Qantas pioneer jet to return home
The Age 10/09/2006
Author: Australian Associated Press


Australia's first commercial passenger jet is set to come home later this year.

The Boeing 707, previously known as the City of Canberra, will have a permanent home at the Qantas Founders' Outback Museum in Longreach, Queensland.

A $1 million federal grant will fund the restoration in London of the 1959 aircraft, believed to be the last and oldest of its kind, as it has not flown for six years.

The grant will also cover the costs of creating a museum display.

"This aircraft is a significant part of our national identity," said federal Heritage minister Ian Campbell.

"Its arrival in Sydney on July 20, 1959, changed the way Australians thought about their relationship to the world."

Boeing 707s slashed the flight time from Sydney to London from 48 to 27 hours and carried many European migrants to Australia.

The aircraft transported Australian army personnel to and from Vietnam during the war.

Once airworthy, the jet will depart London for the United States, retracing its original route from Honolulu and Nadi to Sydney, arriving in early November.