In the early postwar years, the Department of Civil Aviation acquired four Douglas C-47 Dakota transports from military disposals to be converted into civil DC-3s. The DCA first registered their DC-3s using the initials of Ministers for Air and the two previous Directors-General before later moving their DC-3s into the Department’s reserved VH-CA_ (for ‘Civil Aviation’) registration block. The aircraft were:

Notes from Eric Read, DCA Examiner of Airmen and Airways Surveyor, held in the CAHS Archive reveal the story behind the re-registrations:

I can now relate how these aircraft [the DCA DC3s] had their registration letters changed to conform to the Civil Aviation, CA- series.

Group Captain Wiggins*, accompanied by the Minister for Civil Aviation, Sir Thomas White, were taxying at Mascot in a Qantas ‘Connie’ to attend a conference in New Zealand. VH-ASD was on the tarmac and ‘Stiffy’ drew the Minister’s attention to it, remarking "That is the first of our fleet."

"What do the letters ASD stand for?" asked the Minister. When told, the Minister issued a directive on the spot, saying that no aircraft in his Department would carry the initials of the Leader of the Opposition. VH-ASD became CAN, and so on with the remainder of the DC-3s and subsequent aircraft purchased by the Department.

* Group Captain Carn Scarlett ‘Stiffy’ Wiggins, Director of Air Navigation and Safety c.1947.

Click on the images below to see photos of the Department's DC-3s:

< VH-AGU
(wet leased for MLS trials)

Flight Survey station >