegies). They had a pirate NDB at Welshpool. I dont know if anyone ever used it (269 khz). The 3 Navajos reeked of crayfish.
Flinders Island Airlines had headquarters at MB but did the "Paper Run" for the
Herald and Weekly Times every afternoon. The route was EN-Swan Hill-Mildura-Ouyen-EN. It was a sackable offence to refer to the "Paper Run" as the Paper Run. I dont know why.
Everybody did as long as the boss wasn't around.
FIA had been around for about 40 years and had operated Beech18s and Ansons at one stage. The had the H&WT contract for most of this time until they went out of business in 1990.
Bob Bell at Stayward Air in Warnambool operated a PA31 (VH-SOW) on the WBL-EN-WBL run 2 x daily. This was bought out by FIA who operated EN-Warnambool-Hamilton and also EN-Stawell-Horsham for a while. VH-SOW had been landed gear-up at some stage and the rebuild was a bit odd: one engine nacelle pointed down and the other one up! Strangely, the aircraft flew straight so it must have been bent somewhere else in the airframe as well.
Photos: Beech D18S Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net