ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 277405
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| Date: | Friday 15 March 1935 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Avro 594 Avian IIIA |
| Owner/operator: | Dr. B. Moore c/o The Rhodesian Aviation Co Ltd |
| Registration: | VP-YAC |
| MSN: | R3/CN/167 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Bulawayo, Matabeleland, Southern Rhodesia -
 Zimbabwe
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Bulawayo Airport, Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia |
| Victoria Falls Airport, Victoria Falls, Southern Rhodesia | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Little or no information is available |
c/no. R3/CN/167: Avro 594 Avian IIIA [slots] C of A 1589 issued 1.9.28 to Aeros Pty Ltd. Registered in South Africa as G-UAAT. Re-registered ZS-AAT to Johannesburg Light Aeroplane Club. Re-registered [C of R 23] 2nd Quarter of 1929 (=between 1.4.29 and 30.6.29) to Rhodesian Aviation Co, Bulawayo.
In the late 1920s visitors to the Victoria Falls could experience a new and breath-taking way to view the Falls - from the above. The short-lived Rhodesian Aviation Company was established with the aim of tapping the tourism potential of the Falls, operating commercial ‘flips’ from June 1929.
"The company was formally registered on 17th April, 1929, but owing to a serious delay in the delivery of the ‘Bluebird’, the commencement of flying operations had perforce to be postponed... [As] a considerable amount of potential business was being lost, a second-hand Avro Avian aircraft [VP-YAC] was purchased... on 13th June, and was immediately flown up to Livingstone, where it was put to work operating ‘flips’ over the Victoria Falls.”
The pilot, Captain Benjamin Roxburgh-Smith, was a pilot of some experience with a distinguished flying record during the First World War.
"Captain B Roxburgh-Smith, DFC, Salisbury's Aerodrome Superintendent, was granted a commission in the Royal Flying Corps in 1916. He served in France in two famous single-seater fighting Squadrons (Nos 60 and 74), and brought down twenty-three enemy aircraft. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, later a Bar to his DFC, and the Belgian Croix de Guerre. He came to Rhodesia in 1920 and settled in the Gwelo district. In 1927 he acquired the first 'B' licence issued by the South African Civil Air Board in order to join the Aerial Survey Expedition operating in the Copper Belt, Northern Rhodesia. In 1929, backed by Sir Alan Cobham, he started the Rhodesian Aviation Company in Bulawayo, and was the first pilot to commercialise flying at the Victoria Falls, thus giving hundreds of visitors the opportunity of seeing the Falls from the air in the season 1929 and 1930."
Re-registered VP-YAC 7.30 to Dr. B. Moore c/o The Rhodesian Aviation Co Ltd, Bulawayo, Matabeleland
Written off 15.3.35 when crashed on takeoff at Bulawayo, Matabeleland, Southern Rhodesia
Sources:
1. McAdam (1969) Early Birds in Central Africa, Rhodesia: http://www.rhodesia.nl/Aviation/early.htm
2. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/avian.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-UA.html
4. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-other-registers
5. https://www.tothevictoriafalls.com/vfpages/tourism/aviationadventures.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Apr-2022 03:32 | Ron Averes | Added |
| 18-Nov-2022 23:46 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
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