VH OJA off to a museum
 

I wonder which museum the old girl will go to?

Qantas? first Boeing 747-400 is going into retirement after 25 years of high-flying service | News.com.au

HARS
 

HARS at Albion Park.

Where the hell do you stash a B744 at Albion Park? :suspect:

...is HARS taking over the old RPT apron?

Surely you'd send it Longreach?

Either is better than VCV

It's a Qantas Aircraft.
It's a Qantas Museum at Longreach.
The damn Aircraft even has LONGREACH painted on the side!!

It should be put there.

Don't forget the politics ... :cool:

ACMS

You've asked Longreach if they want it?

HARS first choice, unless it can't be operationally done. Nowra as a backup. Longreach already has a 747

The Qantas Founders Museum is an entity independent of Qantas, managed by it's own Board and supported by Qantas and other airlines and individuals.

Put where at Longreach?? :confused: There is already a B742, B707, PBY Catalina and DC3 at Longreach airport exposed to the weather and costing money to maintain. I understand a Lockheed Constellation may also be headed to Longreach in the future.

Where do you propose another 747 should be parked and who will pay the construction costs and continuing maintenance costs?

Indeed, can a 744 land at Longreach?

It may be an urban myth, but I understand parking the 742 at Longreach was the most cost effective solution for Qantas. Rumour has it they did not want the aircraft scrapped in Australia and parking at Longreach was far cheaper than flying it to the USA and parking in the desert.

Longreach doesn't have the room for it........and they really need to spend money for some cover over the 747, 707 and now the Connie to protect them from the elements.

At least it will get a lot of attention from HARS and will be well looked after. And a short drive from Sydney, rather than 2 hour flight from Brisbane.

Great for HARS and those in years to come who don't want to journey to the "back of beyond" to see one>>>

With a Connie/C-47/DC-4/B747/Cat at HARS they've duplicated Longreach..:D

Guys I got an email today from AUS BT saying that VH-OJA is going to the Mojave Desert but I can't give you the link here because I deleted the email and then emptied the trash box but check this link out anyway.

First delivered QANTAS 747-400 "VH-OJA" to be retired in December - Airline Hub Buzz | Airline news and Information

Cheers

Ozziekiwi

ozziekiwi

That report is dated 26 Nov. Things have changed since then.

TBM-Legend

Almost duplicated. No DC-4 at Longreach yet. That can be fixed if someone can convince Buffalo Joe McBryan to donate the former VH-EDB.

This makes me feel old. I can remember it landing at YSSY (then ASSY) - apparently with not much more than fumes in its tanks - in very heavy rain, after the direct flight from London with about 20 VIPs on board. I seem to remember they cooked up a special batch of avtur to give them slightly better range.

Yes, at MLW! (just)

So why can't Longreach wack down some concrete and bobs ya uncle.

Yes if a 747-200 can land there then a 400 could as well.

So what if they already have a 747 707 etc, it is a museum dedicated to Qantas and they also should source an F27 DC9 and 727 to complete a nice set of Aussie heavy metal ( well apart from the F27 !! )

It's only money...:ouch:

Have many of you been to Longreach? There's not exactly a lot of room left around the museum there...

Surely they could scramble up a company willing to donate some concrete to expand their hard stands? Wouldn't need to be too thick as the Aircraft are quite light ( relatively speaking without fuel or pax or freight ) and don't move around much. The ground itself must be damn hard too.

Surely they would wet themselves over the prospect of a 400???

Maybe not??:(

25 years, 106,000 hours, 13,800 cycles.

Sounds like they got their moneys worth out of her :ok:

ACMS,
There physically is no where around the museum to put it. Not unless they want to park it next to the threshold of Runway 03. Or put it well away from the museum.

The ground is not 'damn hard' either. They recently had to get a crane in to lift the nose of EBQ up so they could redo the concrete under the nose wheel, because it was sinking. Black soil country, just about anything will sink in it.

Personally I don't see what significance the 747-400 has over the 747-200. The -200 was the entry into the 'Jumbo' era, the -400 was simply just an upgrade.

morno

Read about that London-Sydney delivery flight.....

VH-OJA Boeing 747

as a survivor of vh nga (check it out) I an trying to work out the emotional attachment you guys have to a number?

Lifejackets

It's all to do with the magic of flight and the belief that an aeroplane is not just a machine but a living breathing thing that has a personality all its own. There's also a component of new isn't necessarily better.

Are you sure you're not an accountant - or a mathematician for that matter.

Rgds

Thanks for the great link cdc, and a little more about the day she arrived..




.

Just read a release from Longreach Museum on Facebook saying they will NOT be getting OJA but thankyou to all for showing interest in the Qantas founders museum.

The Aircraft is going to the HARS group at Albion Park.

It's now scheduled to operate an extra flight from LAX back to SYD on Dec 18th. QF 18

( it's already in LAX now sitting around I guess as that was supposed to be its last flight before going to Victorville )

My sources who have sources in the Qantas also point to HARS.:cool:

As a user of YWOL on an almost daily basis, attempting to land a 747-400 there would raise several significant issues.

