Country of origin:

Australia

Description:

Three or five-seat commercial biplane

Power Plant:

One 90 kw (120 hp) de Havilland Gipsy Major I four-cylinder in-line air-cooled engine, or

One 90 kw (120 hp) de Havilland Gipsy II four-cylinder in-line air-cooled engines, or

One 86 kw (115 hp) Cirrus Hermes II four-cylinder in-line air-cooled engine

Specifications:

History:

The General Aircraft Company Ltd was formed in the late 1920s at Mascot, NSW, for the purpose of manufacturing a range of light aircraft of Australian design. Two designs were put into production, the Genairco Cabin and the Genairco Open. In the former, the pilot sat in an open cockpit aft of an enclosed cabin which contained four passengers, with entrance being gained via a door on the starboard side. In the ‘Open’ the two passengers sat side-by-side in the front cockpit, with the pilot also in an open cockpit behind them. It is believed that ten Genaircos were built, with the construction numbers 1, and 10 to 19, c/n 13 not being used.

A very sturdy aircraft, the Genairco, which had a similar configuration to the de Havilland DH.83 Fox Moth, had a variety of uses. The wings were equal-span single-bay biplane, and the top centre-section, which carried the fuel tank, was made of wood with fabric covering. Ailerons were fitted to the lower mainplanes only. The fuselage was of rectangular, wooden structure with plywood covering. The undercarriage was a cross-axle vee-type with rubber in compression springing.

Surprisingly enough, at least four of the Genaircos spent part of their existence on floats. VH-UOH (c/n 17) and VH-UOJ (c/n 18) were both registered to General Aircraft Company Ltd of Mascot in mid 1930 and were exported to Fiji in March 1933, where they were operated by Fiji Airways on subsidised airline routes. VH-UOH later became VQ-FAC and was eventually returned to Australia as VH-UUI. It then remained in Australia for many years until the late 1960s, when it was sold in the USA, where it was registered N240G. In late 1986 the aircraft was auctioned and was purchased by well known American aerobatic pilot and vintage aircraft collector, Kermit Weeks. It became part of his Fantasy of Flight Collection at Polk City in Florida. VH-UOJ became VQ-FAD, and later VH-UUK, but was destroyed in a fire at Cairns, QLD on 12 June 1937.

VH-URH (c/n 1 or TA-1) was a special seaplane variant. General Aircraft was taken over by Tugan Aircraft and this aircraft was noted as having the construction number Tugan c/n 1. It was built for Rabaul Airways, and was registered from 4 April 1934 to 3 April 1935 when the Certificate of Registration lapsed. In this short period it was found to be unsuitable for seaplane operations in New Guinea, so the aircraft was withdrawn from service and left to disintegrate.

VH-UNY (c/n 12) was powered by a Cirrus Hermes I engine. It was registered to General Aircraft Company on 6 May 1930, being sold to Adastra Airways Ltd in February 1931. It crashed at Mascot on 28 April 1933 and was rebuilt and fitted with floats in August 1933 for Rabaul Airways Syndicate of Rabaul, PNG. After a number of forced landings due to various problems, the aircraft hit a tree whilst landing near Rainau Plantation and was wrecked on 15 October 1933.

VH-UNC (c/n 10) was registered to General Aircraft on 20 December 1929. It entered service with Rockhampton Aerial Services Ltd in April 1930 but crashed near Rockhampton, QLD on 12 August 1932. It was rebuilt and entered service with F C Higginson and Company of Archerfield, QLD in February 1936, and in December that year was fitted with a 78 kw (105 hp) de Havilland Gipsy Mk III engine in lieu of the Cirrus Hermes. It then entered service with W Crouch of Cunamulla, QLD but crashed there on 18 November 1939. Ownership was transferred to E D Hill of Wyandra, QLD on 25 November 1939 but the Certificate of Registration lapsed in June 1941 and the aircraft was burnt at West Wyalong, NSW in February 1961.

