Qantas Boeing 707/338c over Rome

On October 13th, 1955 Juan Trippe, influential President of Pan American World Airways, placed an order with Boeing. It was worth US$296,000 and was the largest order for a commercial airliner ever placed. The airliner was the untried 707. The risk was high because the British deHavilland ‘Comet’ jetliner, after two appalling accidents had to be taken out of service in 1954. Two euphoric years of triumph for British aviation ended in tragic failure and airlines were wary of committing themselves to what the public regarded as a risky way to travel.

The prototypr DeH Comet, 1949. Note the engines fared into the wings.

The 707 grew out of a military transport design for the US Air Force, the KC135 series. The ‘civilianisation’ was carried out secretly because of competitive pressures from the Douglas company who were planning their DC8 jetliner.

The 707 proved to be a resounding long term technical and commercial success. The first production model was delivered to Pan Am in August 1958 – it was then just a matter of time before the ubiquitous 707 was taken up by airlines all over the globe.

One of the striking features of the 707, apart from its swept-wing, was the suspension of its four jet engines on pods beneath the wing, a concept successfully used on the Boeing B47 bomber. This had many advantages, not least of which was a safety factor as well as an efficient, clean wing design. Most of all, as the ‘Comet’ had already demonstrated, a jetliner could economically, high above the weather at twice the height of contemporary piston-engined airliners. A revolution in air travel. The first regular Boeing 707 flight on the lucrative transatlantic route was made by Pan American in October 1958, a few days after the much tested and modified BOAC ‘Comets’ resumed their operations on the same route.

The first Boeing 707 aircraft were 707/120 models. Several variations were to be produced over the life of this remarkable aeroplane and the first version that Qantas purchased in 1959 was a shortened fuselage version, the 707/138c.

A few years later, in 1965, VH-EBU, the “City of Parramatta”, arrived in Australia. This was the first of the larger 707/338c models with more powerful engines, a greater range and, with its longer fuselage, a greater passenger-carrying capacity.

The purchase of these American jet-liners was the cause of much inter-government and airline wrangling between the British and Australian Governments. At that time Qantas was a government-owned airline and had commercial arrangements with British Overseas Airlines Corporation–also government-owned. The British Government put pressure on Australia to ‘buy British’, but as in the late 194os and 1950s when Qantas bought the American-designed Lockheed Constellations, the Australians to their everlasting credit realised they had to make decisions on commercial grounds not political – a point that ironically hit home in Britain when BOAC, too, was eventually forced to buy American aircraft to stay competitive.

The last Qantas 707/338c was sold in 1978. All up, Qantas operated 36 of the famous Boeing jets for twenty years over some of the longest sectors in the world until the transition was made to the 747 ‘Jumbo’. In round figures, the Boeing 707 flew at 40,000ft, cruised at 600mph (965kph) carrying over 200 passengers over a range of 6,347 km. The 707/338c in Marshall's painting is the “City of Parramatta”. It was delivered on 15th February 1965.

The Boeing XB-47 Stratofortress protoype, 1947. Note the engines slung on pods beneath the wings.