A Qantas Boeing 747SP (Special Performance) jet performed a fly past today to salute staff from the airline's USA telephone sales centre in Tuscon, Arizona.
The aircraft, VH-EAA, named City of Gold Coast/Tweed, has been retired by Qantas and sold for disposal to a company located in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona.
It departed Sydney on Monday, 4 March without passengers and carrying company equipment as freight. On the ferry flight from Honolulu to the USA mainland the aircraft was cleared for a fly past over the Qantas centre at Tuscon before landing at the nearby Marana Airport.
Under the theme "Red, White and Q Day", the 110 Qantas staff organised an Aussie-style barbecue to coincide with the fly past.
VH-EAA was delivered to Qantas from the Boeing plant in Seattle on 23 January 1981 and in more than 20 years' service it accumulated 75,000 air hours and 14,000 cycles.
A second Qantas SP, VH-EAB named City of Traralgon - delivered on 31 August 1981 - flew out of Sydney for the final time on 29 November last year, also for disposal in Arizona.
Qantas initially used the two SPs on services between Australia and New Zealand, particularly to Wellington, because of the landing/take off capability on shorter runways and later on non-stop sectors between Australia and the USA West Coast.
Qantas has also announced that it will retire four B747-200 aircraft later this year as part of the fleet renewal program including 15 new Boeing 737-800s, six Boeing 747-400 ERs, 13 Airbus 330s and 12 Airbus 380s, scheduled for delivery over the next eight years.
Qantas had 2 of these Aircraft
VH-EAA "The City of Gold Coast/Tweed"
And
VH-EAB first named the "The City of Winton"
Then named "The City of Tralgon"
Maximum Take-off Weight 318,420 kg/702,000 lb
Wing Span 59.64 metres/195.7 ft
Overall Length 56.31 metres/184.7 ft
Vertical Fin Height 19.94 metres/65.4 ft
Cabin Width 6.1 metres/20 ft
Wing Area 511 sq m/5,500 sq ft
Average Cruise Speed 933 kph/580 mph
Cruise Altitude 30-45,000 ft
Maximum Fuel Capacity 190,625 litres/41,932 gallons
Range With Full Payload 11,816 km/7,342 miles
Freight Capacity 8,379 kg/18,473 lb
Volumetric Payload 28,845 kg/63,592 lb
Maximum Thrust 229.5 kilonewton/51,600 lb
Engines Rolls-Royce RB211-524D4U
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