VH-UNT (c/n 11) was registered to General Aircraft Company on 15 April 1930 and sold to Keith A Virtue of Lismore, NSW later that month. Ownership was transferred to New England Airways Ltd of Lismore in January 1931 but it crashed at Evans Head, NSW on 1 April 1934. Subsequent owners were T J Appleby of Brisbane, QLD and F E Biffin of Casino, NSW. Eventually it was rebuilt as VH-UZR in October 1939. It was damaged landing at Archerfield on 5 April 1940 and was sold to H Round of Wooloowin, QLD in July that year, being retired in May 1941.

VH-UOD (c/n 14), fitted with a de Havilland Gipsy III engine, was registered on 20 May 1930 to General Aircraft Company. Over the years it has had a variety of owners, including G J Moir of Sydney; Aero Club of NSW, later The Royal Aero Club of NSW; and E Macarthur-Onslow of Camden, NSW but was damaged at Yass, NSW on 12 February 1939. It was then sold in a dismantled condition to the College of Civil Aviation in Sydney. In June 1942 it was rebuilt with a 78 kw (105 hp) Gipsy III engine. Subsequent owners included D J Cleary of Camden, VJ Madsen of Rosebery, Australian Aeronautical Company of Mascot, Skyways Services of Auburn, NSW,Kingsford Smith Aviation Services, Coastal Aircraft Pty Ltd and others until 26 August 1962 when it was damaged at Camden. After further owners it was retired. It was later obtained by Charles Morris of Buderim, QLD and restored to airworthiness.

VH-UOF (c/n 15) was registered to General Aircraft Company on 2 June 1930 and was fitted with a Cirrus HermesII  engine. On 29 July that year it was sold to A T Cunningham of Queanbeyan, NSW. It was converted to single-seat configuration and was fitted with long-range fuel tanks. He attempted to fly it to the United Kingdom, leaving Mascot on 31 July 1930, arriving in Charleville, QLD, via Bourke, NSW, on the first day. He reached Wyndham, WA in five days. On 5 August 1930 he left Wyndham to fly the Timor Sea, eventually forced landing on the island of Flores due to fuel problems. As he landed on a swamp, native mats were used to make a runway and he continued the flight to Batavia on 12 September. At Singapore he made another forced landing, and another at Ramsee Island south of Akyab on 4 October 1930. There the aircraft was left, the flight being abandoned for financial reasons, and Cunningham returned to Australia on 28 October 1930 by the ship ‘Oronsay’.

The aircraft was later returned to Australia and placed in storage. On 20 August 1934 ownership was transferred to Tugan Aircraft Ltd. It then had a number of owners, including Macquarie Grove Flying & Glider School Pty Ltd of Camden, and E Macarthur-Onslow of Camden. It was destroyed by fire on 2 April 1947. Macquarie Grove at Camden operated three Genaircos, VH-UOS, VH-UOF and VH-UOG. Later the company had the wreck of VH-UOS in storage but, as it and VH-UOF were in poor condition, they were destroyed.

VH-UOS (c/n 19) was registered on 10 November 1930 to General Aircraft Company, making its first flight on 29 January 1931. Ownership was transferred on 22 June 1931 to N Stirling of Brisbane, and the registration was cancelled on 16 September 1931 as it was sold to New Caledonia but, as far as could be ascertained, it was never registered there. At some stage it was fitted with a Siemens Halske SH12 radial engine with which it achieved a maximum speed of 158 km/h (98 mph).  It was eventually retired.

VH-UOG (c/n 16) when built had a 78 kw/85 kw (105 hp/114 hp) Australian designed-and-built Harkness Hornet engine and was registered to General Aircraft Companycon 2 June 1930. However, it seems it was fitted with a 97 kw (130 hp) de Havilland Gipsy II engine in November that year and sold to S C Coleman of Bourke, NSW. Subsequent owners included Dr T J Henry of Manly, NSW, Goya Henry of North Sydney in October 1940, Macquarie Grove Flying & Glider School of Camden, W Campbell-Hicks of Condoblin, NSW, and L Berryman and O G Roche, both of Tottenham, NSW. It was retired in January 1964 and was eventually placed on display at Airworld Wangaratta, VIC. Following the demise of that museum it was sold and restoration was commenced to airworthiness by Roy Fox of Kellyville, NSW.