The rugged Ford Trimotor, affectionately nicknamed the 'Tin Goose', was an ideal aircraft to operate in Australia and New Guinea. Four of these corrugated-skin, all-metal machines were seen in the skies of those countries during both peace and war. They became legendary for the exploration, rescue and transport tasks they performed, as did the men who flew them. Those Ford captains were called the 'heavy metal pilots', in deference to the many other wood and fabric aircraft operating in New Guinea during the era. In October 1935 two Pratt Whitney Wasp-engined Ford 5-A-T models, VH-UBI and VH-UTB, arrived for use by Guinea Airways Ltd in New Guinea. Aircraft engineer Eric Noble described them as "beautiful aeroplanes... On the back of the fuselage was a curved panel which could be lifted out to allow loading of bulky items."
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