Qantas Joins the Jet Age (Part 1)

It was also a change for airliners transitioning from large piston engines to jet engines.
The last generation of the large piston engines powering airliners and other transport aircraft had seen them developed to their limits. Problems arose with their reliability, and the attraction of the reliability of the jet engine with its greater power had come at the right time in airliner development.

Fleet planning options and the path to the Boeing 707 selection

An early Qantas decision was to place a letter of intent with the Bristol Aeroplane Company for the purchase of six Britannia Mark 250s for delivery in 1958 “or thereabouts”. There had been some problems with the Proteus engines experiencing power loss due to icing in the engine, but modifications had been made to cure this. The appeal to Qantas with the Britannia was commonality with BOAC equipment, its Kangaroo Route partner.

In its 1954 annual report, Qantas said its aircraft had flown 11 million miles, was operating three weekly services to London, and its older L749A Constellations had been replaced by the Super Constellation. On the Pacific route, one of the two weekly flights terminated in San Francisco, the other in Vancouver. Other prominent routes were twice weekly to Japan and to South Africa — the latter operating at a loss. At that time, Qantas was keen to have the right to operate across the Pacific on a route to Fiji, Canton Island, Honolulu, San Francisco, Montreal, Gander, and to Europe, leading to an around-the-world air service. On 15 May 1954, L1049C-55-81 VH-EAG Southern Constellation delivered the previous month operated the first Qantas trans-Pacific service. With large piston-engined aircraft now dominating the Pacific, the stage was set for the next major equipment change.

On 8 January 1955, Captain Scottie Allan visited Lockheed at Burbank with authority from Qantas to sign a contract for two new Lockheed L1049G Super Constellations modified to Qantas standard including bunks, an improved galley, and toilets. In addition, the hull would be strengthened to enable the front freight compartment to have load capacity increased from 5,000lb to 9,000lb (2268–4082kg). The forward part of the cabin floor was also strengthened to permit a loading of 100lb per square foot (45kg per 0.09 sqm). The cost per aircraft was just under $2 million (all dollar costs in this article are in US currency).

Competition on the Pacific route was now starting to put pressure on Qantas, aware that Pan American had purchased a large number of Douglas DC-7Cs, and deliveries indicated they could enter Pacific service near the end of 1957. A Qantas Technical Development Department analysis indicated the DC-7C was 30mph (48km/h) faster than the Lockheed L1049G. A proposition was put forward by Lockheed to exchange three L1049Gs for the new L1649 Starliner for delivery before the end of 1957. The Qantas board also had been given information that the Britannia 300LR would be superior to both the L1649A or DC-7C and also would be available for delivery before the end of 1957. The earlier letter of intent placed with Bristol had been withdrawn and Qantas was looking at the Britannia with the improved BE.25 Orion engine.

On 10 June 1955, Bristol offered the Britannia Mark 300LR for £1,035,000 and Mark 250LR for £1,060,000, although matters changed when development of the BE.25 was cancelled in 1958 by the British Ministry of Supply in favour of the Rolls-Royce Tyne.

At the end of July 1955, C. O. Turner, Qantas general Manager and chief executive, sent assistant general manager Captain Scottie Allan to the United Kingdom to examine progress with the de Havilland Comet 4 and Bristol Britannia projects. Qantas had been offered Britannia deliveries in in June, July, and August 1957 and was keen to establish whether the Britannia was capable of competing with the Douglas DC-7Cs of Pan American on Pacific routes. In particular, Allan wanted to know if the Proteus engine was reliable enough to power the Britannia until the more advanced engines became available.

On 28 July, Turner informed the board that while the Bristol Britannia and Lockheed 1649 were being investigated, competitive problems would be faced by the introduction of pure jet airliners in 1959. Against this backdrop the UK government had backed BOAC to order 20 Comet 4s with a first flight scheduled for late 1957. Douglas had announced production of the DC-8 and Boeing had received authority to place the Boeing 707 into production.

