Aviation 10

T

he Boeing 747 was conceived in

the 1960s, its immense size and

long-range capability revolutionised

international travel, bringing

affordable air transport to the masses.

Australian airline Qantas was an early

adopter of the jumbo jet, placing its  rst order

for the type as early as 1967. Now, more than

50 years later, it’s preparing to bid farewell to

its longest serving airliner.

The genesis of the 747 in Australia can

be traced back to Qantas’ decision to acquire

Boeing 707s in the late 1950s. Historically,

the airline had been a long-term customer

of Douglas and Lockheed. By the 1950s

the piston-powered Lockheed Super

Constellations formed the backbone of its

long-haul  eet, while Douglas DC-4s plied

shorter routes from Australian state capital

cities into Asia and New Zealand.

Qantas was keen to enter the jet age.

Boeing’s advanced jet airliner was of great

interest to the airline, offering speed and

comfort bene ts for the long-distance travel

between Australia and overseas cities.

Britain’s de Havilland Comet 4 was never

a real consideration for the airline, as the

707 had superior characteristics over the

troubled Anglo jet. While Lockheed had no

commercial jet aircraft to speak of, Douglas

was pitching its innovative DC-8 jet as an

alternative to the 707.

David Crotty, the Curator of the Qantas

Heritage Collection, spoke to Aviation News

in August. Boeing’s willingness to work with

Qantas on a specialised variant of the 707

was a deal making move, he commented:

“Apart from its superior performance and

operating costs, the 707 ‘clincher’ for Qantas

was Boeing’s proposal to build the special

707-138. This allowed Qantas to operate the

aircraft from Nadi’s short runway, an important

stopover port within its network.” Nadi is in Fiji.

The selection of the Boeing allowed

Qantas to rapidly replace its piston-engine

 eet with advanced jetliners from July 1958.

In fact, Qantas was the  rst non-US Boeing

707 operator, placing it at the leading edge of

the jet age. The  rst 707-138 was registered

VH-EBA. The -138 series (38 being Qantas’

Boeing customer code) were built with a

shortened fuselage. When combined with

the standard fuel tanks, this gave the aircraft

the range required to allow efficient  ights

between Australia and the US, as well as

land on Paci c Island runways serviced by

the existing piston engine  eet.

Qantas’ batch of 13 707-138s were

supplemented by 707-338s from 1964. By

this stage, the jets had replaced the Super

Constellation on most of the airline’s long-

distance routes. Passengers quickly became

accustomed to fast and efficient jet travel,

with the 707 being the preferred aircraft for

international services to and from Australia.

However, from the mid-1960s, Qantas was

already looking towards a new concept of

widebody, long-haul jet aircraft.

BACKING THE QUEEN

In the 1960s Qantas became increasingly

interested in the high-capacity 747 under

Chris Frame explores the history of the Boeing 747 in service

with Qantas and reveals the legacy of the aircraft in Australia.

QANTAS BOE

THE LONG G

26 Aviation News incorporating Jets October 2018