Nice one Skippy!

[SPEEDBIRDGLA]

Qantas just made history again.

Back in 1989 a 747-400 VH-OJA made the first non stop flight from the UK to Australia and now resides at Illawarra. On that occasion the aircraft was stripped down and carried no passengers to save weight.

On Thursday this week Qantas flight QF7879 departed London Heathrow at 06:09GMT/14NOV arriving Sydney Mascot yesterday at 12:28 AEDT. A record breaking single 'hop' (marsupial pun) of 19 hours and 19 minutes for the Kangaroo route. Some 50 plus passengers travelled on board Qantas 787-9 VH-ZNJ which was operating a non commercial trial flight and was also being delivered from Boeing at Seattle.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...top/index.html

All this a mere 100 years and two days after the record breaking first aerial flight from the UK to Australia pioneered by Captain Sir Ross Smith and his crew (brother Keith Ross, mechanics (flight engineers Wally Shiers and Jim Bennett.) Their Vickers Vimy (G-EAOU referred to as God 'elp all of us) aircraft is on display at Adelaide Airport.

Well done Qantas and Australia. What a great way to kick off Qantas 100 celebrations.

The full account of the original Great Air Race flight is told in the book, "14,000 Miles Thro' The Air" by Captain Sir Ross Smith. Although obtaining a copy may be difficult as it has been out of print for a long time.

[SPEEDBIRDGLA]

Qantas just made history again. Further reading:

https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flig...600Z/EGLL/YSSY

https://ntl.nt.gov.au/story/great-air-race

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Macpherson_Smith

https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/me...-flight-lands/

https://acesflyinghigh.wordpress.com...alia-air-race/

It is worth noting that the record breaking Qantas 787-9 VH-ZNJ is now available from Geminijets in 1:400 scale. ref. GJQFA1902

[Cpt.Canuck]

19 hours 19 minutes, wow. My self I wouldn't get tired of it. Congrats Qantas. Hopefully they will be regular visitors here in Vancouver, I believe they are seasonal at this time.

[SPEEDBIRDGLA]

Just discovered today that in 1995 a replica Vickers Vimy was constructed and flown all the way to Australia recreating the original flight. Inspired by their success, the team involved also recreated the pioneering flight from London to South Africa and to top that recreated Alcock and Brown's transatlantic flight from Newfoundland to Ireland. If you are looking for an aviation Christmas present you can
read all about the original flights and the recreated Vimy's exploits in their book; THE VIMY EXPEDITIONS.

www.vimy.org

[transnat]

The book written by Sir Ross Smith has just been re published with a new title.

It's entitled 'Flight to Fame' (Victory in the 1919 Great Air Race, England to Australia.) This illustrated edition, published to coincide with the flight's centenary, is introduced and edited by historian Peter Monteath. The book is published by Wakefield Press and is available on line from Booktopia and Book Depository.



Tnat

[SPEEDBIRDGLA]

Tnat, Thanks for the update. Will investigate that book. Just purchased a set of decals from RedRoo decals for the Vickers Vimy in 1/72 scale so that is an upcoming project. Surfing the net today threw up a whole world of links between S. Australia and Scotland, including the Sailing ship City Of Adelaide which used to be moored in central Glasgow named Carrick back in the 1980s.

[SPEEDBIRDGLA]

https://epicflightcentenary.com.au/
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/f...6027/#22d32420

It is not every day that a Qantas jet passes through Scottish airspace but on 12 November 787-9 VH-ZNJ did just that. Had it not already been dark I would have seen it pass over Loch Lomond heading South a mere 8 miles away. She continued down across the Scottish borders passing close to the town of Moffat. It was here that Andrew Bell Smith came from , the father of Sir Keith and Sir Ross Macpherson Smith who 100 years ago would be in the Middle East by now in the middle of their ground breaking flight to Australia.

[transnat]

What a shame you didn't actually get to see the aircraft.

Tnat