The last Qantas B747, VH-OEJ, departed Sydney, Australia on 22nd July 2020. It flew over Sydney Harbour twice, then flew south to Wollongong.
However the celebration was not done yet, it surprised many by drawing an iconic kangaroo in the sky on its final journey to the airplane boneyard in Mojave, California via Los Angeles.
Flight QF7474 arrived in Los Angeles Int’l (LAX) at 13:23 on July 22nd 2020. Being in the US, I was able to visit the Qantas B747-400/ER at both LAX and Mojave.
Last look Inside the Qantas B747
Let’s have a tour of the last Qantas B747-400/ER, VH-OEJ, at the LAX Qantas maintenance base.
I must say the interior looks immaculate and looks fresh out of the factory. It is evident that Qantas have looked after their B747.
Qantas B747 A Zone Nose Area 
Qantas B747 A Zone Business Class
Qantas B747 B Zone Business Class 
Qantas B747 B Zone Business Class
The B747-400/ER has the Boeing signature interior on the overhead bins, providing extra head room for passengers.
Qantas B747-400/ER Economy Zone D 
Qantas B747-400/ER Economy Zone D
Some seats have been removed in the rear section and these seats were retained for future crew training use.
Mojave
The Qantas B747 made her final journey from Los Angeles to Mojave on July 24th 2020. It touched down at Mojave around 11:50, after a 30 minute flight and flew at 13,000 ft.
At Mojave, she joined 5 of her other B747-400/ER sister-ships in storage. Four of them are pictured here.
Once the engines were shut down, I was allowed to board and meet up the pilots in the cockpit.
The last B747-400/ER flight was operated by 6 Qantas pilots. They were:
- Captain Sharelle Quinn
- Captain Ewen Cameron
- Captain Greg Fitzgerald
- Captain Owen Weaver
- F/O Quin Ledden
- S/O Owen Zupp
The last LAX to Mojave leg was operated by Captain Ewen Cameron and Captain Greg Fitzgerald, who both will be retiring after this flight.
I took the opportunity to take pictures with them and present them with Qantas B747 T shirts, as memorabilia.
The daughter of the 747 Fleet Manager, Captain Owen Weaver, made this special Kangaroo mascot (with mask on!).
The 6 flight deck crew came down to pose for photos for the memorable occasion.
It was my honour to sign on her fuselage at LAX. So many emotions were going through my head, I was literally lost for words.
It was a bittersweet day with the last Qantas B747 at Mojave, Ca.
Not only will I miss the 747, I will also miss the human stories around this plane; sharing the stories, the passion, different cultures and experiences through the shared love of B747 that has brought us together! Thank you Qantas B747, forever Queen of the Sky!
Over the last 25 years, I’ve on a total of 16 times on Qantas B747 across all variants from the SP to the -400/ERs.
This Saturday a grand farewell vlog of Qantas B747 will be released on my YouTube Channel.
You can buy Qantas T-shirt on Skyshirts.
Hi Sam, my name is Enzo Guzman I am 12 years old, and I love your YouTube channel and I do watch your videos and I am big fan of your love for aviation. It is really sad that the Boeing 747-400 for passenger service are disappearing, and did watch your video of the farewell of the Qantas Boeing 747-400 and the day after you filmed your video, I went to the Mojave airplane graveyard with my dad and we saw four Qantas Boeing 747-400 parked and it is very sad that four engine planes are disappearing, I do hope that in the upcoming years their will be no more Covid 19 so I can fly on the Airbus A340, Boeing 747, and Airbus A380, and Maybe one of my future flights I might meet you Sam in the middle of a flight or see you at LAX, Mojave, or Victorville because I live in Los Angeles and I do visit the airports and my favorite airport is LAX. The Boeing 747 dose have a bright future ahead.
