Country of origin:

Australia

Description:

Three-engine commercial airliner

Power Plant:

(Mks 1 and 1F)

Three 108 kw (145 hp) de Havilland Gipsy Major 10 Mk 1 four-cylinder in-line air-cooled engines

Specifications:

History:

The de Havilland DHA-3 Drover was designed in the 1940s by the Australian section of the de Havilland Company as a simple, light but sturdy aircraft capable of carrying freight and passengers. The Drover was to replace the de Havilland DH.84 Dragon, which had been used throughout the country for some years, as a light feeder liner. A cantilever monoplane of all-metal construction with stressed skin covering, the Drover could accommodate six to eight passengers and a pilot.

The prototype VH-DHA (c/n 5001) was first flown on 23 January 1948 with the Company’s chief test pilot, Brian ‘Black Jack’ Walker, at the controls. During the certification tests, the only problem experienced was with the engine/propeller combination, so new crankshafts for the engines and new variable-pitch propellers were designed.

Production commenced at Bankstown, NSW, and 20 aircraft were built. Operators of the type included Qantas, TAA (later Australian Airlines), the Department of Health, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Bowden Air Transport, Murchison Air Charter (all in Australia); and Fiji Airways, Air Melanesiae and New Hebrides Airways.

One aircraft was shipped to the United Kingdom, although three were allocated British registrations, where it became G-APXX with Air Navigation and Training but did not enter service there. It later went to the Historic Aircraft Museum at Southend in Essex, and was later placed on display with the Second World War Aircraft Preservation Society.

The Qantas aircraft were operated in New Guinea for a short period for route development work but were not particularly successful in that region. In the mid 1950s TAA operated eleven, four of its original five aircraft, four on behalf of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Queensland, and three on behalf of the Northern Territory Medical Service.

There were a number of variants. These were the Mk 1, the original aircraft with 108 kw (145 hp) de Havilland Gypsy Major 10 Mk 2 engines with manual variable-pitch propellers and a maximum take-off weight of 2,948 kg (6,500 lb), some 14 being built; the Mk 1F with Fairey-Reed fixed-pitch propellers, some six being built and 11 being converted from Mk 1 configuration; Mk 2 with double-slotted rather than plain flaps for improved field performance, 14 being converted from Mk 1F configuration; Mk 3 with the 134 kw (180 hp) Lycoming O-360-A1A engines and Hartzell constant-speed propellers, seven being converted from the Mk 1F and Mk 2; the Mk 3A being the Mk 3 with 13 degrees dihedral tailplanes; and the Mk 3B with increased maximum take-off weight.

One Drover VH-PAB (c/n 5020) was converted for agricultural use in the 1960s by Pastoral Aviation, a discharge chute being installed in the door on the port side to dispense seeds in the Brigalow area of Queensland. This aircraft was later obtained by Hawker de Havilland and became part of its Historic Flight, becoming VH-DHM. It has been maintained and flown by the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) at its facility at Albion Park, NSW.

Drovers built were: VH-DHA (c/n 5001 – ex VH-CAU [ntu]), which crashed into the sea off Wewak, NG on 16 April 1952; VH-BMU (c/n 5002 – ex VH-CAT [ntu]), which went to the New Hebrides as VQ-FAD, and later became VP-PAD, crashed in 1966 at Tanna Island; VH-EBQ (c/n 5003) of Qantas which crashed on 16 July 1951 in the Huon Gulf near Lae, PNG; VH-DRA (c/n 5004) which went to New Hebrides Airways in 1967 as VP-PAG crashed at Sola on 30 November 1968; VH-EBR (c/n 5005) with Qantas, later with Fiji Airways as VQ-FAO, which force landed at Telau Island in August 1954; and VH-DRB (c/n 5006), later becoming VH-FDR, which crashed on take off at The Gommdah, QLD on 5 January 1966 and has been placed on display at the Queensland Air Museum at Caloundra.

VH-DRC (c/n 5007), which later became VH-FDS, operated with TAA and Murchison Air Charter, being written off at Trefoil Island in Tasmania in 1973. VH-EBS (c/n 5008) operated with Qantas, and later became VQ-FAQ with Fiji Airways, crashing near Nadi on 30 December 1955. VH-EBT (c/n 5009), which has had a number of owners over the years, later becoming VQ-FAP and VH-ADN, was airworthy with Bathurst Vintage Joy Flights for some years but in 2019 was exported to a museum in Florida, USA. VH-DRD (c/n 5010) with TAA crashed near Mooraberrie, QLD in January 1952. VH-DRE (c/n 5011), later operating with the registrations VH-FDT, VH-PAP and VH-EOO with TAA and New Hebrides Airways, was withdrawn from use in 1975.

VH-AZM (c/n 5012), later becoming VH-DRF and VH-FDU, with TAA, Royal Flying Doctor Service, Air Melanesiae, crashed at Kangaroo Island, SA on 23 May 1973 but was later restored and has been airworthy. VH-FDC (c/n 5013), with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, was withdrawn from service in 1969. VH-EAZ (c/n 5014), later becoming VH-EAS and G-APXX (ntu), was painted as VH-FDT in a museum in the United Kingdom. VQ-FAR (c/n 5015 – ex VH-EAY [ntu]) with Fiji Airways was withdrawn from service in October 1967. VQ-FAS (c/n 5016 – ex VH-EAX [ntu]), with Fiji Airways, later New Hebrides Airways, was withdrawn from use in 1967.

VH-AZN (c/n 5017) with the Northern Territory Medical Service crashed near Camooweal, QLD on 26 April 1957. VH-DRF (c/n 5018), later VH-AZS², operating with the Northern Territory Medical Service, Lindeman Aerial Services, Country Air Services, etc, was placed on display at Airworld, Wangaratta, VIC for some years but was later restored to airworthiness and based at Bathurst, NSW. VH-FDA (c/n 5019), with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, later operated with Hazair, Mercury Bay Aero Club (NZ), Drover Club (NZ), Barrier Airlines (NZ) and others as VH-UNK, VH-UMA, ZK-DDD and VH-FBC. In later years it has been in the collection of the Australian Aviation Museum at Bankstown, NSW. VH-AHZ (c/n 5020), registered initially to de Havilland, operating with New Hebrides Airways, Hazair, Pastoral Aviation, was registered as VQ-FAH, VP-PAE, VH-PAB and VH-DHM.

As noted, a number have survived. VH-FDR has been placed on display awaiting restoration at the Queensland Air Museum at Caloundra. One, painted as VH-DRD, has been mounted on a pole at Mt Isa, QLD in the colours of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Another, painted as VH-FDC, has also been mounted on a pole, this one at the old Alice Springs Airport, NT painted in Royal Flying Doctor Service colours. VH-FBC, which was stored for the Sydney Powerhouse Museum, NSW has been on display at the now defunct Australian Aviation Museum at Bankstown, NSW. Its status following the closure of the museum in 2018 is not known.