Nose Section
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First flown at Hurn.
Delivered to Trans-Australia Airlines as VH-TVJ "John Forrest".
Arrived Essendon on delivery flight ex UK.
Entered service with TAA on eastern routes ex Melbourne. Overnighted Brisbane 12/13 July.
Damaged in a collision with a hangar at Launceston.
Struck machinery after running off the runway at Eagle Farm, Brisbane. The aircraft was out of service for approximately three weeks for repairs. The incident was reported in The Courier-Mail, Brisbane of 2 April 1958 as follows:
EAGLE FARM ALERT AS AIRLINER HITS BIG MACHINE
A T.A.A. Viscount shot off the end of the runway in an uncontrollable skid after it landed at Brisbane Airport yesterday. It ploughed 150 yards SIDEWAYS through swampy ground and crashed into a heavy steel bitumen-spreading machine. Airport fire engines dashed to the plane but it did not catch fire - and none of the 43 passengers and crew on board was injured. They escaped through emergency hatches in the sides of the aircraft.
Andy to fore
As they did so an engineer, Andy Logan, crawled into the three-feet high space between the aircraft's belly and the ground to force open an emergency hatch to disconnect batteries still pumping fuel to the turning engines. The crash impact was not sufficient to start automatic gear which immediately disconnects electrical circuits as a fire safeguard. Logan was one of a number of engineers who ran from the nearby T.A.A. maintenance hangar with hand fire extinguishers as the crash siren from the airport control tower screamed its warning.
Brakes fail
The aircraft, the John Forrest, with passengers from Melbourne and Sydney, went into the skid when its brakes failed as it landed in light rain on the eastern end of the field at 4.24pm. The crash into the bitumen-spreader spun the big plane around but it stopped the skid 50 yards from a six- feet deep gully.
The wrecked spreader
Tore a jagged two-foot hole in the aluminium skin under the aircraft's nose.
Smashed the nosewheel upwards until it was almost parallel with the ground.
Crumpled the port side wheels.
The spreader was being used in the construction of a new runway at the drome.
Big furrow
The tricycle undercarriage of the aircraft gouged furrows a foot deep through the marshy ground before it stopped. The passengers climbed down the gangways and crossed the marshy ground to a bus which took them the 300 yards to the T.A.A. terminal. The crew were - Captain W.F. Harris of Arnold Street, Holland Park; First Officer A. Philp of Main Street, Kangaroo Point; Hostesses N. Isles of Kensington, Sydney and J. Vickers of Brisbane. Extent of the damage to the £350,000 aircraft will not be known until this morning.
View a newspaper image of the accident.
Another newspaper reported the event under the headline: VISCOUNT HURTLES OFF RUNWAY IN GIANT SKID.
These cuttings were kindly supplied by Chris Davidson who was a passenger on the aircraft at age twelve.
Re-named "Ernest Giles".
Last flight (2 hours) ex Brisbane. Withdrawn from service at Eagle Farm, Brisbane. Total Time 28,961 hours. Total landings 20,502.
Moved into the TAA hangar at Eagle Farm where it was stripped of useful parts and TAA markings.
Stripping complete.
Scrapped by Non-Ferral Pty Ltd on the grassed area adjacent to Ford plant and to east of TAA hangars at Eagle Farm. Nose section sold to Les Arthur at Toowoomba for $800.00.
On 8th November 1994 Les Arthur advised that he sold the aircraft "about 8 years ago to Eddie Matthews for $300-350.00".
Sold by Eddie Matthews to the Gold Coast War Museum at Mudgeeraba and painted in spurious Navy colour scheme.
Purchased by QAM from the Gold Coast War Museum.
Trucked from Mudgeeraba to Caloundra.
The nose section is displayed with the nosewheel partially retracted to lower the centre of gravity and sill height.