VH-EBE

 

VH-EBE
17700
59
59
505
City of Perth
VH-EBE
02JUL59
Rolled out as 707-138
VH-EBE
13AUG59
First flown
VH-EBE
24AUG59
Boeing delivery date to Qantas (Ref: HAI D20)
VH-EBE
04SEP59
Registered to Qantas Empire Airways Ltd
VH-EBE
08SEP59
Accepted by Qantas
VH-EBE
17SEP59
Arrived Sydney at 0719. (TT: 99:40)
VH-EBE
SEP59
The aircraft was photographed at Avalon without a name or coat of arms but with the markings E 5 under the nose (last letter of registration and 5th delivery to Qantas). Evidently it was painted as "City of Perth" sometime after delivery but before entering service.
VH-EBE
09OCT59
Departed Sydney at 0900 on proving flight to London via the Middle East
VH-EBE
24OCT59
Returned to Sydney at 0800
VH-EBE
27OCT59
Departed Sydney at 1310 on the inaugural service to London via the Kangaroo Route under the command of Captain Ralph Bruce. Routing: Sydney, Darwin, Singapore, Bangkok, Calcutta, Karachi, Bahrain, Cairo, Rome and London
VH-EBE
28MAR60
Photographed at Adelaide, SA.
VH-EBE
01JUN60
Record flight from San Francisco to New York in 4 hrs 33 mins. Captain Bert Yates
VH-EBE
JUL60
Photographed at Sydney.
VH-EBE
18AUG60
Departed Sydney for Rome with the Australian Olympic team. (Source: Photo in State Library of NSW)
VH-EBE
18OCT61
Departed Sydney at 0900 on the regular service to San Francisco from where the aircraft positioned to Seattle for 138B conversion
VH-EBE
20OCT61
Arrived Seattle at 0959. (TT: 6312:40)
VH-EBE
28NOV61
Test flight
VH-EBE
30NOV61
Returned to Qantas at Seattle
VH-EBE
04DEC61
Arrived Sydney at 2105. (TT: 6330:32)
VH-EBE
05DEC61
Entered paint shop for V-Jet fin and rudder repaint
VH-EBE
07DEC61
Repaint completed
VH-EBE
08DEC61
Departed Sydney at 1207 for London via the Kangaroo Route
VH-EBE
01FEB62
Inaugurated the Sydney-Perth-London service
VH-EBE
06APR62
Operated the first direct service from Brisbane to Singapore (Ref: PAT 108)
VH-EBE
17FEB63
Departed Sydney at 0856 for Christchurch. Flying time 2 hrs 19 mins. First 707 to visit New Zealand
VH-EBE
18FEB63
Royal Flight from Christchurch to Canberra with HRH Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip. (Qantas sources state that the aircraft arrived Sydney at 1641 but contemporary newsreel footage shows a Qantas 707-138B landing in the rain at RAAF Base Fairbairn in Canberra. The registration and name on the aircraft are indistinct but the registration appears to be VH-EBE. However, the coat of arms on the nose is clearly that of the City of Perth. The official itinerary shows Her Majesty arriving in Canberra "p.m. on 18 February" so the time quoted from Qantas sources i.e. 1641 hours probably refers to the arrival in Canberra.)
VH-EBE
19JUL63
Record flight from Sydney to Brisbane in 46 minutes.
VH-EBE
07FEB64
Royal Flight: London to Nadi, Queen Mother. (Note: 1)
VH-EBE
28FEB64
Royal Flight: Christchurch to Canberra. (Note: 1)
VH-EBE
25MAR64
Royal Flight: Perth to London. (Note: 1)
VH-EBE
25APR65
Photographed taking-off from Sydney.
VH-EBE
AUG67
Photographed at Mascot wearing an MSA logo.
VH-EBE
16FEB68
Departed Sydney at 1500 on last Qantas service (to San Francisco)
VH-EBE
01MAY68
Struck off Australian Register
N793SA
15MAY68
Sold to International Aerodyne, Miami and leased to Standard Airways, Seattle. Departed Sydney at 1115 on delivery. (TT: 26203:00)
N793SA
70
Photographed in Standard Airways colours at Munich.
CF-PWW
20JUL69
Leased to Pacific Western Airlines, Vancouver (Fleet No 774).
CF-PWW
DEC69
Photographed in PWA livery.
CF-PWW
27MAR71
Photographed at Seattle with PWA titles removed.
N793SA
01MAY71
Returned to International Aerodyne and leased to Alaska Airlines
N793SA
30SEP71
Returned to International Aerodyne
N793SA
02OCT71
Noted at Dallas in Alaska Airlines livery
VP-BDE
18NOV71
Leased to Bahamas World Airlines and named "Spirit of 73"
N793NA
08AUG74
Returned to International Aerodyne and sold to National Aircraft Leasing
N793NA
OCT75
Leased to Aeroamerica
N793NA
FEB76
Sub-leased to Egyptair
N793NA
APR76
Returned to Aeroamerica
N793NA
JUN77
Sub-leased to Egyptair
N793NA
06OCT77
Nose damaged at Tripoli when struck by wing tip of Tarom Il-62 YA-ARM
N793NA
OCT77
Returned to Aeroamerica
N793NA
FEB78
Stored at Boeing Field, Seattle
N793NA
12DEC78
Rolled out after 10 months in hangar. All white with no titles
N793NA
20JAN79
Sold to TAG Air
N793NA
08OCT79
Photographed at San Antonio
N793NA
02FEB80
Noted at San Antonio
N793NA
24APR83
Sold to Boeing for KC-135 parts (AL200/12)
N793NA
JUN83
Registered to Aviation Technical Support Inc., Waco TX (AL202/14)
N793NA
JUL83
Registration cancelled (AL203/15)
N793NA
96
Dismantled by National Aircraft at Tucson AZ.
N793NA
c. 03
A company doing structural testing and fuel probe/wiring mods cut some parts off the airframe.
N793NA
31MAR06
The remains of the airframe were cut up by National Aircraft at Tucson.

