Aaah - de Havilland!

[India Four Two]

Shamelessly lifted from the Kiwi Pilots FB site:

”A gaggle of Rapides at Milford Sound 1966”

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmforum.com-vbulletin/2000x1325/036309de_a7d3_445a_8da8_cbc35e003c42_9241b7c107d9b895c262c77 14fbabb60d2c596ad.jpeg

Mitre Peak in the background.

[Rosevidney1]

A charming scene.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Elsewhere in New Zealand...

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmforum.com-vbulletin/1024x866/1024px_de_havilland_dh86_express_zk_aeg_over_dunedin_2c_nz_8 6ab888f7e7d3b7bba36dd596b89257b9f8debf7.jpg

[India Four Two]

120 miles southeast of my photo?

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Yeah, something like that.

It's a real pity that none of those DH86 Express airliners survived. The last NZ example was cut-up for scrap and the flamable parts burnt in a pyre not long after the end of WWII.

I believe no other examples survived anywhere in the world either.

[India Four Two]

I only looked at the photo on my phone and hadn't noticed the four engines. Yes, such a shame that none survive.

[treadigraph]

The last DH-86 Express was owned by The Hampshire Aeroplane Club and was abandoned in Spain after a landing mishap in 1958; it languished there for a while before presumably being scrapped.

[oxenos]

DH 86 looked pretty, as did all DH aircraft, but it had an appalling safety record.