City of Canberra (aircraft)


The City of Canberra is a Boeing 747-438 delivered to Qantas in 1989. During its delivery from the Boeing Everett Factory in the United States, it made a non-stop flight from London Heathrow to Sydney., this remains the longest non-stop un-refuelled delivery flight by an airliner.

Aircraft

The City of Canberra, registered VH-OJA, named after Australia's capital city, was the first Boeing 747-438 delivered to Qantas.. It was not modified for the flight in any way - such as by the installation of extra fuel tanks - but some items of equipment were removed from the galleys and cargo compartments to save weight.

Record-breaking flight

The 747-438 took 20 hours and 9 minutes to fly a distance of 9,720 nautical miles from London Heathrow to Sydney. The elapsed time was six minutes longer than the quickest non-stop England to Australia flight, which was made by an Avro Vulcan of the Royal Air Force in 1961. The City of Canberra set a record for the longest un-refuelled flight by a commercial aircraft, as the Vulcan was a military aircraft and had to be refuelled in flight several times while flying from RAF Scampton to RAAF Base Richmond near Sydney.

Subsequent service

City of Canberra remained in service with Qantas until January 2015, when it was retired as part of the draw-down of the airline's fleet of 747s. The last commercial flight was from Johannesburg to Sydney. It was subsequently donated to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society at the Illawarra Regional Airport via a delivery flight on 8 March 2015. Pilots trained on simulators for the landing and reduced the aircraft's weight including reducing the tyre pressure to 120 pounds per square inch from the typical 208, and carrying 25,400 litres of fuel, versus the maximum of 217,000 litres. The aircraft was placed on public display after a short period of decommissioning.

Namesakes

The City of Canberra name has also been carried by other first deliveries for Qantas, including two other Boeing 747s. The first Boeing 707-138 delivered in July 1959, the first Boeing 747-238 delivered in August 1971 and the first Boeing 747-338 delivered in November 1984, all carried the name.