Qf B707 Vh-xba (vh-eba) (Monster Merge!)
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Passed through Longreach yesterday and heard they are gearing up for a December 16th arrival. From the looks of the work going on the 707 is going to be nosed in beside the 747 with a hangar or two having to be demolished to do so - looks like its going to be a fairly tight squeeze.
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Yes, to the east. I think that Queensland Helicopters are re-locating and their hangar being demolished but I am unsure about the Emergency services building. It looks as though too all the car ports around the Emergency services building have already been demolished.
Were the missed approaches planned or a consequence of the short runway. I have only been to SEN once (2001) and from memory the LDA is less than 1300 metres, short for even an empty B707.
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Planned indeed and aooreciated by the couple of hundred that had turned up for the flight. I do not know if anything took place today as it has been a filthy day with strong winds and heavy rain.
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more rumours
Well this may not come to pass, but there could even be a formation flight with a 744 and maybe another .....perhaps an older bird than the 707.
Would love to know when the confirmed YLRE date will be.
J
Would love to know when the confirmed YLRE date will be.
J
Rumour has it Qantas have acquired the ex Pan Am 747SP CLIPPER FLEETWING N538PA which will become VH-EAA, as neither of their 747SPs still exist. N538PA was the FAA test jet fuel tanker. The 747SP will head to Longreach when painting in Qantas colours is completed.
Qantas also want to retire an Aboriginal 747-300 VH-EBU next year to Longreach. A 747-400 is rumoured to be in the Sydney paint shop now to replace it.
Knowing Longreach airport, I don’t know where they are going to be parked unless a number of hangars and buildings are going to be demolished.
An Electra and a Connie would complete the Qantas collection of their aircraft for the past 50 years………???
Hopefully, these attractions will bolster the Longreach economy which has been devastated by drought for some years.
Qantas also want to retire an Aboriginal 747-300 VH-EBU next year to Longreach. A 747-400 is rumoured to be in the Sydney paint shop now to replace it.
Knowing Longreach airport, I don’t know where they are going to be parked unless a number of hangars and buildings are going to be demolished.
An Electra and a Connie would complete the Qantas collection of their aircraft for the past 50 years………???
Hopefully, these attractions will bolster the Longreach economy which has been devastated by drought for some years.
The 2 Rolls Royce powered B747-SPs that Qantas had were scrapped (sadly) within days of arrival at the Marama desert airfield. PanAm flew PW powered SP's which were considerably inferior in performance and range to the QF RR SP's. As there would be a number of time expired RB211-524-D4 engines available now, it may be possible to retrofit RR donks on an ex PanAm SP after it arrives in Longreach. Too complex to do prior to the aircraft being permantly grounded ( the engines rotate in opposite directions as well as many other technical differences) but the aircraft would look the goods esternally with the better donks fitted. The other option would be to try to get an RR SP that had previously been used by the Saudis.
The B707 that is coming is really significant as it is the very first B707-138 that Qantas purchased. John Travolta's aircraft is the last of the -138 models (the 13th that QF purchased). Subsequent B707s were -338s. The -138s were delivered with turbojet engines but were later retrofitted with turbofans.
I would love to see real aircraft such as the Connie and Electra represented at the Longreach Museum.
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No one is mentioning a DC4. They flew with QF from after the war to early 70s. There was one for sale recently in Brisbane, but if that one is not available, there are plenty more that could easily be raised to ferry status.
Not as nice as the Connie but still a nice aircraft.
Not as nice as the Connie but still a nice aircraft.
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And to further flesh out what a "dream" museum might look like, a 727, DC-9. Electra, F27 and Viscount. They really bought turbine powered travel to Australia's dometsic skies. Especially the B727. Remember the days when Australia led the world in standards and fleets? People like Sir Donald Anderson (DCA...remember?) and pilots like Frank Fischer (ex TAA) now sadly gone, and many of his ilk at Ansett and TAA should be remembered in any decent museum. And not a few current airline "managers" in Australia should be made to study their achievments and forced to sit in front of those exhibits for a while and meditate on how they compare....really dreaming now.
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What Tha??
'watching the Channel 9 news tonight-they had footage of VH-XBA flying in England.
It looks really impressive.
But what amazed me was the flypast.
It looked as though it was travelling about 200 feet off the ground/runway and going like the clackers !!!
Do they have different reg's in the UK for this sort of flying ??????
It looks really impressive.
But what amazed me was the flypast.
It looked as though it was travelling about 200 feet off the ground/runway and going like the clackers !!!
Do they have different reg's in the UK for this sort of flying ??????
Stubby,
Your on the money, the rules in UK are different. Doubleu whatever sound like a fine product of the “Australian Way”, forever thinking up tricky interpretations of “the law” to get around the fact that committing aviation in Australia is a strict liability criminal offence. When these highly imaginative but legally incompetent “opinions” hit a real court, they have a half life measured in milliseconds. Doubleu, old mate, stick with your day job, your “legal reasons” just ain’t.
Anybody remember the very first QF aircraft to visit Oshkosh, (very first Jumbo at Oshkosh), did a great flypast. All AOK with FAA. Some nark in the crowd ( we have very long memories) who was a Captain with an Australian domestic airline felt the need to file a 225 with the Department of Changing Names.
Can’t allow criminal law breakers to get a bit of great international publicity for an airline we domestic pilots heartily detest, can we. Different union as well.
