VH-EAO
Southern Aurora
Southern Prodigal
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| Type: | L-1049G-82-153 Super Constellation |
| MSN: | 4679 |
| Subsequent Identities: | N9722C VH-EAO N9722C N86682 |
History:
| 57 | Built as L-1049G-82-153. |
| 24OCT57 | First flown. |
| 25OCT57 | CofR No 2879 issued to Qantas Empire Airways as VH-EAO. |
| 25OCT57 | Accepted by Qantas as VH-EAO "Southern Aurora". |
| 26OCT57 | Departed Burbank on delivery to Sydney via Honolulu. |
| 28OCT57 | Arrived Sydney. This was the first time a commercial airliner had flown from Honolulu to Sydney non-stop. Flight Time: 22:18. Total Time: 37:58. (Capt A.A.E. Yates). |
| 30NOV57 | Test flown. |
| 02DEC57 | Entered service (to Hong Kong). |
| 20DEC57 | Departed Sydney on a round the world proving and goodwill flight. The names of the cities on Qantas' round the world route were painted on the fuselage. (Capt R.A. Bruce). |
| 08JAN58 | Returned to Sydney. |
| 14JAN58 | Departed Melbourne on Qantas' inaugural round the world service via the "Southern Cross" route. (Capt K.D. Mears). The philatelic mail was carried from Sydney to Sydney by VH-EAO (see flown cover). See also VH-EAP which departed at the same time in the opposite direction via the "Kangaroo Route". |
| 20JAN58 | Returned to Sydney. Flying Time: 128 hours. |
| c.58 | The
aircraft was photographed with tip tank
markings in high visibility DayGlo paint. Read more about DayGlo Paint |
| 12AUG59 | En route San Francisco to New York, a vibration in the number four propeller was experienced during cruise at 13,000 feet. Unable to feather the propeller, the aircraft diverted to Lovelock, Nevada after dumping fuel. The engine seized and shortly after, at 1,500 feet on base leg, the propeller separated. There was no further damage and the aeroplane landed safely. Picture |
| 19SEP59 | Cancelled from Australian Register. |
| 13OCT59 | Sold to Lockheed as N9722C. Total Time: 5,874:09. Landings: 932. |
| 14OCT59 | Departed Sydney on delivery to Ontario. (Capt Harry Mills). |
| 18AUG60 | Qantas leased the aircraft back from Lockheed because of a shortage of capacity. Total Time: 5,903:07. |
| 19AUG60 | Departed Portland on delivery to Sydney via Honolulu and Nadi. |
| 21AUG60 | Arrived Sydney. Total Time: 5,934:07. |
| 23AUG60 | Returned to the Australian Register as VH-EAO. Qantas re-named the aeroplane "Southern Prodigal". |
| 24AUG60 | Re-entered Qantas service (to Melbourne, Auckland, Nadi and Sydney). |
| 31MAR61 | Sold to Qantas by Lockheed. |
| 29APR61 | Departed Sydney for Perth where the aircraft was based until 16JUN61. |
| 13JUL61 | Departed Sydney for Madrid on a ships crew and migrant charter. |
| 27SEP61 | Departed Sydney for Butterworth, Malaya. |
| 23DEC61 | Based in Perth until 11FEB62. |
| 13FEB62 | Departed Sydney on its last Qantas service, a migrant charter. |
| 25FEB62 | Operated its last training sortie to Narromine. |
| 05MAR63 | Cancelled from the Australian Register. Re-registered N86682 on sale to California Airmotive Corp. Departed Sydney on delivery to Burbank via Nadi, Honolulu and San Francisco. Flight Time: 29:40. Total Time: 10,299:53 (Capt. S.D. Brown). |
| 65 | To American Flyers Airline Corp. |
| NOV68 | Returned to California Airmotive and stored at Fox Field, Lancaster, California. |
| 70 | Cancelled from the U.S. Register. |
| NOV71 | Only the fuselage remained by this date. Scrapped shortly afterwards. |
| Issue | Date | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | 04AUG22 |
Added
an image thanks to Eric Allen.
|
| 6 | 24MAY21 |
Added
an image of the aircraft wearing tip
tanks with DayGlo markings. Thanks to Ben Dannecker.
|
| 5 | 30JAN21 |
Added
an image of the aircraft after it
shed a propeller in August 1959. Thanks to Amanda Louise Curran
whose father Kenneth John Tubbs took the photo.
|
| 4 | 25FEB16 |
Revised
presentation of type.
|
| 3 | 29DEC15 |
Added
an image of the aircraft and another
flown cover carried on the round-world
inaugural. Both thanks to Phil Vabre.
|
| 2 | 14SEP00 |
Extra
detail added thanks to Eric Favelle.
|
