This is bit of an ambitious post on my part, though I'm no stranger to such posts...🙂...Thanks to this wonderful hobby of ours, I've never shied away from dabbling into the aviation of far-off lands, though myself been mostly a mid-westerner in U.S. The motivation is to appreciate this SIM's visual and geographical aspects, with some of which I am familiar from RW, and some I probably never will, plus the associated history. It's said that "geography and history go hand-in-hand" meaning that the two are deeply intertwined...one cannot exist without the other. You may read as much as you can on paper (or on-line), but there is no better way to trigger thoughts about the aviation of distant lands and bygone times, than via flights in our virtual world here, e.g., with an airplane that in the RW had once spoken for both geography and history of such places...

From the aviation perspective, I've been always fascinated by Qantas and Australia. Here is a country and "island continent" that we the rest of us sometimes refer to as "Down Under", primarily because it's located in the (remote) Southern Hemisphere, somewhere down there in the Indian Ocean...🙂...farthest from most of us i.e., farthest from most of the other countries in the globe. Imagine this, it takes ~3,000 miles to fly from London to New York City, but it would take a formidable ~10,000 miles (25% greater than the diameter of the Earth) to fly from London to Sidney. Therein also lies the roots of the history of Australian aviation. Undaunted by such astronomical distance separations, Australian aviation has been replete with remarkable milestones, since the infancy of aviation to the present day, including the stupendous feat of the (Australian) Smith Brothers, who, back in 1919, had won the England to Australia race. And through the golden age of travel and jet age, the competition especially between BOAC and Qantas over the Great Britain to Australia route has been one for the legends. 

I was checking today on FlightAware a bit for the flights of the week between Sydney and London. No, in spite of today's most ultra-modern ultra-haul jetliners of mankind, there is still no direct non-stop flight, that I could find from SYD to LHR, within the 10 flight options listed. Tomorrow/Monday, SIA is scheduled to operate (B777+A388) combo via Singapore (i.e., eastward across the globe) with (8hr + 1hr layover + 14.5hr) 23.5hrs total time, and today/Sunday, Qantas/BA (B789+A388) combo service is now en-route via San Francisco (i.e., westward across the globe) with (13.5hr + 2hr layover + 10.5hr) 26hrs total time. I was however heartened a bit to also read that, late next year (2025), Qantas will begin non-stop (SYD->LHR) service (dubbed "Project Sunrise"), covering 10,576 miles, in ~20 hours, using an A350-1000 (we'll see if mankind finally tames this insurmountable distance separation in one hop...🙂...). 

In the history of global transportation (by sea or air), Australia has been unsurprisingly hard to get to. In the late 19th century, the journey, on Clipper ships, from Great Britain to Australia took 70-100 days. In the early 20th century, with steam engines (and Suez Canal shortcut), the journey took about 40 days. In the 1950s, the Ocean liners could make the journey in about 25 days. I pause, here, the references to the sea-based voyages, at the 1950s, because there about the airliners such as Lockheed Constellations, ruled the air. Around that time, the stalwart a/c types that were vying for the top spot were the (Constellation, Britannia, Comet 4, VC 10, and B707). The 2 propliners fell by the side, and the rest is history...🙂...

In December 1947, Qantas started operating its first Constellation service, from Sydney to London (so-called Kangaroo Route), taking 59hrs, over 5 days, with 7 stops. Then, on October 4, 1958, BOAC and Comet 4, would change everything for oceanic travel with the first ever transatlantic jet flight between London and New York. Two weeks later, on October 26, 1958, Pan Am's Clipper America Boeing 707, responded to the BOAC/Comet challenge, by operating the first 707 transatlantic jet service from New York to Paris. Third in line, behind BOAC and Pan Am, the airline to operate oceanic jet service (also the first ever jet crossing of the almighty Pacific) would be not the likes of KLM, and Air France, and Lufthansa, but it was the forgotten Qantas. Qantas surprised the aviation world by being the first (non-US) 707 operator outside of America. 

In July 1959, Qantas heralded its own jet age, by flying the 707 from Sydney to San Francisco. With this remarkable milestone, the 707 not only helped Qantas join the rank of the top ultra-haul airlines of the day, but also let Qantas excel in such service, from thereon. Three months later, in November 1959, BOAC reciprocated by operating its own Comet 4 Jet service from London to Sydney, while at the same time wistfully coveting the B707, as it watched its EU rivals (increasingly) order and deploy the 707 which was rapidly overtaking its rivals in terms of reliability, economics, and performance. It will be 9 more years, in 1968, when BOAC would operate its own service from London to Sydney, with the 707, powered by Rolls Royce Conway engines.

The 707 you see below actually wore the Reg. ID (VH-EBA), as the very first 707-138 of Qantas (note, the "38" stands for Qantas), and holds a special place in Qantas aviation history. Later on, in 1979, Qantas would be the world's first and only airline of the time to operate an all Boeing 747 fleet, and its very first 747 (a 747-238), also had the Reg. ID (VH-EBA), identical to that of the Qantas' first 707. Here, below, instead, find my 747-8 with Reg. (VH-OEH), which ID was actually for the 4th 747-400 that was delivered to Qantas in 2003.

Sydney (YSSY) is the city, that has always played a crucial role in the history of Australian and Qantas Aviation. So, please find these 2 sets of iconic Boeing images, below, first, of the 748 lifting off from Rwy 34L of YSSY and touching down back into Rwy 16R. And then the 707 is lifting off in the opposite direction from Rwy 16R, southward into Botany Bay, evocating memories of that July 29 date of 1959, when Qantas had entered Jet age with its first 707 also lifting off Sydney Airport, on its way across the Pacific, towards San Francisco, and then onwards to London City. The Qantas flyer had shown a 707 flying atop a globe, with the slogan, "QANTAS NOW GIRDLES THE EARTH WITH 707 JETS"...Yes, all letters (proudly) bolded and capitalized...🙂...707 was about to set the standards of global jet travel...

Hope you enjoy this Qantas history recap, and my pictures set, below, as well...that might serve as a (nostalgic) mnemonic...for this bit of Qantas history...! 

Thanks for viewing...!

Nice set, thanks for showing !

Two very different AC's but both have four engines.. 🙃

cheers 😉

Fine set of shots!  Cheers,

Calum

Nice set of shots! 😉 

pm, Calum, Will, John, rmeier:

Thank you all for the responses…! Glad you liked these airliner pictures in the endearing Qantas colors…🙂…

 

Yes P7878 🙂, very nice shots of the 2 Quantas, also the B707 looks good...

On 11/11/2024 at 4:21 PM, andiflyit said:

Yes P7878 🙂, very nice shots of the 2 Quantas, also the B707 looks good...

Appreciated the feedback, Andreas...!