The bureaucrats were suitably peeved at such wilful displays of international public lawlessness, without QF having got down on bended knees and asked contritely for their infinite blessing in advance. I really felt very sorry for the way the QF Captain was treated, including a demotion.
I hope this lot have a “CASA Display Approval”, E(X)BA is on the VH- register.
The poms are quite simply not so completely and totally anal about this sort of thing, it’s ONLY in Australia that pilots etc. are totally preoccupied with “the regulations”. Sad, really, a national psyche that says: “If it moves, regulate it”, where the most common aviation term seems to be “mandatory”, followed by “strict liability offence, ---- see s6.1 of the Criminal Code.”
Anybody remember the great flypast by a TAA B727 at Avalon, the year the display line was so far away from the crowd, you needed field glasses to see the aircraft. That Captain was retiring the following week, so “they” couldn’t shaft him. It was beautifully done.
Tootle pip!!
PS: The PanAm SPs had a better payload/range than the QF Rollers, the Pratt powered were almost 13 tonnes lighter than the SP38s, mostly engine and pylon weight, and a heavier QF interior. The TSFC for the Roller was barely enough to make up for the cost of the engine weight.
The only reason QF had a better completion rate was the fact that PanAm had to always have an alternate, and the limitations of the US re-dispatch rules.
Your on the money, the rules in UK are different. Doubleu whatever sound like a fine product of the “Australian Way”, forever thinking up tricky interpretations of “the law” to get around the fact that committing aviation in Australia is a strict liability criminal offence. When these highly imaginative but legally incompetent “opinions” hit a real court, they have a half life measured in milliseconds. Doubleu, old mate, stick with your day job, your “legal reasons” just ain’t.
Anybody remember the very first QF aircraft to visit Oshkosh, (very first Jumbo at Oshkosh), did a great flypast. All AOK with FAA. Some nark in the crowd ( we have very long memories) who was a Captain with an Australian domestic airline felt the need to file a 225 with the Department of Changing Names.
Can’t allow criminal law breakers to get a bit of great international publicity for an airline we domestic pilots heartily detest, can we. Different union as well.
The bureaucrats were suitably peeved at such wilful displays of international public lawlessness, without QF having got down on bended knees and asked contritely for their infinite blessing in advance. I really felt very sorry for the way the QF Captain was treated, including a demotion.
I hope this lot have a “CASA Display Approval”, E(X)BA is on the VH- register.
The poms are quite simply not so completely and totally anal about this sort of thing, it’s ONLY in Australia that pilots etc. are totally preoccupied with “the regulations”. Sad, really, a national psyche that says: “If it moves, regulate it”, where the most common aviation term seems to be “mandatory”, followed by “strict liability offence, ---- see s6.1 of the Criminal Code.”
Anybody remember the great flypast by a TAA B727 at Avalon, the year the display line was so far away from the crowd, you needed field glasses to see the aircraft. That Captain was retiring the following week, so “they” couldn’t shaft him. It was beautifully done.
Tootle pip!!
PS: The PanAm SPs had a better payload/range than the QF Rollers, the Pratt powered were almost 13 tonnes lighter than the SP38s, mostly engine and pylon weight, and a heavier QF interior. The TSFC for the Roller was barely enough to make up for the cost of the engine weight.
The only reason QF had a better completion rate was the fact that PanAm had to always have an alternate, and the limitations of the US re-dispatch rules.
In retrospect, the rumour about acquiring an ex Pan Am SP may be a furfy, although the 743 VH-EBU sounds a distinct possibility.
It looks like only one ex Qantas Lockheed L-188C Electra, VH-ECC, may still exist.
It looks like only one ex Qantas Lockheed L-188C Electra, VH-ECC, may still exist.
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The B707 Project Team as of today are now providing a flight following diary direct from the mouths of the crew bringing the old girl home (time permitting), through the public domain of our website.
Norm King, one of the engineers is our 'author'.
We tend to refer by nicknames, so this is who they are referring to when you read it:
'Muz', 'Ridgeback and 'Feebs' are the three Captains.
'Plucka' and 'H' are the two Flight Engineers.
Karen is the Flight Attendant.
Plus several engineers.
As previously advised Jeff Watson is on board compiling the documentary.
Click on the link to view daily up to date and factual progress.
http://www.707.adastron.com/flyhome/diary-3.htm
You can also go to:
http://www.707.adastron.com/qfm/qfm.htm
and click on Flight Following link.
Enjoy!
~ Tracey
Norm King, one of the engineers is our 'author'.
We tend to refer by nicknames, so this is who they are referring to when you read it:
'Muz', 'Ridgeback and 'Feebs' are the three Captains.
'Plucka' and 'H' are the two Flight Engineers.
Karen is the Flight Attendant.
Plus several engineers.
As previously advised Jeff Watson is on board compiling the documentary.
Click on the link to view daily up to date and factual progress.
http://www.707.adastron.com/flyhome/diary-3.htm
You can also go to:
http://www.707.adastron.com/qfm/qfm.htm
and click on Flight Following link.
Enjoy!
~ Tracey
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Thanks Tracey for the link with some very nice external pictures of her landing at Dublin and Tenerife. Are there any pictures of XBA's cockpit and cabin available for viewing?
Are there any pictures of XBA's cockpit and cabin available for viewing?