History:

54	Built as L-1049C-55-81.
09FEB54	CofR No 2061 issued to Qantas Empire Airways as VH-EAH.
22APR54	First flown.
25APR54	Accepted by Qantas as VH-EAH "Southern Sky".
26APR54	Export CofA No E-27610 issued.
26APR54	Departed Burbank on delivery to Sydney via Honolulu and Nadi.
28APR54	Arrived Sydney. Flight Time 27:47. Total Time 37:24. The aircraft subsequently operated a series of training flights.
07-09MAY54	Operated training flights.
10MAY54	Operated several courtesy flights. The aircraft also performed a flypast at the funeral of Arthur Baird.
11MAY54	Operated training flights.
19MAY54	Entered service (to Vancouver).
30JUL54	Departed Sydney for Essendon (Melbourne) where several courtesy flights were conducted.
02AUG54	Departed Sydney on the inaugural Qantas L-1049 service to London.
02JUN55	Departed Sydney for Tokyo but returned after 10 hours with No 2 engine shut down.
SEP56	Converted to L-1049E/01-55.
21OCT57	Withdrawn from service for "A" overhaul and fitment of weather radar.
17NOV57	Returned to service.
14OCT59	Departed Sydney on its last Qantas service (to London via Melbourne and the Kangaroo Route).
03NOV59	Sold to Lockheed as N9716C and cancelled from the Australian Register. Total Time 15,581:53. Landings 4,130.
04NOV59	Departed Sydney on delivery to Ontario, USA. (Capt J.G. Morton).
59	Stored initially at Burbank but later leased to Twentieth Century Airlines Inc.
MAR61	Leased to Capitol Airways Inc.
DEC61	Sold to Capitol Airways Inc.
AUG64	Withdrawn from service by this date and stored at Wilmington, Delaware. Later used for spares.
67	Cancelled from the U.S. Register.
AUG67	Derelict by this date and subsequently broken up at Wilmington.

Issue	Date	Date
7	20SEP22	Added an image thanks to Eric Allen.
6	15FEB22	Added an image thanks to Ken Watson.
5	07JUN19	Added details of training flights and courtesy flights in MAY54.
4	25FEB16	Revised presentation of type.
3	26DEC15	Added an image from the Qantas Heritage Collection.
2	13SEP00	-

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