Return of the 777 (SIC)
Author: Seven Network | Mar 19, 2007, 16:27
A thrilling documentary exploring a momentous occasion in Australian aviation history will be jetting to Channel 7 on Wednesday, April 4 at 7.30pm.
Australia now has back the first Boeing produced for Qantas – and the first sold outside of the US – more than 47 years after it first arrived Down Under.
The 1959 Boeing 707-1318B – known as the City of Canberra – which flew the likes of Fred Astaire, Gregory Peck and Bob Hope to our shores, has been restored to its former glory following one of aviation’s most technical restoration projects.
The painstaking process is captured in Return of the 707 – an hour-long documentary airing on Channel 7, which takes us back to the beginning of jet travel in Australia and details the arduous restoration process of the 707-1318B.
The jet was the first in Australian aviation history, making international travel more accessible and halving the flying time.
More than 60 volunteers put in 15,000 hours to restore the plane to its former glory, a feat believed to be unmatched in aviation history.
The volunteers came from all over Australia – former engineers, pilots and crew, all sharing a consuming passion for aviation – and helped along by a $1million grant from the Australian Government.
They scoured the world for the rare spare parts needed to get the aircraft back to flight readiness after it lay idle for six years in an English airfield at Southend-on-Sea.
The aircraft was earmarked for scrap until it was spotted by the Qantas Foundation Memorial (QFM) and following negotiations with the previous owner, the plane was gifted to the QFM who undertook the mammoth restoration project.
The City of Canberra’s final journey back to Australia was a 35,000km, eight-day journey through Ireland, the Canary Islands, Bermuda, the United States and Fiji.
The tour included a stop to visit Hollywood actor and Qantas ambassador John Travolta, who owns and pilots the last Qantas 707 in the fleet, which is painted in the Qantas livery of the 1960s. The documentary shows the two aircraft in Florida for an historical meeting.
It will fly to its new home at the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach, Queensland at Easter.
“Return of the 707” airs on Channel 7 on Wednesday, April 4 at 7.30pm.
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Should be good - Well done Southend, my old stomping ground.