More 747 stuff

The second Qantas Boeing 747SP-VH EAB

My earlier story on the retirement of the last Qantas 747 has created a lot of interest.

Friend, David Nicholls, Porsche 356 guru and retired Qantas pilot wrote to me on the subject of the Qantas 747SP as follows:-

Now that you've mentioned the Boeing SP that was operated by QANTAS, you've made me pull my old Log Book from the top shelf.

I flew the SP from November 1994 till January 2001

The two QANTAS SPs had registrations VH-EAA and VH-EAB

Destinations that I flew them to included, 

Sydney, Bali, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Jakarta,  Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Manila, Nagoya, Narita (Tokyo), Seoul, Singapore, Tahiti, and Taipei.

The best cold beer was in Japan.

Total time on type 755.6 hours.

From my cloudy memory, some details that I recall include,

It had the same engines and thrust as the longer fuselage 747s, so it performed much better. The word "sports car" comes to mind.

Idle thrust at landing touchdown meant a higher power to weight ratio, compared to the heavier 747s. Something to remember if you hadn't flown it for a while, otherwise you'd touch down, further down the runway. 

The shorter length fuselage was the reason for the larger Vertical Stabiliser, to give it equal directional stability.

It had the same brakes as the longer, heavier 747s, and associated noticeably shorter stopping performance.

The wings and flaps were different because of the lighter weight, so the speed limitations were different, usually faster.

Being superseded by the 747-400, QANTAS relegated its SPs to much shorter sectors than it was capable of, and where passenger loads were less in number.

David tells me that he logged over 13,000 hours total, on the Boeing 747-SP, 747-200, 747-300 & 747-400. That's equivalent to 1.5 years just flying 747s and in addition David flew military aircraft for the RAAF as well as other commercial aircraft. That's one experienced pilot.

Now he stays on the ground with his 356 Porsches and his great 550 replica. Sadly not even retired Qantas pilots can afford a genuine 550.

Photos below shows him in his workshop fettling some 356 motor parts and his New Old Stock 550.

If you are interested to read more about the first Qantas 747 SP and to

see some interesting period photos go to http://www.aussieairliners.org/b-747/vh-eaa/vheaa.html