 

NOTES
1
Apparently VH-EBE was allocated to these Royal flights but the Queen Mother was struck down by appendicitis and never made this tour. It is known that the Royal Yacht Britannia did visit Fiji and New Zealand in connection with this tour, evidently having sailed before the Queen Mother's illness. It is not known if anyone took the place of the Queen Mother or if VH-EBE actually did any flying in connection with this tour.

 

 


 

 


Camera icon is linked to a photo.

 

Issue
Date
Remarks
15
11MAY23
Added an image of CF-PWW.
14
16OCT22
Added an image of VH-EBE thanks to Eric Allen.
13
16FEB22
Added an image of the aircraft in Aeroamerica colours and Egypt Air titles thanks to Stefan Röhrich.
12
30AUG20
Added another image of the aircraft operating a Royal flight to Canberra on 18FEB63. Thanks to Peter Lindeman.
11
05AUG20
Added an image of the aircraft operating a Royal flight to Canberra on 18FEB63. Thanks to Peter Lindeman.
10
16JAN18
Added an image of the aircraft in Aeroamerica colours and Egypt Air titles.
9
11AUG16
Corrected the details of the Queen's arrival in Australia on 18FEB63.
8
26MAY13
Added an image of the aircraft in Standard Airways colours at Munich in 1970.
7
31AUG12
Added an image of the aircraft at Adelaide on 28MAR60. Thanks to Nigel Daw of SAAM.
6
23JUN12
Added an image of the aircraft wearing an MSA logo. Thanks to Phil Vabre of the Civil Aviation Historical Society.
5
02MAY11
Highlighted an anomaly with the 1964 tour by the Queen Mother. See Note 1 above. Thanks to Tom Harwood for pointing out the discrepancy.
4
25MAR07
Added reference to the Australian Olympic team on 18AUG60.
3
05JAN07
Photographic evidence indicates that the aeroplane was delivered without a name or coat of arms. Thanks to Bill Fishwick.
2
14DEC06
Added details of the scrapping thanks to Bob Maddern.
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.