Just arriving from some crop dusting.

Used to tow gliders at Leeward Air Ranch

Heavy maintenance for this Piper.

Is operated as a glider tug. Doing a quick circuit here to warm the oil before undergoing a 100-hourly inspection.

W/o 2/3/99

This glider tug is normally based with the VMFG at Bacchus Marsh.

The Pawnee cockpit is rather basic - but then what else do you need for glider towing?

At the time of the photograph, VH-EVZ was still in the condition it was in when it arrived in Australia. It been on the register for five months. -EVZ had travelled the South Pacific, starting in New Zealand as ZK-BZL. It went to Fiji as VQ-FBB then to the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) as VP-PAI. Airframe corrosion saw it sold in Australia where it was refurbished. -EVZ was destroyed in a mid-air collision with a glider at Waikerie, South Australia when a glider flew into its towline. That glider and the Pawnee spun in but the glider under tow landed safety.

VH-SEO was sold in Malaysia as 9M-APO in April 1970.

This Piper Pawnee was built in the USA in 1963 and first Registered in Australia on the 17th. June 1963, currently owned by the Adelaide Soaring Club based at Gawler SA.

VH-FBI was registered in April 1964.

Ex VH-BAK, VH-COD was reregistered in September 1964. It remained current in 2017.

Destroyed in a hangar fire at Lake Keepit, New South Wales, on October 10, 1994. It was being operated as a glider tug.