When Allan gave a detailed report to Turner on 12 September, he said the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 would be very large aeroplanes with gross weights between 260,000lb and 300,000lb (117,936-136,080kg) suitable for high-density routes. The Comet 4 at 152,000lb (68,947kg), while less economic, may be more suitable to Qantas routes although it would require a reduced payload to operate some sectors.

By late 1955, matters were moving fast regarding the future of the big jet airliners. Among a host of orders placed by major US airlines was one from Pan American for 20 Boeing 707s and 28 DC-8s.

Among the orders for US-built airliners the only support for the British aircraft industry had come from BOAC for 20 Comet 4s and 33 Britannias and from British European Airways for 20 Vickers Vanguard turboprops. On 23 November, Turner told the Qantas Board that the large jet airliners seemed aimed at Atlantic and US internal operations. It was not thought Pan American would place its jets on Pacific routes earlier than 1959-1960.

While these developments were occurring, Qantas was winding back some of its older aircraft. The final scheduled flight of a Qantas L749 Constellation took place on 20 October 1955 when VH-EAD Sir Charles Kingsford Smith departed for Johannesburg. The same aircraft had inaugurated the first Qantas Sydney to London service in December 1947.

To show the flag for the British aircraft industry, the sole example of the de Havilland Comet 3, G-ANLO flown by Chief Test Pilot John Cunningham arrived at Sydney on Sunday 4 December 1955 in a scene of excited chaos. Your writer was there as a young schoolboy to witness the event. The pent-up excitement saw spectators spill onto the runway preventing an initial landing. Huge crowds underlined the intense interest in this forerunner of the jet airliners.

I did have the pleasure of meeting John Cunningham 30 years later and he described the events leading to the Comet 3 Sydney arrival, which had an Australian connection.

Well, we planned to leave Hatfield with stops for refuelling at Cairo, Bombay, Singapore, and Darwin to arrive in Sydney in the middle of the afternoon. We had to leave Hatfield in the small hours of the morning of the day before that. As I drove to Hatfield in the small hour past midnight there was a thick fog, and it was in December. It was difficult enough to drive in. It was rather unlikely that we going to get off by daylight and in the event the fog continued I was faced with the [question of] ‘could I put this off for 24 hours?’ The met people informed me it was likely to be just the same 24 hours later and if there was the slightest clearance of a hundred yards or so which would enable me to get off, I should clear out of Hatfield.

Later that afternoon, or maybe it was nearer to midday, the was a slight clearance enough to see two lights ahead on the runway and that was sufficient for me to go off and go to Cairo. I stopped the night in Cairo and left the next day to continue to Bombay, Singapore and Darwin to arrive in Sydney in the afternoon 24 hours later than I originally intended. It all went like clockwork.

I did have Qantas pilots who came all the way to England to come out on this flight with me. The captain who is only fairly recently retired, Ian Ralphe. He had never flown in a jet aircraft before because Qantas were at that time flying the Constellation and I think he was rather astonished. He sat in the cockpit in the spare pilot’s seat behind me and his first takeoff was in thick fog when you could only see a very short distance down the runway.

We were rushing down the runway and he couldn’t see anything at all and then bursting up into what was in fact was a nice blue sky a short distance from the ground. He remained with me to Sydney. I think he survived the whole business.

That Qantas captain in fact was not retired, and when Qantas inaugurated the first trans-Pacific Boeing 707 flight four years later the aircraft was commanded by Captain Ian Ralphe.

To strengthen the fleet to cater for ongoing demand an order was placed for an additional Lockheed L1049H at a cost of £1 million for delivery in early 1957 to reinforce the cargo fleet and £275,000 for five DHC 3 Otters for operations in New Guinea with deliveries in 1956. Meanwhile, examination of propeller turbine aircraft such as the Vickers Vanguard and Lockheed Electra and jet airliners including DC-8 and Comet 4 continued.

