The Longest Reach

The sight is impressive to say the very least. The broad wing span of a Qantas Boeing 747‑400 cutting through the early morning haze with its lights is at odds with the surrounding gloom. And while it is a scene that has been played out many times around the world over the past 26 years, for VH-OJA, the City of Canberra, this will be the very final approach.

The Boeing 747 was one of aviation’s game changers.

First taking flight in 1969, it subsequently succeeded in allowing passengers to transit the globe in numbers that could have previously only been imagined. Seemingly defying gravity, the mammoth of the skies dwarfed its predecessors and turned heads at every corner, affectionately earning the nickname ‘Jumbo Jet’.