Qantas Airways

 B747-438

VH-OJB

Business Class Upper Deck Seat Designator Signage

Row 11JK

First row aft of cockpit on upper deck

This ‘U’ shaped sign clipped over the lip of the overhead luggage bin identifying the seats below

VH-OJB was of course one of Qantas’ most notable Jumbo’s after it was re-painted in an all-over Indigenous ‘Wanula Dreaming’ livery in 1994 at its then main base in Sydney

In doing so it became the then heaviest zero fuel weight B747 to take flight

Coincidently the delivery of Qantas’ final Jumbo – VH-OEJ, incorporated a ferry flight from the Boeing plant to New Iberia, LA on the 31st July 2003 finished in an all-over red livery for application of the ‘Wanula Dreaming’ livery

This was a mere four months after this facility removed the same livery from OJB!

OEJ remained in Wanula livery up until approximately the 2nd of January 2012 when it was ferried to Xiamen, China for repainting to its final standard finish

This timeline charts the sterilisation of aviation and the industry which supported it within Australia

This is a rare opportunity to acquire a unique piece of Australian aviation history without the need to deal with foreign exchange rates, costly shipping and potential taxation implications!

Please bear in mind that pricing is in AUD

AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR$

Check out the exchange rate at your leisure

VH-OJB History

Second of four B747-438’s ordered by Qantas in March 1987

This was to be Qantas’ 32nd B747 and 78th Boeing aircraft

Rolled out of Everett on the 6th June 1989 as Boeing Block Number RT552

First flew as ‘OJB’ on 18th August

Ferried to Las Vegas as BOE552 on 15th September where it was accepted by QAL and entered onto the Australian Aircraft Register

Ferried to LHR as QF7442 the next day

First revenue service as QF704 LHR-SIN-SYD on 19th September

Aircraft named ‘City of Sydney’ on the 17th October

Infamously involved in a near head-on collision with a USAF C5 galaxy over Phuket, Thailand on the 11th September 1990 while operating QF10 LHR-SIN

Both aircraft passed within 15m in cloud at FL370

A single and sudden buffet was felt as the C5 tracked in an undisclosed northerly direction due to alleged difficulties in communicating with ATC

OJB entered maintenance in SYD in August 1994 during which it was secretly re-painted in the striking ‘Wanula Dreaming’ livery

It operated its first service in this colour scheme to Osaka Kanasai on the 4th September

Its final Wanula service occurred on 11th March 2003 as QF107 SYD-LAX

From here it ferried to New Iberia, LA as QF6109 for re-painting in standard livery

Ferried back to LAX as QF6024 on the 27th March before returning to SYD as QF108

The aircraft was renamed ‘Mount Isa’

Advertised for sale on 16th January 2012

Final commercial service as QF107 SYD-LAX on 25th April 2012

Ferried to Victorville as QF6021 the next day

Accepted by Midwest Sales and Leasing on 5th September 2014 and removed from the Australian Aircraft Register three days later having flown 94,509 hours over 12,749 cycles

Entered onto the US Aircraft Register as N954JM on 14th November 2014 and ferried to Mojave soon after

Observed in the scrap yard minus engines and various other hardware in February 2016

Cancelled from the US register on 18th April 2018 and listed as being scrapped by Q747LLC

From all accounts the fuselage is still intact albeit in a cannibalised state however, its immediate neighbour EVA B16462 was dismantled earlier this year…

Do not miss out on this unique item