Expenditure to replace the current fleet was estimated at £25 million to be funded by various options. At the end of 1955, Qantas had 5535 employees with its fleet comprising 12 Super Constellations, six DC-4s, eight DC-3s, four DHC 2 Beavers, one DHA-3 Drover, and two Catalinas. Disposals during the year were four L749 Constellations with three Short S25 Sandringhams reduced to spares.

While these events were taking place, the first flight of the Boeing 707 took place on 15 July 1954 flown by test pilot Tex Johnston. In 1956 Qantas chairman and managing director Hudson Fysh visited Seattle and flew in the prototype 707 and was enthusiastic about this new jet airliner.

A major development occurred on 2 February 1956 when Turner phoned Boeing president Bill Allen. It set in train a sequence of events that would lead to the long-standing Qantas-Boeing relationship. What Turner wanted was a letter from Boeing setting out Boeing 707 options available to Qantas. Qantas was interested in the intercontinental 707 version, powered by the J75 Pratt and Whitney engine or possibly the Rolls-Royce Conway. Allen said work on the Conway option had not progressed but indicated a 707 powered by Conways could be delivered in the same time frame.

Boeing came back speedily on 8 February with a letter offering a basic price for the 707-320 Intercontinental at a unit price of $5,150,000 per aircraft. During that month the retiring Rolls-Royce chairman, Lord Hives, visited Australia to reinforce the case for a Rolls-Royce Conway powered aircraft for the Qantas purchase. At this time Lockheed also put a vigorous case forward to sell the L1649 as interim type pending 707 deliveries. They considered the L1649 was vastly superior aircraft to the DC-7C.

A counteroffer came from Douglas combining the DC-7C and DC-8. The Lockheed approach involved trading the L1649s to Boeing when the 707 was available. The plan was to sell four L1649 to Qantas for $2.5 million each and buy them back three years later for $1,012,000 each. In addition, BOAC was advancing the case for commonality of equipment promoting the Britannia and Comet 4. With the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to dismiss all these differing proposals as fanciful when the obvious path seemed easy, just go to the larger pure jet airliner. But there were millions of dollars at stake and aircraft manufacturers were keen to win their case.

A significant event occurred on 11 May when Boeing cabled Qantas with a formal offer to sell seven 707-320s powered by the Pratt & Whitney J75 at a unit price of $5,150,000 with deliveries from March to August 1960. The price would also apply to the Conway engine option. On 25 May Boeing cabled Qantas and extended the expiration of their offer until the end of July. Qantas’ Captain Bert Ritchie had flown the 707 prototype and was enthusiastic about the aircraft. He said the turboprop offers were good, but they were being superseded by events.

There were two versions of the 707 on offer, domestic and intercontinental aircraft, both physically similar. The initial 707 at 128 feet (39m) long was found to be too small for most of their customers which saw a 10ft (3.05m) fuselage increase. For Qantas, the aircraft needed to operate considering runway limitations on the Pacific route: Nadi, Fiji had the restriction of a 7,000ft (2134m) runway while the 707 needed to be able have the ability to fly Nadi to Honolulu direct.

Boeing came up with the innovative suggestion to devise a 707 to meet Qantas’ needs. Why not go back to the original standard 128ft 10inch (39.27m) fuselage length to cater for the Nadi runway limitations? The engine now suggested was the military version of the Pratt & Whitney JT3C6 offering a 500lb (2.22kN) thrust increase over the civil version. The 10ft (3.5m) removal of the fuselage section would save weight, increase payload, and enable operation of the stage from Nadi to Honolulu. The empty weight was reduced by 2,500lb (1134kg) compared with the standard 707 and the 5,500lb (2495kg) lower capacity enabled the aircraft to operate from all existing Pacific route airfields without any penalties to passenger numbers due to runway lengths.

There were comments in the Australian aviation press of the possible ramifications of the Qantas 707 to the detriment of British alternatives. Apart from the purchase of the 707 over the Comet and Britannia, the engine selection of Pratt & Whitney also raised eyebrows in comments that it was a further insult for the British industry when the Rolls-Royce Conway was a possible candidate and also passed over. In the end the Boeing decision was the correct one and the Conway-powered alternative was not available until January 1960.

