Popular belief has it that Boeing shortened the 707 to suit the requirements of Qantas. Whilst this was the end result, things actually happened somewhat differently as related by Dr Ron Yates to a gathering at the Qantas Founders Outback Museum in Longreach on 7 April 2007.

Dr Ron Yates on the flight deck of VH-XBA at Southend on 6 November 2006.
(Photo: Norman King)

Ron Yates was the first aeronautical engineer employed by Qantas. His job interview was with none other than Arthur Baird, the doyen of Qantas engineers. When asked by the great man; "What sort of a tool box do you have?" Ron Yates replied; "I don't have a tool box. I have a slide rule." Although he didn't get the job as an engineer, he went on to greater things. When it came time for Qantas to enter the jet age, it was under Ron Yates' stewardship that the company made this great leap. While stationed in Seattle, he flew in the Dash 80 prototype and became intimately familiar with the aeroplane, negotiating the specification of the Qantas 707 on equal terms with the engineers at Boeing.

From the outset, it became clear that the performance of this first generation jetliner would be marginal on Qantas' long sectors across the Pacific. Indeed, it became necessary for Ron Yates to negotiate a special dispensation with Pratt & Whitney engineers to permit the operation of the JT3C engines at a higher temperature for a brief period on take-off from Nadi, Fiji. The representation of this dispensation on performance graphs became known as "The Nadi Bump".

With performance so finely balanced, every new issue of the aircraft specification was subjected to precise scrutiny. Therefore, it came as quite a shock when a revised specification arrived in the mail from Boeing revealing a dramatic increase in the empty weight of the aeroplane. Further examination revealed that this was a result of an increase in fuselage length! It later emerged that Pan American had persuaded Boeing to increase the length of the basic aircraft by ten feet to better suit their route structure. When advised by Ron Yates that Qantas could not operate the aircraft as per this revised specification and that it was effectively a "deal breaker", Boeing agreed to build the Qantas 707 to the originally specified length of 128 feet 10 inches. Thus it wasn't a case of Boeing shortening the 707 to suit Qantas but rather a case of lengthening it to suit every other customer!

Dr Ron Yates AM, BE, Hon FIE Hon FRAS Lond went on to become Chief Executive of Qantas, retiring in 1986. Today he is the highly revered Patron of the Qantas Foundation Memorial 707 Project.