VH-EAA Ross Smith
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| Type: | L-749-79-31
Constellation L-749A-79 Constellation (converted) |
| MSN: | 2562 |
| Subsequent Identities: | G-ANUP OE-IFO LX-IOK |
History:
| 47 | Built as L-749-79-31. |
| 10MAR47 | Registered to Qantas Empire Airways as VH-EAA. CofR No 1195. |
| 04OCT47 | Delivered to Qantas as VH-EAA "Ross Smith". Export CofA No E-14754 issued same day. (Ross Smith and his brother Keith were the Australian pilots of the Vickers Vimy G-EAOU which, in 1920, had been the first aeroplane to fly from England to Australia. A section of the Australian route had earlier been surveyed by Hudson Fysh and P.J. McGinness, both of whom later founded Qantas). |
| 10OCT47 | Departed Burbank on delivery to Australia. |
| 14OCT47 | Arrived Sydney at 1315 with Speedpak fitted. Flight Time 33 hours. (Capt. E.C. Sims) |
| 21OCT47 | Visited Canberra. Picture |
| 22OCT47 | Departed Sydney on the first proving flight to London. (Capt. R.J. Bert Ritchie). |
| 11NOV47 | "A new record for the 448 mile Melbourne-Sydney run was established by the Qantas Constellation Ross Smith on 11th November when it made the flight in 85 minutes, averaging 324 m.p.h. Earlier in the day, the Ross Smith had flown from Sydney against headwinds in 97 minutes. The Ross Smith, VH-EAA, was open for inspection by the public at the TAA terminal at Essendon." (Source: This Air Age, the TAA house magazine, December 1947) |
| 30OCT49 | Flaps extensively damaged by coming into contact with a rostrum at Darwin. |
|
08DEC50
|
Operated flight EM502-263 from Djakarta to Darwin. Flight Progress Report |
| 26APR51 | Flew to New Zealand. |
| 25AUG51 | Fuselage painted with white top and red cheatline. Aircraft emerged from paintshop on 29AUG51. |
| 22OCT51 | Carried troops to Japan. |
| 27JAN52 | Withdrawn from service for conversion to L-749A-79 with higher all up weight. |
| 28MAR52 | Returned to service. |
| 01JAN53 | Operating
Sydney-Darwin, the aircraft diverted to Daly Waters because of weather
in Darwin. The aircraft was refuelled from 44 gallon drums under
the supervision of Flight Engineer Bruce Costello. Photos of the
operation show at least 24 drums on the tarmac. The following photos
from the Russell Smith Aviation Collection in the National Library
of Australia refer. http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn4499085 http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn4499157 |
| MAR54 | Departed Sydney on a Royal flight to Brisbane and Townsville and back to Sydney. |
| 05FEB55 | Departed Sydney on its last Qantas service (to the UK). |
| 09FEB55 | Sold to BOAC. Total Time: 18,798. UK CofA issued as G-ANUP. |
| 15FEB55 | Cancelled from Australian register. |
| 16FEB55 | Departed Sydney on delivery to BOAC. |
| 19FEB55 | Arrived London on delivery to BOAC as G-ANUP "Branksome". Used in a 60 seat tourist class configuration. |
| 17MAY55 | Entered service with BOAC. |
| 14SEP57 | Last service with BOAC. |
| JAN58 | Cocooned at Heathrow by this date. |
| JUL59 | De-cocooned. |
| SEP59 | Leased to Skyways in a 65 seat tourist class configuration for use mainly on the London, Malta, Tunis route. |
| JUL61 | Installation of large rear cargo door completed by Lockheed Aircraft Service. |
| APR62 | Returned to BOAC. |
| 01MAY63 | Cancelled from UK Register. |
| 06MAY63 | Positioned Heathrow to Luton on delivery to Aero-Transport as OE-IFO. |
| 10MAY63 | Flown to Vienna, Austria. |
| JUN64 | Delivered to Interocean Airways, Luxembourg by mid June after Aero-Transport ceased operations. Used as a freighter or 86 seater. |
| JUL64 | Re-registered LX-IOK to Interocean Airways. |
| AUG64 | Cancelled from Austrian Register. |
| 13SEP64 | Operated an inclusive tour flight for Caledonian Airways from Manchester. |
| 02OCT64 | During a freight charter flight from Dublin, the aircraft veered off the runway on landing at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, burying its nose in soft mud and causing considerable damage. One crew member subsequently died from injuries sustained. The crew had attempted a go around at maximum power with engines still in high blower, resulting in multiple engine failures. |
| Issue | Date | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | 10NOV23 |
Added
an image of the aircraft landing
at Canberra on 21OCT47 thanks to Phil Vabre of the CAHS.
|
| 10 | 27DEC22 | |
| 9 | 27NOV22 |
Added
a slideshow.
|
| 8 | 18NOV21 |
Added
an image from the State Library
of NSW.
|
| 7 | 15APR21 |
Added
a Flight Progress Report from
08DEC50. Thanks to Roger McDonald.
|
| 6 | 22NOV18 |
Added
a reference to a record flight on 11NOV47. Thanks to Roger
McDonald.
|
| 5 | 25FEB16 |
Revised
presentation of type.
|
| 4 | 26DEC15 |
Added
8 images from the Qantas Heritage Collection.
|
| 3 | 07AUG11 |
Added
a reference to a diversion to Daly Waters on 01JAN53 thanks
to Bill Fishwick.
|
| 2 | 14SEP00 | - |
