The famous Uiver was the very first DC to be exported. It was shipped from New York to Rotterdam where it was offloaded at Waalhaven airport for reassembly. After some searching for a bird name starting with U it was christened on 28 September. After its participation in the MacRobertson Air Race in October it crashed in Iraq on 20 December, just as the Fokker F.XVIII PH-AIS Snip, in the background, was crossing the Atlantic on its flight to the Dutch West Indies. The Fokker F.VIII with wing-mounted engines is PH-AEH, later PH-OTO. Photo from: Nationaal Archief (Netherlands)

An iconic photo showing the citizens of Albury towing Uiver out of the mud, allowing the KLM DC-2 to take off and finish in second place in the London to Melbourne Air Race. Pilots Parmentier and Moll had managed a hairy emergency landing on the local racecourse, lit by the headlights of private car owners, during the night. Photo from: Tropenmuseum

KLM's London to Melbourne Air Race adventure might very well have ended in disaster when Uiver got caught in a thunderstorm at night. Thanks to the townsfolk of Albury, the DC-2 was able to land safely, and here Captain Parmentier is seen taking off from the racecourse, leaving the rest of the crew and the payload behind. This was probably against the race rules but no one seems to have protested. Photo from: State Library Victoria

The two Dutch contenders in the London to Melbourne Air Race, the famous Uiver and the Pander S.4 PH-OST, seen at Schiphol before the start. Both aircraft flew to Mildenhall on 16 October 1934, with the KLM machine doing a 'normal service' to Croydon first. Photo from: KLM

KLM's Uiver took second place in the London to Melbourne Air Race, despite an emergency landing on the racecourse in Albury. This photo was almost certainly taken in Rome on the first day of the race. Photo from: Nationaal Archief (Netherlands)

This picture shows the original Douglas DC-2, PH-AJU, de "Uiver". An enormous crowd gathered at the airfield of Darmo, Surabaya. The plane made a stop over during its return flight from Australia to Holland after it participated in the Londen-Melbourne race. There are more than enough volunteers to push the DC-2 to its parking spot!

This picture shows the original Douglas DC-2, PH-AJU, de "Uiver". An enormous crowd gathered at the airfield of Darmo, Surabaya. The plane made a stop over during its return flight from Australia to Holland after it participated in the Londen-Melbourne race.

This is the genuine PH-AJU Uiver. After winning the handicap section of the Mildenhall to Melbourne air race, the aircraft made several goodwill flights before departing back to Batavia (Jakarta). In 1934, Cootamundra was a hub for air mail services from Europe, which is why it was one of the towns to receive a visit. PH-AJU crashed in poor weather near Rutbah Wells, Iraq, on December 20, 1934.