This decision was pivotal. It confirmed Qantas’ decision rested with a pure jet for its fleet — all options involving interim piston engine aircraft, turboprops, and alternative jet aircraft were swept aside. The expense of acquiring interim types which were being seriously considered such as the Lockheed 1649A and Bristol Britannia was removed. Instead, enhancements to existing equipment such as enhancing the Super Constellation was put in place with the installation of radar noses for weather mapping and fitting wingtip tanks to five aircraft operating the Pacific route guaranteeing non-stop Nadi-Honolulu flights.

In addition, two more Lockheed L1049G Super Constellation were ordered for October and November 1957 taking the L1049 fleet total to 16. Despite the number of Super Constellations was increased, Qantas realised they did not have the passenger capacity of the Boeing 707. Ultimately, eight Super Constellations were traded back to Lockheed following the 707s introduction to service in late 1959.

On 6 September 1956 the minister for civil aviation, Athol Townley, announced the government had approved the purchase of seven Boeing 707-138B aircraft at cost of £18.8 million with deliveries commencing in 1959. This order was also noteworthy as Qantas became the first airline outside the US to operate US-built jet airliners.

With the 707 order Qantas was faced with the need for a major upgrade to its Mascot base and they informed Cabinet an outlay of £5 million was required. Apart from new buildings one of the changes required was the re-routing of the Botany railway line which crossed near their hangars.

At the end of 1956, the Qantas fleet stood at 14 Super Constellations, five Douglas DC-4s, eight DC-3s, four DHC 2 Beavers, one DHA-3 Drover, and two Catalina flying boats. On order were two Super Constellations and the soon to be delivered seven Boeing 707s. The huge transformation in capacity and capability was eagerly awaited.

On 16 February 1959, the first of seven Qantas 707s VH-EBA City of Canberra was rolled out at the Boeing factory at Renton, initially test flown as N31239 with an initial test flight in mid-March. The initial deliveries took place in July; the first was VH-EBB arriving in Sydney on the 2 July, the second on the 8 July, and the third on 20 July, another on 1 August and three in September. The first aircraft arrived in Sydney on 2 July with Qantas chairman Sir Hudson Fysh and Boeing president Bill Allen among those on board the flight via Honolulu and Fiji. Qantas accepted an initial three-week delay in deliveries so their requirement of a hydraulically boosted rudder could be met by Boeing.

The delivery flight to Australian included Qantas dignitaries and crew headed by Captains Bert Ritchie and Ian Ralfe. Qantas expressed its delight with the interior with seats covered in fabric made from Australian wool alternating in colour from turquoise to persimmon, with sidewall panels presenting Australian wildflowers. It was a fresh interior presenting a distinctive Australian theme.

During July, training flights on the 707 took place from the Avalon jet test field averaging eight hours per day.

The important inaugural Boeing 707 flight from Sydney across the Pacific took place on 29 July 1959 with VH-EBA City of Canberra under the Command of Captain I. D. V. Ralfe, with Captain R. F. Uren as First Officer and Captain C. G. Fox as Second Officer heading a crew of 14. In a colourful ceremony, the minister of civil aviation, the Honourable Shane Paltridge, minister for air, and the Honourable F. M. Osborne were present. The aircraft was christened by Mrs Paltridge, who cut a ribbon prior to departure. A special bag of mail was handed by the postmaster general, the Honourable C. W. Davidson, to Captain Ralfe to carry on the flight with contents postmarked 29 July.

Eventually, the Qantas 707s were regularly flying around the world with a 57hr 15min flying time compared with 103hr 30min for the Super Constellation.

An innovative and major new service was launched from Sydney on 26 November 1964 by the director-general of civil aviation, D. G. Anderson, when he dispatched VH-EBM City of Launceston on a flight to London across the Pacific which by by-passed the USA. The route flown was via Tahiti, Acapulco, Mexico City, Nassau, and Bermuda.