VH-EAE Bert Hinkler

Type: L-749-79-35 Constellation
L-749A-79 Constellation (converted)
MSN: 2505
Previous Identities: NC86522 (NTU)
VT-CQR
Subsequent Identities: G-ANTG
N1552V

 

History:

47 Built as L649-79-21 for TWA (to become NC86552) but order cancelled and completed as L-749-79-35 for Air India.
13FEB48 Accepted by Air India as "Rajput Princess". Export CofA No E-14770 issued same day.
17FEB48 Registered VT-CQR to Air India. CofR No 1131.
26MAR48 Arrived in Bombay on delivery.
22JUN48 Entered service.
30DEC49 Sold to Qantas.
11JAN50 Departed Bombay on delivery to Australia. Capt R.J. Ritchie.
17JAN50 Arrived in Sydney.
18JAN50 Registered to Qantas Empire Airways as VH-EAE. CofR No 1689. Later named "Bert Hinkler".
07APR50 Departed Sydney on its first Qantas service.
26JUN51 Fuselage painted with white top and red cheatline.
30JUN51 Repaint completed.
01SEP51 Withdrawn from service for conversion to L-749A-79 with higher all up weight.
22OCT51 Returned to service.
18JUN52 Right hand undercarriage door damaged on retraction at London.
08MAR54 Back up aircraft for Royal tour (until 27MAR54).
07AUG54 Departed Sydney on its last Qantas service (to London). Capt R.F. Uren.
15AUG54 Sold to BOAC. Total Time: 11,718.
18AUG54 Departed Sydney on delivery to BOAC in London.
20AUG54 Arrived London on delivery to BOAC.
23AUG54 Cancelled from the Australian Register.
10SEP54 Re-registered G-ANTG.
15OCT54 UK CofA issued.
22NOV54 Entered service with BOAC as "Bournemouth".
26NOV54 Operated its first BOAC service to Sydney.
07OCT58 Operated the last BOAC Constellation passenger flight.
30NOV58 Departed London on delivery to Pacific Northern Airlines. Later re-registered N1552V Fleet Number 52V.
02DEC58 Cancelled from UK Register.
01JUL67 Transferred to Western Airlines. Fleet Number 52V, later 552.
26NOV68 Operated last scheduled Constellation passenger flight in North America from Juneau to Anchorage.
27NOV68 Withdrawn from service and donated to the City of Kenai, Alaska. Total Time: 40,568 hours.
73 Approximately sometime during 1973 the aircraft was sold to a private individual who intended to use the aircraft as a restaurant. The aeroplane was towed to a nearby parking lot but the project was abandoned and the aircraft subsequently broken up.
25JUN24 Ralph Pettersen of the Constellation Survivors website reported:

"The list of Constellation Survivors has grown by one with the "discovery" of the disassembled fuselage of L749A N1552V in Kasilof, Alaska. The aircraft was retired by Western Airlines on November 26, 1968 after completing the last Constellation passenger flight in North America. It was donated to the city of Kenai, Alaska and subsequently acquired for a restaurant project that never happened. While undated photos of the aircraft surfaced a few years ago, it was assumed that the aircraft had been scrapped in Kenai. Six days ago a Craigslist advertisement was published offering up the aircraft for free if the buyer removed it from its current location. I called the number listed in the Craigslist ad and spoke to Henry Morgan who posted the ad. He told me that he acquired the aircraft 15-20 years ago and that he doesn't have the wings and empennage shown in the undated photos. He believes those items were scrapped prior to him acquiring the fuselage sections. I asked if he had any responses to his ad and he told me that a company in California plans on claiming the aircraft."
AUG24 UPDATE: It is reported that the cockpit section has been acquired by Scroggins Aviation Mockup and Effects and the remainder of the airframe has been acquired by Plane Tags.


Issue Date Remarks
5 07AUG24
Added an update on the disposal of the airframe.
4 06AUG24
Added a report from Ralph Pettersen that parts of the airframe survive. See photos above.
3 25FEB16
Revised presentation of type.
2 18SEP00 -


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