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VH-EBB
|
VH-EBB |
17697 |
City
of Sydney |
| VH-EBB |
01APR59
|
Rolled out as 707-138. Planned name “City of Sydney". |
| N31219 |
20MAY59
|
First flown as N31219 |
| VH-EBB |
26JUN59
|
Registered to Qantas Empire Airways Ltd and accepted by Qantas. Cost £2,185,000 |
| VH-EBB |
30JUN59
|
Departed
Seattle at 0500 on its delivery flight. As it was the first Qantas
707 to be delivered, it was notionally renamed "City of Canberra"
for the delivery flight. (Subsequently, it reverted to its planned
name "City of Sydney" as the name "City of Canberra"
was taken up by VH-EBC to operate the inaugural Qantas 707 service).
Curiously, photographs of
the delivery flight at Honolulu show that VH-EBB did not carry any
name, externally at least, although the Sydney Coat of Arms remained
on both sides of the nose. The delivery flight of VH-EBB was commanded
by Capt A.A.E. Yates and set several civil speed records: San Francisco - Honolulu: 4 hrs 49 mins Honolulu - Nadi: 5 hrs 34 mins Nadi - Sydney: 4 hrs 47 mins 
|
| VH-EBB |
02JUL59
|
Arrived
Sydney at 1348 on a Thursday. Flight time: 18 hrs 49 mins. First
Qantas 707 to be delivered. Commanded by Capt Eric Robinson. (TT:
40:38)
|
| VH-EBB |
06JUL59
|
Flew Sydney-Melbourne in 56 minutes. |
| VH-EBB |
06JUL59
|
After landing at Avalon, the pilots felt that the aircraft was pulling to the right. Inspection revealed a collapsed outer bearing on the rear, inner wheel of the starboard main undercarriage. As the wheel was seized on the axle and could not be removed, the aircraft was towed to the hangar with the wheel skidding. Even in the hangar the wheel could not be removed and the entire bogie was changed. (Source: NAA 58/476 pt3, Major Defects QEA, MD 185/59 via Colin Lock) |
| VH-EBB |
21JUL59
|
Departed Sydney at 0730 on a proving flight to San Francisco and Vancouver. |
| VH-EBB |
16AUG59
|
VH-EBB departed Sydney for San Francisco at 1925 on its first revenue service, however number 3 engine was shut down because of low oil pressure and the aircraft turned back to Sydney. Because of crosswinds in Sydney, the aircraft diverted to Brisbane where it landed at 2325. Read the full story The Day the Qantas 707 Fleet Diverted to Brisbane |
| VH-EBB |
09SEP59
|
Departed Sydney at 1605 on its first service to London via San Francisco |
| VH-EBB |
19NOV60
|
Carried a "Round the World" commemorative airmail from London to Sydney via the Kangaroo route to mark the 40th anniversary of Qantas. The mail, which originated in Winton on 16NOV60, had been carried from Sydney to London via the Southern Cross route on VH-EBD. (Ref: PAT 99) |
| VH-EBB |
28JAN61
|
Photographed
at Sydney wearing the Qantas 40th anniversary emblem. |
| VH-EBB |
11SEP61
|
Departed Sydney on return to Boeing in Seattle for conversion to 707-138B |
| VH-EBB |
12SEP61
|
Arrived Seattle at 1205. (TT: 6350:32) |
| VH-EBB |
17OCT61
|
Test flying |
| VH-EBB |
19OCT61
|
Test flying completed (6:15) |
| VH-EBB |
19OCT61
|
Returned to Qantas |
| VH-EBB |
23OCT61
|
Departed Seattle at 1502 on return to Sydney |
| VH-EBB |
24OCT61
|
Arrived Sydney at 0930. (TT: 6371:32) |
| VH-EBB |
06JUN63
|
Photographed
at London, Heathrow. |
| VH-EBB |
27MAR67
|
Departed Sydney at 1130 on its last Qantas service (to London via Kangaroo Route) |
| VH-EBB |
27APR67
|
Struck off Australian Register |
| N790SA |
04MAY67
|
Sold
to Seymour R. Gross of Chicago as N790SA. (TT: 24167:00 Landings:
11867)
|
| N790SA |
06MAY67
|
Leased to Standard Airways |
| N790SA |
AUG68
|
Used in movie "Lost Flight" with Lloyd Bridges. Carried Standard Airways livery with "Transpacific Airlines" titles |
| N790SA |
AUG68
|
Leased to El Al |
| N790SA |
AUG68
|
Returned to Standard Airways |
| N790SA |
AUG69
|
Standard
Airways ceased operations and aircraft impounded at Las Vegas.
