Bristol Freighter G-AIMC 'Merchant Venturer' New Zealand tour 1947

Wolseley 46 being unloaded/loaded from a B170 Bristol Freighter named 'Merchant Venturer' during a NZ tour. Photographed in Christchurch by Whites Aviation - Canterbury Aero Club field day Jul 1947.

The first B170 to be seen in NZ was G-AIMC 'Merchant Venturer' which arrived at Whenuapai in July 1947 on a Bristol sales drive. This aircraft was demonstrated to local operators and potential buyers during its visit, and carried the first Bristol freight operations across Cook Strait later that month.

Departing to Australia via Norfolk Island in August, G-AIMC was destroyed when its parking brake failed while on a steep strip in New Guinea in November 1947. Peter Lewis rnzaf.proboards,com