City of Canberra (aircraft)
The City of Canberra is a preserved Boeing 747-438 delivered to Qantas in 1989 and now on display at the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society museum at Shellharbour Airport (formerly Illawarra Regional Airport) near Wollongong, Australia. On 16–17 August 1989, whilst en route from the Boeing Everett Factory in the United States following its registration as a newly completed Qantas aircraft, the City of Canberra made a non-stop delivery flight from London Heathrow to Qantas' headquarters in Sydney. , the month of the aircraft's final passenger-carrying flight, this was still the longest non-stop un-refuelled delivery flight by an airliner. Aircraft The City of Canberra, registered VH-OJA, named after Australia's capital city, was the first Boeing 747-400 delivered to Qantas. It was not modified for the flight in any way – such as by the installation of extra fuel tanks – but some items of equipment were removed from the galleys and cargo compartments to save weight. Record-breaking flight The 747-438 took 20 hours and 9 minutes to fly a distance of 9,720 nautical miles (18,001 km) from London Heathrow to Sydney. The elapsed time was six minutes longer than the quickest non-stop England to Australia flight, which was made by an