The aircraft then sat on the tarmac at Edinburgh some some months, and then on the 13th May 1981 the cargo door was refitted, and the holes in the instrument panel blanked off, and the machine was given a 75 minute test flight. On May 15th the Dakota made a 10 hour delivery flight to the R.A.A.F. Base at Pearce, where some of the radio gear specially fitted for this long distance flight was removed. On Kay 18th 1981 the Dakota made its last flight - from Pearce to Perth Airport - where it landed at 1400 hours, local time. The last flight was flown by Group Capt. Ron Green, the C.O. of A.R.D.U. at Edinburgh and also on board was Air Comm. Norman Ashworth, the C. O. of the Pearce base. On landing, the aircraft had flown a total of 12477.5 hours.

A brief handover ceremony was conducted on the tarmac at Perth Airport when Mr. Peter Shack M.H.R., on behalf of the Minister for Defence, officially handed over the aircraft and its log books, to Mr. Les Gordon, the then State President of the Association. The ceremony was well documented by all 3 TV channels, and the local newspapers.

Over the next few days, the outer wings were removed from the aircraft in the Ansett hanger, and the machine was then towed down the main runway and parked on the airport perimeter. On June 7th 1981, the Dakota was towed behind a prime mover, via Leach Highway to the A.F.A Aviation Museum at Bull Creek. The Dakota's wings were fitted that same day and it was placed in an open compound with the Lancaster aircraft, adjacent to the south wing of the Museum. With the completion of the Museum's north wing, the Dakota was moved inside that building on September 17th 1983.

Entries from log books

May 18th 1981 :
Final flight ex Pearce to Perth Airport, duration 70 minutes due to fly over of northern suburbs etc. Pilot was Group Capt. Ron Green, the C.O. of A.R.D.U. at Edinburgh. Issued with engines serial numbers 713 and 354886. Free to Air Force Association W.A. CAFTS responsibility for airworthiness ceased on landing. Auth HQ SCSE 50. QZ001 / S53A1 13061SZ

May 1981
Remarks on flight plan :
Prior to landing, special requirements ( T.V. Coverage ) for North to South fly past southern apron at 500 ft AGL, followed by 360 degree turn left at 500 ft, then turn left to join left base for duty runway. Time slot 0550 - 0600 Zulu. I.A.S. 110 Mach No. 0.19

Mick also supplied a walkaround of the airframe as it is currently displayed at AHMWA.
.
1. ADF Loop
2. Astrodome
3. Blade aerial mid fuselage
4. Cabin seats
5. Cargo door hinges and roundel
6. Cockpit interior
7. Douglas C-47 Dakota A65-124 'Flag Ship', Bull Creek, WA with ARDU zap (Aviation WA)
8. Emergency beacon and radio
9. Fuselage cargo doors
10. Pitot Tubes
11. Port Engine nacelle
12. Port nose
13. Port side exhaust.
14. Port side fin and ARDU badge
15. Port side front door
16. Port side inner wing and refuelling hose
17. Port Side nose showing name and serials
18. Port side undercariiage interior
19. Port side. Carb. Intake rear
20. Starboard Engine front
21. Starboard fin and ARDU Badge
22. Starboard front fuselage
23. Starboard Nose
24. Starboard rear engine nacelle and fuselage
25. Starboard view of Astrodome
26. Starboard view of upper fuselage Aerial
27. Tail light and radio aerial
28. Tail wheel rear
29. Vents and intakes under nose
30. Venturi tube, portside

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