Quote:
any ideas what the 'Old pioneer' was
Apologies, I omitted the date of the "Old Pioneer" crash which was September 1928 and their comment:
"….The machine was badly damaged, although the engine is o.k. Owing to the the heavy cost of freighting, the machine must now be written off. We are extremely disappointed, and will be heavy losers. We are anxious to return to Sydney to get another machine. …..."
Anderson & Hitchcock force landed their Westland Widgeon "Kookaburra" in the Tanami desert the following April, 1929 while looking for Charles Kingsford-Smith who had also force landed in the Southern Cross. They were not found in time and died of thirst.
It does seem to me that 'Old Pioneer' and 'Kookaburra' were therefore NOT one and the same! Or that they would have dispensed with the "Old Pioneer' name (which they were attached to) in favour of 'Kookaburra' which was a play on the registration letters AUKA!
There is a poignant photo
here of the downed aircraft …. apparently not found again 'til 1978 and - as you say - now at Alice Springs.
So what was 'Old Pioneer"?