The only runway it could conceivably use is 34/16, which is just over 1800m long and rated to 25 tonnes. It's 30m wide, with grass either side. It has a PAPI and a published GPS approach at either end. Nothing else.

I am not sure either the runway itself, or the turning bays at either end, are strong enough to suport the aircraft or to allow it to turn it around, under its own power or being towed. To remove the requirement to turn the aircraft around on the runway after landing it would have perform a full-stop landing to finish by the intersection, meaning only runway 16 is "in play", and one hell of a lot of reverse-thrust would be required. It will require an exemption for overweight operations as a "once-off".

I have doubts the taxiway to the HARS area would also suport the aircraft, since it was laid down in the days of YWOL being a 5.7t airport, although it does support Connie. (Not sure what the pavement-loading difference between the 747 and Connie landing-gear actually is. At least the 747 has a lot more tyres to spread the pressure over.)

So flying it there presents serious technical issues, but if anyone here has more detailed knowledge maybe they can shed more light on these matters.

If OJA comes to YWOL it may well do so on several large trucks, to be re-assembled in-situ. Information to hand via the council suggests it will occupy a large space between HARS and where the old restaurant used to be (where the Dash-8s of old used to park).

If it does come to YWOL, it will be a tourist drawcard indeed, and the HARS people will take good care of her. And, if someone does have the conjones to land it here, there will be an enthusiastic and numerous audience to witness what will be truly a once-in-a-lifetime sight, sound and experience.

If It's going to KMHV, so i will see it again soon, if I'm quick enough.

The scrappies are really chomping their way through the fleets of retired heavies there, and most days the sounds of the crashing thumping and grinding sounds of these once noble airframes as they succumb to the demolition machines is like they are crying out in their death throes, doing their best to resist, futile as that may be.

Its always a bit sad for me to see another 74 with its back broken, and the compactor pit awaiting the smaller chunks as they are torn off, dragged across the sand to be crushed.

I have some pics that I took last time I was there of a heavy being reduced to scrap, but cant get one to stick. from the air it was getting smaller by the day and was gone in a week or so, then the next one gets towed to the killing floor.

Week in week out.

I was there years ago when the place was covered in Ansett jets, and it was packed there after 9-11 and the commercial/bankruptcy fall out that followed that event.

whats left is a drop in the bucket compared to ten-fifteen years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RjaoR7Zk2s

youtube item is a bit long winded but there are some interesting things to see:

at 00:21 there is a 747 I saw chopped up earlier this year. It got smaller every day I flew.

at 01:01 and 4:58 is the ship from the movie waterworld which was filmed there ( not right there, it was on a concrete pan a few hundred meters away.). the Helio Courier from that film was at chino last I saw.

at 04:27 there are a couple of the remaining F-100's. I saw one of these fly away! it was headed for China lake.

04:38 is a couple of C-133's that have been there since the airport was active military base I believe.

04:42 the Gimli Glider, which now has the engines off I think,



I saw some Q jets at Victorville when I was there a some months ago. VCV is taking over as the main scrap yard. whilst some are there for short term storage, most await the huge jaws of the killing machines.

Sic Transit Gloria

HD

Errrm .... you do realise they took a 747-200 into Longreach, right ? Min fuel, stopped it on the runway and towed it to final parking position etc etc. Pretty sure if they can get EBQ into YLRE they can get OJA into YWOL

Last week there was alot of work going on at IRA, demolishing the remains of the burnt terminal and control tower complex.

Maybe cooincidence but it ties in here with the suggested location of OJA final resting place.

Wunwing

OJA to WOL
 

I guess WOL would not be a real problem, seeing that SAA flew two 747's into Rand Aerodrome in Jo'burg some years back. Even landed on the grass!
Welcome to The SAA Museum Society Search U Tube for the SP landing there.

Will certainly draw a crowd I expect :ok::ok::ok:

and the Flight plan.....

http://www.airwaysmuseum.com/general...-Australia.jpg

Wonderful to see such a donation by Qantas to an aviation museum.

The cynic in me thinks that no profitable disposal option had been secured. After all, a complete and operational 747-400 being delivered FOC is a rare event indeed.

Sometimes PR returns more than the cash gained from asset sales.

This could be the subject for a doctoral thesis. You've got a savant like Rainman, who could rattle off page after page of the phone book. And also happpened to know the air safety statistics for Qantas.

Then there was the Railwayman character, subject of a recent movie, whose knowledge of railway timetables was staggering.

But more ordinary brains do retain a mass of numbers relating to motor cars and aeroplane types. What really impresses is the way certain engineers and others knowledgeable about aero engines can retain the strings of numbers and letters pertaining to a particular engine.

Remember though, the good healthy minded aviator type will always be fascinated to know (and appreciate) certain vital staistics.

http://c8.alamy.com/comp/BB5PH2/lore...ith-BB5PH2.jpg

Capt David Massy Greene/VH OJA
 

Hey, Cap'n.
What do you think?

See you at Albion Park.

YWOL ... March 8

And managed to do quite a bit of damage to the fuselage in the process, having declined expert assistance, so I am told.

Tootle pip!!