The last Qantas 747 leaves Canberra by RobGeraghty, on Flickr

Qantas 747-400 VH-OEJ "Wunala Dreaming".

The aircraft was the 57th and last 747 delivered to Qantas by Boeing, completing its ferry flight on the 17th of August 2003, so it has had 17 years of flying with Qantas. Today was its last flight carrying paying passengers. On Wednesday the 22nd of July, it will fly out of Sydney to the USA and eventually a new owner.

[Unregistered User 8]

An excellent photograph of an end of an era Rob.
The last I heard, this one is going to join the rest of our 747 fleet in the Mojave Desert grave yard, to be used for spare parts.

[forensicscientist]

Nice image! Good job....

[RICHARD L.]

I know of 2 aircraft graveyards in the U.S. Southwest : Victorville, CA near Edwards AFB in the Mojave desert and Tucson, AZ near Davis-Monthan AFB in the Sonoran desert. They have planes going back to WWII (like B-29s) that still look new. There may be others that I'm not aware of.


Regards

[RobG]

An excellent photograph of an end of an era Rob.
The last I heard, this one is going to join the rest of our 747 fleet in the Mojave Desert grave yard, to be used for spare parts.

Thanks! I think this one will eventually go to a new owner. It's the youngest of the Qantas 747-400 fleet.

Nice image! Good job....

Thank you! I was happy with the way the jet wash is visible.

I know of 2 aircraft graveyards in the U.S. Southwest : Victorville, CA near Edwards AFB in the Mojave desert and Tucson, AZ near Davis-Monthan AFB in the Sonoran desert. They have planes going back to WWII (like B-29s) that still look new. There may be others that I'm not aware of.

I think this is going to Victorville. As far as I know, Davis-Monthan is only for USAF aircraft. I think there's other graveyards for commercial aircraft, but I'm not sure where. At the moment there's aircraft parked all over the place - and a large number stored at Alice Springs in the Australian desert.

[ToddK]

An excellent capture Rob. Perfect time of day to catch it lifting off.

[RICHARD L.]

I saw commercial planes (747s) too in Davis-Monthan.

[RobG]

An excellent capture Rob. Perfect time of day to catch it lifting off.

Thanks Todd! It was a little dark and a little too far away, but kind of fitting for a farewell.

I saw commercial planes (747s) too in Davis-Monthan.

I believe you, but they aren't visible on Google maps.

PS Did you mean the PIMA museum near David Monthan?

---------- Post added 17-07-20 at 11:27 PM ----------

Here's an earlier shot when the aircraft was beginning a pass over Lake Burley Griffin.


The last Qantas 747 over Canberra by RobGeraghty, on Flickr

[Sailor]

Beautiful shot, Rob! The angle, light, time-of-day et. al.

I've ridden on a bunch of the these big babies over the years - on a couple of trips to Europe I was in business class and lived like a king!

Jer

[c.a.m]

Qantas 747-400 VH-OEJ "Wunala Dreaming".

Here's an earlier shot when the aircraft was beginning a pass over Lake Burley Griffin.

Ahhh... I never tire of looking at 747s, in all their variants. The Queen of the Skies.

I've had several flights in the 400 series but, regrettably, never on Qantas.


Thanks for posting.

- Craig

[RICHARD L.]

The plane graveyard is not far from the Pima air and Space Museum, North of Interstate-10 southwest of Tucson, AZ.

[tuco]

I worked as both a design engineer in Payloads for the 747 and then as a MRB (Material Review Board) engineer dispostioning non conformance on the production line for the 747 (in addition to the 767,777) for good number of years. Fond memories. I most likely saw that tail number go through the production line.

[Kerrowdown]

The last Qantas 747

That's a magazine/brochure quality shot... well done.

[lesmore49]

Wonderful photograph...lighting is top notch.

Coincidentally, I just read the other day that British Airways will stop flying their fleet of 747's right away and retire them much earlier than their original plan to cease 747 flights by 2024.


https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=...3BqB75r94Sf6Ey

[Apet-Sure]

I never noticed this before, but I see that some of the passengers actually sit farther forward in the fuselage than the pilots. Interesting.