30 years ago on August 16, 1989, VH-OJA set the record for what was then the world's longest commercial flight departing LHR and touching down in SYD 20hrs and 9min later.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-17/ ... t/11413346
http://www.traveller.com.au/how-a-qanta ... 989-h0y0y4
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- GalaxyFlyer
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Re: 30th anniversary of Qantas LHR-SYD 747 record flight
It wasn’t commercial, it was a delivery flight with all sorts of unique features—special high density load of fuel, almost no stores or delivery shipment, few passengers. Shell actually found a batch of jet fuel of exceptional density to ensure a full load, towed to runway end at LHR (!) and made it.
GF
GF
Re: 30th anniversary of Qantas LHR-SYD 747 record flight
GalaxyFlyer wrote:It wasn’t commercial, it was a delivery flight with all sorts of unique features—special high density load of fuel, almost no stores or delivery shipment, few passengers. Shell actually found a batch of jet fuel of exceptional density to ensure a full load, towed to runway end at LHR (!) and made it.
GF
Thanks for those links! Nice video of the event as well.
I actually remember hearing about this when it hit the news. I was really a 747-400 back then, (still am, probably always will be) so it naturally got my attention.
Also glad to hear it's was donated to go on display. Deservedly so IMHO.
Long live the Queen!
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- SpaceshipDC10
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Re: 30th anniversary of Qantas LHR-SYD 747 record flight
GalaxyFlyer wrote:It wasn’t commercial, it was a delivery flight with all sorts of unique features—special high density load of fuel, almost no stores or delivery shipment, few passengers. Shell actually found a batch of jet fuel of exceptional density to ensure a full load, towed to runway end at LHR (!) and made it.
GF
"The plane was filled with the super-fuel and with just 23 people on board" (Source: Aunty)
Re: 30th anniversary of Qantas LHR-SYD 747 record flight
The ABC article seems to suggest the delivery flight was “top secret”. I was fairly young at the time so don’t remember much about it, but was it the case that Qantas kept the flight quiet beforehand?
If the flight happened these days there would be a massive marketing campaign launched around the flight complete with social media strategy and onboard celebrities live tweeting every step of the flight !
If the flight happened these days there would be a massive marketing campaign launched around the flight complete with social media strategy and onboard celebrities live tweeting every step of the flight !
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- chunhimlai
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Re: 30th anniversary of Qantas LHR-SYD 747 record flight
Soon we will see the longest commercial flight
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- ClassicLover
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Re: 30th anniversary of Qantas LHR-SYD 747 record flight
QF93 wrote:The ABC article seems to suggest the delivery flight was “top secret”. I was fairly young at the time so don’t remember much about it, but was it the case that Qantas kept the flight quiet beforehand?
If the flight happened these days there would be a massive marketing campaign launched around the flight complete with social media strategy and onboard celebrities live tweeting every step of the flight !
I don't really think so... it was announced in the press, because my Dad and I went off to Sydney Airport to see it land. We weren't the only ones there to see it come in either, so it was known that it was happening.
Perhaps they meant it was top secret in the planning stages. Once it was near flight time, no-one could gazump them, so it was announced.
Re: 30th anniversary of Qantas LHR-SYD 747 record flight
There's a pretty entertaining account of the flight at this website:
http://www.aussieairliners.org/b-747/vh ... story.html
Fitting that the 30th anniversary should come around with all this tall of Project Sunrise and the like.
http://www.aussieairliners.org/b-747/vh ... story.html
Fitting that the 30th anniversary should come around with all this tall of Project Sunrise and the like.
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