VH-RMB

History:

09DEC58	Ordered by ANSETT-ANA
28FEB59	First flight
01APR59	Purchased by ANSETT-ANA and handed over at Burbank
VH-RMB
04APR59	Registered to ANSETT-ANA as VH-RMB
05APR59	Departed Burbank via San Francisco, Honolulu, Canton Island and Nadi.
08APR59	Arrived Essendon. Crew: Captains R. Sealey, N. Murdoch and J. McRobbie, Navigator W.C. Kennedy and Engineer Nealey.
16APR59	Entered service Essendon to Perth
22JUN59	ANSETT-ANA placed an advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald on this date: "Announcement to our patrons. ANSETT-ANA Electra refinement programme started yesterday. For the next 12 days only one Electra will operate and during that period, the other Electra schedules will be maintained by the all-new Viscount II's, jet-giants which also flew first for ANSETT-ANA. The Electra refinements are being carried out by our own engineering staff, assisted by Lockheed technicians. Engines will be uplifted 3 degrees, to eliminate even the slightest vibration and still further reduce the already low noise volume. On completion of this programme, the ANSETT-ANA Electras will be identical with the latest Electras now rolling off the Lockheed production line in Burbank, U.S.A. The ANSETT-ANA Electras will resume service well before any other Australian airline operates an Electra, and will be as modern as any Electra flying or about to enter service here or anywhere else in the world. Since March 18th., ANSETT-ANA Electras have carried 74,485 passengers on more than 1,000 inter-Capital flights. Most people prefer to walk the Golden Carpet to ANSETT-ANA Golden Jet Service." The original thrust line was -1 degree so uptilting the engines by 3 degrees resulted in a thrust line of +2 degrees. Only VH-RMA and VH-RMB required this modification as all other Australian Electras were delivered with the modification incorporated on the production line.
01JUL59	A subsequent advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald on this date announced that ANSETT-ANA's first "Electra Mk II" (VH-RMA) was back in service and that the second Electra (VH-RMB) would return to service on 4 July 1959. (Source: Fred Niven)
26APR61	Departed Essendon for Burbank (Source: Ansett- see below)
22MAY61	Entered LEAP as LEAP #152 ANA-2 (Source: Lockheed - see above)
23MAY61	Returned to Essendon after LEAP (Source: Ansett- see below)
10JUN61	Completed LEAP (Source: Lockheed - see above)
31JUL61	Delayed at Essendon due to a bomb hoax
09AUG61	Arrived at Sydney with a suspected bomb on board but it transpired that it was a hoax
18DEC69	Registered to ATI
02FEB71	Operated a route endorsement flight to Cocos Islands. Crew: Captains K. Hants and J. McRobbie.
06MAY71	Last passenger service
17JUN72	Departed Melbourne for conversion to L-188AF freighter by Lockheed, Ontario, California. Routing via Port Moresby, Wake Island and Honolulu. Crew: Captains B. Porter and I. Armstrong-Taylor, Flight Engineer P. Nash and Navigator W.C. Kennedy.
19JUN72	Arrived at Ontario.
06OCT72	Departed Ontario after freighter conversion.
10OCT72	Arrived Melbourne from Ontario via Hilo, Wake Island and Port Moresby. Crew: Captains K. Hants and B. Amundsen, Navigator W.C. Kennedy and Flight Engineer P. Straney.
19OCT72	Returned to service Melbourne to Launceston
15FEB82	The aircraft participated in a memorial flypast for Sir Reginald Ansett who passed away on 23DEC81. Crew: Captain D. Brown and First Officer R. Cook.
29JAN84	Last service AN1443 Melbourne-Hobart, AN1442 Hobart-Launceston-Melbourne. Crew: Captain R. McCrystal, First Officer P. Larrain and Flight Engineer K. Shirt. VH-RMB accumulated 53,886 hours with Ansett.
29JUN84	Sold to Turbo Power International
31AUG84	Cancelled from Australian register
N358Q
12SEP84	Departed Melbourne as N358Q on delivery to Turbo Power International. Routing: Nadi, Faleolo, Hilo, San Francisco and Amarillo. Crew: Captains S. Clark and J.E. Rollston, Flight Engineer J.D. Norton and Navigator B.S. McEwen
MAR85	To JBQ Aviation Corporation, Miami, Florida
DEC85	Leased to Fred Olsen of Norway for approximately one month then returned to TPI
27OCT86	Leased to Fred Olsen of Norway
05DEC86	Returned to TPI
18MAY88	Seen at Miami leased to ALM
AUG89	Registered to TPI International Airways Inc, Miami, Florida
08APR92	Repossessed by Internationale Nederlanden Bank NV and sold to MCA Aviation Corporation and sold again to JBQ Aviation Corporation, Miami, Florida, all on the same day.
N358WS
13OCT92	Seen at Opa Locka with new registration N358WS, ALM titles and no engines
N358Q
DEC92	Reregistered N358Q to JBQ Aviation Corporation, Miami, Florida
09NOV96	Seen at Opa Locka missing many parts
JAN97	Cancelled from US register
25MAR97	Seen at Opa Locka with only top part of fuselage remaining

Issue	Date	Remarks
22	26JAN25	Added four images from the John Hopton Collection thanks to the CAHS. Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 Image 4
21	28DEC22	L-188 slideshows combined
20	05DEC22	Added a slideshow.
19	06AUG22	Added an image thanks to Eric Allen.
18	06NOV21	Added flight numbers for the last Ansett flight on 29JAN84 thanks to Merv Crowe.
17	11JUN21	Added an image thanks to Eric Allen.
16	02NOV19	Added an image of the aircraft as N358Q with Ansett markings removed prior to sale thanks to Peter Gates.
15	29SEP19	Added an image of the aircraft with MK II titles thanks to Greg Newlyn.
14	03NOV17	Added an image of the severed nose section of VH-RMB.
13	26APR17	Added an image of VH-RMB thanks to Peter Gates.
12	28JAN17	Added an image of N358Q thanks to Peter Gates.
11	25JUN16	Added an image of VH-RMB as a freighter in the Ansett Delta scheme. Thanks to Phil Vabre of the CAHS.
10	03APR16	Refreshed page layout with no change to data.
9	09MAR13	Added the date (01JUL59) that the aircraft returned to service after the engine uptilt mod.
8	01DEC12	Added a reference to the engine thrust line (see 22JUN59). This was sourced from Lockheed drawings in the Qantas Heritage Collection thanks to Colin Lock and Juanita Franzi.
7	15MAY12	Added images of VH-RMB and N358Q thanks to Peter Gates.
6	04FEB04	Added an image of the scrapping of N358Q thanks to René Dannies.
5	31JAN04	Made several corrections and additions to the dates and crew names for the freighter conversion thanks to Gil White.
4	28JAN04	Added details of the memorial flypast on 15FEB82 thanks to Gil White.
3	25JAN04	Added crew names thanks to Gil White.
2	21MAR01	Added LEAP details thanks to Pete Clukey Additional material thanks to Fred Niven and John Wilson Additional images thanks to Peter Gates

Return to the Electra Menu

Return to the Lockheed File