City of Canberra, Qantas’ first Boeing 747-400-series airliner, registered VH-OJA, touches down at Sydney Airport, 2:19 p.m., local, 17 August 1989. QF7441 touched down at Sydney Airport at 2:19 p.m, local time (0419 UTC). As fuel was burned off the airliner gradually climbed higher for more efficiency, eventually reaching a maximum altitude of 45,100 feet (13,746.5 meters) by the time they had reached the west coast of Australia. (Unattributed)Īfter climbing to altitude they began the cruise portion of the flight at Flight Level 330 (33,000 feet or 10,058 meters). A Qantas Boeing 747-438 Longreach, VH-OJU, Lord Howe Island, leaves contrails across the sky. In the passenger cabin were two Flight Service Directors, FSD David Cohen and FSD Mal Callender, and eighteen passengers including senior executives from Qantas, Boeing, Shell as well as representatives of the Australian news media. The flight crew planned the engine start to allow for the mandatory three-minute warm-up and at approximately 0840 local, called the Tower, using the call sign Qantas 7441, and said that they were ready for takeoff. The airport fire department stood by as the excess fuel ran out of the tank vents. Once there, its fuel tanks were filled to overflow. On the morning of the flight, City of Canberra was towed to the Hold Short position for Runway 28 Right (28R) so as not to use any of the precious fuel while taxiing from the terminal. Rolls-Royce, manufacturer of the RB211-524G high-bypass turbofan engines, had agreed to specially select four engines to be installed on VH-OJA at the Boeing plant at Everett, Washington. Shell Germany refined 60,000 gallons (227,000 liters) of a special high-density jet fuel and delivered it to Heathrow. Although the airplane was complete and ready to enter passenger service on arrival at Sydney, certain special arrangements were made. Planning for the record setting flight began almost as soon as the airplane had been ordered. registration N6064P, it made its first flight at Seattle with Boeing’s test pilots on 3 July 1989. It was turned over to Qantas on 9 August. The new 747, the twelfth -400 built, with U.S. Qantas named the new airliner City of Canberra. at Longreach, Queensland, 2 November 1922. The company named these “Longreach” both to emphasize their very long range capabilities, but also as a commemoration of the first scheduled passenger flight of the Queensland and Northern Territories Aerial Services Ltd. VH-OJA was the first of four Boeing 747-400 airliners ordered by Qantas more than two years earlier. The motto, WE GO FURTHER has been painted on the fuselage in recognition of the new airliner’s distance record. (Qantas) Boeing 747-438 Longreach VH-OJA, City of Canberra, at Sydney, Australia, August 1989. Back row, left to right: Captain Ray Heiniger, Captain David Massey-Greene, Captain George Lindeman, Captain Rob Greenop. Front row, left to right: FSD David Cohen, FSD Mal Callender. This set a new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Distance ¹ and World Record for Speed Over a Recognized Course.² The crew of Qantas Flight 7741. The flight’s duration was 20 hours, 9 minutes, 5 seconds. The distance flown by the new 747 was 17,039.00 kilometers (10,587.54 miles) at an average speed of 845.58 kilometers per hour (525.42 miles per hour). Boeing Training Captain Chet Chester was also aboard. Three other senior Qantas captains, Ray Heiniger, George Lindeman and Rob Greenop completed the flight deck crew. (Aero Icarus)ġ6–17 August 1989: On its delivery flight, Qantas’ first Boeing 747-438 Longreach airliner, VH-OJA, City of Canberra, was flown by Captain David Massey-Green from London Heathrow Airport, England (IATA: LHR, ICAO: EGLL) to Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, Australia (IATA: SYD, ICAO: YSSY), non-stop. Qantas’ Boeing 747-438 Longreach VH-OJA, City of Canberra.
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