The one item I had on my bucket list was to fly on the upper deck of the QF747. When I did it in 2010 it was a dream come true. Every time I’ve ascended those stairs since, I’ve had to catch my breath with excitement & happiness. The 747 never stopped being special. Riding up top never stopped being an honour & a great treat.
Farewell beautiful queen. The classiest bird in the sky xxx
I was also at Scholfields to see the the low pass of a Qantas 747.
My two young sons were with me.
Younger son has been a Qantas mechanical/electrical engineer at KSA since circa 1992.
Ken
Great job Sam. Your photography is brilliant displaying the final flight of the last 747. She will be missed from our skies.
I remember a Qantas B747 combi as an early Oshkosh Express making a ‘low pass’ at AirVenture.
As a Qantas long haul flight attendant, I have worked this aircraft for the last 31 years. She will always be “The Queen of the Sky”. Farewell and Thank You B747
Sam, a job well done to Qantas, crew and all who prepared the flight before leaving the hanger, yes so sad to see her not around any more. I admire how you get these “tough” gigs but some one has to do it. One of my many memories of a 747 was at Scoies (Schofields aerodrome) back in 1979 Airshow and watching a BA 747 conduct a high speed run on the duty runway possibly at ‘200, wow the noise and speed and size was beyond imagination at that time.
Thanks for all the YT’s plenty to amuse ones self during Covid.
I do have a mahogany of OJA 600mm length, which retains the memory.
Keep em coming, love the commentary as well.
Regards
Mark
One of my most cherish memories was in 1978 flying from Sydney to Auckland on a Qantas 747 Cargo / Passenger, as I was walking along the air bridge to board, I looked down and saw my Ford Cortina on a pallet being loaded at the rear ramp at the same time. In those days there were not enough passengers flying between the too countries. The amazing part of this venture, it was cheaper to fly the car than ship it across the Tasman.
I was so lucky to fly on the farewell747 flight out of Brisbane on the 15th with my daughter. Been on so many 747’s in the past and it is so sad that I will never do it again.
Nice one Sam
A big ‘Thank You ‘ Sam for covering QF’s final 747 flight to it’s final destination. I am an avid 747 fan, specifically QF and have flown this particular aircraft on some routes such as LAX/SYD. I’m an Airline employee past over 35 years. Again thank you Sam and QANTAS.
Thanks so much Sam for your wonderful story. I’m quite emotional reading your coverage detailing the final flight to the Mojave desert.
My first flight on the 747 was back in the 70’s on a KLM flight from Toronto to Amsterdam and lucky to get a seat on top. The last 747 flight was 2 yrs ago also with KLM. I’ll miss flying on these giants since you get the feeling your experiencing something special.
The shots of the 747 over the Opera House & Woolongong are great as is this reports, as usual ! Sad to see such capable & magnificent machines being stored and or put out to pasture. I did get to fly four different QF 747s, in the back – the green seats.
I live on the northern approach to Sydney airport. The planes are about 4000ft when they fly over. I shall miss watching QF64 and QF28 coming home from Johannesburg and Santiago.
Although it is sad to see the 747 go, over the last few months the most common plane flying over my house have been 747s freighters (with some 777s and a few 767s). It is interesting that even now the 747 is still doing the job it was originally designed for.
I got a brief view of VH-OEJ on its final turn down Sydney Harbour – beautiful but sad.
Thank you Sam for saying goodbye to her so well.
I flew on QF 747s many times. One time in seat 1a I got to LAX before the flight crew.
From the heart….Thank you 🤍
Thank you Sam, I am tearing up watching the landing.
The 747 has been the constant of my adult travelling life from the SP version onwards. One often repeated memory is of being in the dawn sky with yet some hours to LAX and flying in a trailing jetstream with the plane just whispering along. Truely magic. Much as I like the A350, I remain a fan who regards the 747 as the true Queen of the Skies.
So cool that you were able to go out to the desert!
the queen of the sky shall surely be missed. unfortunately i have not flown on one as i am only 13 years old and air travel is expensive in my country