|
| D-ADAP |
31JAN71
|
Sold
to Air Commerz, Hamburg.
|
| D-ADAP |
09MAY71
|
Arrived Hamburg on delivery |
|
D-ADAP
|
-
|
Leased by Merpati Nusantara |
|
D-ADAP
|
01SEP72
|
Impounded by Aer Lingus at Dublin. Air Commerz declared bankrupt three days later |
| N790SA |
08AUG73
|
Sold to Frederick B. Ayer and Assoc, Geneva, Switzerland and ferried from Dublin to Marana, Arizona for storage |
| N790SA |
31OCT75
|
Registered to F.B. Ayer |
| N790SA |
28MAR76
|
Arrived Stansted for overhaul |
| N790SA |
28MAY76
|
Photographed
at Stansted in full Turk Hava Yollari livery but still marked as
N790SA. |
| TC-JBN |
05JUN76
|
Noted at Stansted in full Turk Hava Yollari livery. Had been mistakenly registered as TC-JBP. Aircraft named "Ceyhan" |
| TC-JBN |
18JUN76
|
Registered TC-JBN to Turk Hava Yollari. (Source: www.ole-nikolajsen.com) |
| TC-JBN |
24JUN76
|
Delivered
ex Southend (Stansted?) to THY
|
| TC-JBN |
18DEC77
|
Struck off the Turkish Register. (Source: www.ole-nikolajsen.com) |
| N790FA |
18DEC77
|
Returned to FBA Corp |
| N790FA |
15FEB78
|
Delivered
to Israel Aircraft Industries, Tel Aviv |
| N790FA |
28SEP78
|
Delivered to Jet Aviation, Basel, Switzerland ex HAECO, Hong Kong for executive conversion |
| N790FA |
JUN79
|
Executive
conversion completed. Sold to Lowa Ltd and operated by Private Jet
Services of Basel (a Jet Aviation subsidiary) |
| N790FA |
01AUG79
|
Arrived Sydney from Perth with the Foreign Minister of the State of Oman. (TT: 35434:00) |
| N790FA |
04AUG79
|
Departed Sydney at 1200 for Auckland |
| N790FA |
MAR82
|
Noted
at Munich. |
| N790FA |
MAR85
|
Stored
at Basle. |
| N790FA |
DEC86
|
Registered to Community Transport Inc, San Antonio TX (AL243/12) |
| N790FA |
JUN88
|
Registered to Exec Aire Inc, San Antonio TX (AL261/12) |
| N790FA |
DEC88
|
Registered to Jetran Inc, San Antonio (AL267/11) |
| N138SR |
NOV90
|
Re-registered
to Comtran International Inc (AL290/10) Jetran were renamed Comtran International Inc (AL277/12) |
| N138SR |
JUN91
|
Exhibited
at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget. The aircraft carried the Air
Show Number 105. |
| N138SR |
08FEB93
|
Ferried Amman-Gander-San Antonio (AL317/12) |
| N138SR |
19MAR94
|
Noted at Prague (AL329/15) |
| N138SR |
08MAY94
|
Noted
at Paris, Le Bourget with Republique du Congo titles (AL331/13)
|
| N138SR |
26AUG94
|
Photographed
at Melbourne. |
| N138SR |
DEC94
|
Photographed
at Zurich. |
| N138SR |
11FEB95
|
Noted
at Bangkok with AK on the tail. (AL345/14) The "AK" is believed to represent arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi who is known to have chartered the aircraft from Comtran International for a time. |
| N138SR |
22APR95
|
Noted at Orlando with AK on the tail (AL343/14) |
| N138SR |
09JUL95
|
Noted at Nice with AK on the tail (AL345/14) |
| N138SR |
OCT95
|
Photographed
with AK on the tail. |
| N138SR |
25SEP96
|
Noted
at Amsterdam with Kingdom Entertainment titles and tail logo. In
use by Michael Jackson. (AL359/15). |
| N138SR |
28AUG98
|
Damaged beyond repair in an arson attack on the cockpit while the aircraft was parked at Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The damage was not discovered until 05SEP98 when the Comtran crew arrived to ferry the aircraft back to the USA. Operator also shown as Jaffe Group. |
| N138SR |
16APR05
|
Noted
at Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Reported as "withdrawn from use".
