Jackaroo Aircraft (Africa) (Pvt) Ltd.

Jackaroo Aircraft (Africa) (Pvt) Ltd.

Salisbury

Jackaroo Aircraft Ltd was formed in 1956 at Thruxton, Hampshire, to produce the Thruxton Jackaroo.

During World War II, a large number of de Havilland Tiger Moth planes were in surplus.  Jackaroo Aircraft undertook an ambitious conversion which involved widening the fuselage to seat four passengers in side-by-side pairs. Open cockpit and enclosed cabin variants were included in the 19 Thruxton Jackaroo conversions completed by the company in the period 1957-9.

First “production” conversion flew on 15 April 15 1957. In the early 1960’s the company became Paragon Aircraft Ltd. to produce a new plane under name of Paladin.

Contributors

• James Gavin

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