On March 8, 2015, thousands gathered around Shellharbour Airport for the arrival of the first Boeing 747 in the Qantas fleet, which retired to HARS after flying more than four million passengers around the world during its lifetime.
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Due to social distancing rules, that won't be possible this Wednesday when the final 747 in the Qantas fleet flies low over the Illawarra before heading to LA for retirement.
The number of people allowed to watch from the HARS aircraft museum is limited, prompting many to think about other safe locations to watch the farewell to Australian skies.
A jumbo flying less than 500 metres above the ground will be visible from just about anywhere, and vantage points with plenty of parking could provide people with an opportunity to watch the historic flight safely from their cars.
You could try ...
- Flagstaff Hill, Wollongong
- Hill 60, Port Kembla
- Car parks along the Lake Illawarra foreshore
- Mount Keira lookout
- Blackbutt Reserve, Shellharbour
Everything you need to know about the final Qantas 747 flight in Australia
Qantas Flight 7474 is due to depart Sydney at 2pm and the Boeing 747-400 is expected to take only 11 minutes to reach Shellharbour Airport.
The flight path for the last Boeing 747-400 in the Qantas fleet as it says farewell to Australia will involve a low fly-over of the airline's first 747 at Shellharbour Airport on Wednesday afternoon.
HARS wants to give it a COVID safe send-off fit for a Queen as it flies over and salutes the first Qantas 747-400 (The City of Canberra) at its permanent home at the aviation museum.
After it pays tribute to the City of Canberra the last Qantas Jumbo will fly directly to the United States.
"There will only be one pass because it is fully laden with fuel bound for Los Angeles. It is the very last 747 that Qantas will operate," HARS president Bob De La Hunty said.
"The pushback is scheduled in Sydney for 2pm. It will probably take 15 or 20 minutes before it gets to the end of the runway. When it is airborne it will take around 11 minutes from there to here. So we can probably expect the fly over maybe about 2.30."
Due to social distancing restrictions HARS is recommending people wanting to see the last Qantas 747 flying in Australia skies to come and watch it from the museum with strict protocols in place.
The number of people able to watch the fly over from the front of the main hanger will be limited.
"Anyone who wants to come will need to be here a lot earlier than that to make sure we don't have too many people given our COVID-19 restrictions," Mr De La Hunty said.
HARS will take visitors who arrive early on tours while abiding by social distancing rules.
"That will dictate how many people we can have in the place. We will have them all out at the front of the hanger to see the fly over," Mr De La Hunty said.
Onlookers are not encouraged to gather around the airport as they did in March 2015 when the history making VH-OJA came in to land for its retirement.
After departing Sydney around 2pm the pilots of flight QF7474 will travel south down the Wollongong coastline at 3000 feet before flying over Port Kembla and Datpo where the aircraft will drop down to 1500 feet for a low-level pass in a final farewell to Qantas's double record-setting first Boeing 747 at the HARS Museum.
That should occur between 2.10pm and 2.30pm on Wednesday and will mark the end-of-an-era of almost 50 years of service to Qantas by Boeing 747s.
Often referred to as the Queen of the Skies the Jumbo has earned a special place in Australian aviation history and the hearts of many Australians.
For the fly-over the City of Canberra will be joined on the ground by eight other aircraft types that have been flown with Qantas and are now are on permanent display aviation museum.
They include the only Lockheed Super Constellation presently flying in the world, a DC-4 in 1950s Qantas livery, DC-3 still flying in airline TAA colours after making that airline's first passenger flight in 1946, a de Havilland Drover that was originally operated by TAA, a Convair in TAA livery, a Fokker Friendship F27, a Catalina and a Lockheed Orion AP-3C.
Qantas gifted the City of Canberra (VH-OJA) to HARS Aviation Museum because of its special place in Australian aviation history.
Thousands gathered to vantage points across the Illawarra and around the airport in 2015 because of the aircraft's arrival when it retired after flying more than four million passengers around the world and covering 85 million kilometres in the process.
In August 1989 VH-OJA flew the first non-stop flight from London to Sydney, a Qantas delivery flight record distance of 18,001 kilometres in 20 hours, nine minutes and five seconds. In March 2015 its final flight Sydney to the HARS Aviation Museum was the shortest delivery flight for Qantas which took just 11 minutes.
Read more:
- Aviation royalty arrives in time for Wednesday's farewell Qantas Boeing 747 flight over Wollongong and Shellharbour
- Second chance to see a Jumbo fill the sky above Albion Park for a low fly over of Shellharbour Airport
- Qantas 747-400 VH-OJA lands at Illawarra Regional Airport
- 30th anniversary of HARS Jumbo's record breaking flight
- Shellharbour drive-in movies a runway hit at airport
- Second engine arrives for Southern Cross replica at HARS
- 30th anniversary of HARS Jumbo's record breaking flight
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