VH-EAI
Southern Melody
Southern Sun
Southern Boomerang
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| Type: | L-1049C-55-81
Super Constellation L-1049E/01-55 Super Constellation (converted) |
| Msn: | 4546 |
| Subsequent Identities: | N9717C OB-R-742 N9717C |
History:
| 54 | Built as L-1049C-55-81. |
| 09FEB54 | CofR No 2062 issued to Qantas Empire Airways as VH-EAI. |
| 14MAY54 | First flown. |
| 20MAY54 | Accepted by Qantas as VH-EAI. Christened "Southern Melody" by MGM film star, Ann Miller to promote the world premiere of "Interrupted Melody" in Melbourne. |
| 20MAY54 | Export CofA No E-27611 issued. |
| 22MAY54 | Departed Burbank on delivery to Sydney via Honolulu and Nadi. |
| 24MAY54 | Arrived Sydney. Re-named "Southern Sun". |
| 29MAY54 | Entered service (to Vancouver). |
| 30JUN56 | Withdrawn from service for conversion to L-1049E/01-55. |
| 24JUL56 | Returned to service. |
| 13NOV56 | Departed Sydney on Royal flight with HRH Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, to Momote via Darwin. (Capt A.A.E. Yates). |
| 25FEB57 | Withdrawn from service for "D" overhaul and fitment of weather radar. |
| 30MAR57 | Returned to service. |
| 07SEP59 | Departed Sydney on the last Qantas L-1049 service to San Francisco. |
| 04NOV59 | Departed Sydney on its last Qantas service (to Nadi). |
| 30NOV59 | Sold to Lockheed. Total Time 15,739:16. Landings 3,759. |
| 01DEC59 | Cancelled from Australian Register. Added to U.S. Register as N9717C. Departed Sydney on delivery to Burbank, USA. (Capt J. Furze). Stored at Burbank but later leased to Twentieth Century Airlines who used the aeroplane for approximately 1,300 hours. |
| 25OCT60 | Departed Portland, USA on delivery to Sydney via Honolulu, Canton Island and Nadi having been leased back by Qantas to cover a shortage of capacity. (Capt A.J. Myer). |
| 01NOV60 | Returned to the Australian Register as VH-EAI. Re-named "Southern Boomerang". |
| 14NOV60 | Operated a training flight to Narromine. |
| 16NOV60 | Returned to Qantas service (to Nadi). |
| 20DEC60 | Departed Sydney for Christchurch on lease to TEAL. |
| 01MAR61 | Returned to Qantas after TEAL lease. |
| 01MAR61 | Departed Sydney on its last Qantas service (to Nadi). |
| 27MAR61 | Lease from Lockheed expired. Re-registered N9717C. |
| 28MAR61 | Departed Sydney on delivery to Ontario, USA. |
| 01APR61 | Cancelled from Australian Register. |
| 05APR61 | Leased to Twentieth Century Airlines. |
| 20MAY62 | Leased to Trans International Airlines. |
| 29FEB64 | Sold to LANSA (Peru) as OB-R-742 but never delivered. |
| 09OCT64 | Registration OB-R-742 cancelled. |
| 64 | Sold to West Coast Airmotive (possibly prior to the LANSA sale). |
| 18OCT64 | Sold to American Flyers Airline Corp as N9717C. |
| NOV68 | Sold to California Airmotive Corp and ferried to Fox Field, Lancaster, California for storage by this date. |
| 70 | Cancelled from US Register. |
| MAY71 | Aircraft broken up by this date. |
| NOV71 | Only fuselage remaining by this date. Presumed subsequently scrapped. |
| Issue | Date | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 26JAN22 |
Added
an image from the State Library of
NSW.
|
| 4 | 25FEB16 |
Revised
presentation of type.
|
| 3 | 26DEC15 |
Added
an image from the Qantas Heritage
Collection.
|
| 2 | 22DEC15 | |
| 1 | 04JAN00 |
Original
issue
|