(AL466/23)
|
| N138SR |
05-07
|
Based on Google Earth imagery, the aircraft was present on 24DEC03 but gone by 26DEC07. Taking into account the above sighting on 16APR05, the aircraft must have been broken up sometime between 16APR05 and 26DEC07. A PPRuNe correspondent witnessed the aircraft being broken up but the date was not recorded. |
Camera icon is linked to a photo.
|
Issue
|
Date
|
Remarks
|
|
16
|
25FEB23
|
Added an image of the aircraft stored at Las Vegas as N790SA thanks to Peter Gates. |
|
15
|
16OCT22
|
Added
two images thanks to Eric Allen. Image
1  Image
2 |
|
14
|
11MAR22
|
Added an image of the aircraft at the Paris Air Show as N138SR in 1991. |
|
13
|
16FEB22
|
Added the
following images thanks to Stefan Röhrich: |
|
12
|
14DEC17
|
Added an image of the aircraft in full THY livery as N790SA. Thanks to Firuz Altingoz. |
|
11
|
02SEP17
|
Added confirmation that the aircraft has been broken up. |
|
10
|
01SEP17
|
Added an image of N138SR derelict at Port Harcourt. |
|
9
|
27MAR16
|
Added 4 new images of the delivery flight. Also added a discussion about the name carried by VH-EBB for its delivery flight. See 30JUN59. |
|
8
|
24AUG15
|
Added an image of N138SR at Melbourne in 1994 thanks to Paul Hockey. |
|
7
|
22APR14
|
Added two new images. Image 1 Image 2 |
|
6
|
12JUN12
|
Added two photographs of the instrument panel of VH-EBB. Thanks to Phil Vabre of the Civil Aviation Historical Society. See 02JUL59. |
|
5
|
27JUN10
|
Revised the entry regarding the diversion to Brisbane on 16AUG59. |
|
4
|
12MAY10
|
Made several corrections and additions to the entry regarding the diversion to Brisbane on 16AUG59. |
|
3
|
18APR07
|
Added dates on and off the Turkish Register. |
|
2
|
26AUG06
|
Added a reference to an incident at Avalon on 06JUL59. |
|
1
|
27JUL06
|
Created individual page for this aircraft. Archived Updates for combined B707-138B list. |
NOTES |
|
|
1
|
There
are four numbers in the second column of each header. These are: 1. The Constructor's Number (c/n or Manufacturer's Serial Number) 2. The Line Number (The order in which final assembly began) 3. Cumulative Line Number (The order in which the aircraft were rolled out) 4. Engineering Block Number (Customer Number) Note: During early production, the Line Number was often the same as the Cumulative Line Number. Source: "The Boeing 707 & 720" Air-Britain 1972. |
|
2
|
Please forward any errors or updates to the Webmaster. |
|
3
|
These sources are gratefully acknowledged. |