This aircraft was built as a Lockheed 1049-55-75 at Burbank, California

It was delivered to the United States Navy as a Lockheed R7V-1 - December 08, 1953

It was allocated Bureau Air Number '131643'

Accepted by the Bureau of Aeronautics Materiel and Services at Burbank - November 13, 1953

It was allocated to Fleet Tactical Support Squadron (VR-1) at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland - December 08, 1953

The aircraft was coded 'RP-643'

Transferred to Airborne Weather Reconnaissance Squadron 15, NAS Patuxent River - October 02, 1955

Transferred to Airborne Weather Reconnaissance Squadron 14, NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii - July 02, 1956

Transferred to Fleet Airborne Weather Maintenance Squadron 2, NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii - February 26, 1957

Transferred to Air Base Squadron 2, NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii - June 15, 1957

Transferred to Navy Barrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 15, NAS Patuxent River - June 12, 1958

Transferred to Navy Barrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 2, NAS Patuxent River - October 09, 1958

Transferred to Pacific Missile Range, NAS Point Mugu, California - June 13, 1959

It was redesignated as a Lockheed C-121J - October 31, 1962

Transferred to Naval Missile Centre, NAS Point Mugu, California - August 01, 1963

The aircraft was named 'Ole Blue From Point Mugu'

Transferred to Military Aircraft Storage & Disposal Centre (MASDC) at Davis Monthan for storage - October 03, 1973

Struck off charge by Pacific Missile Range - July 29, 1974

Listed for sale by the Department of Defense - February 11, 1981

It was quoted that the aircraft had flown 14,217 hours as of this date

Sold to Northern Peninsula Fisheries - March 12, 1981

Entered onto the United States Aircraft Register as N4247K - May 1981

Removed from storage and prepared for the ferry flight to Arlington, Washington State

On the first attempt to depart Davis Monthan the aircraft blew two engines and made a forced landing beside runway

Arrived at Arlington, Washington State - June 1981

Officially sold to Northern Peninsula Fisheries - September 01, 1981

This aircraft was acquired for hauling fish during the Alaskan fishing season but certification problems resulted in the

aircraft remaining grounded at Arlington, Washington for several seasons

During the lay-up the aircraft was named 'Winky's Fish' in honour of the president of Northern Peninsula Fisheries

Mr William 'Winky' Crawford

Ownership officially transferred from the United States Government to Willian C. Crawford - May 11, 1987

Sold to World Fish and Agriculture Inc - October 1987

Registered to World Fish and Agriculture Inc, Cold Bay, Alaska - October 06, 1987

Ferried Arlington - Majuro (Marshall Islands) - Palau (Philippines) - November 1987

This aircraft was to be used to fly fresh tuna from Palau to Nagoya (Japan) twice a week

Operated its first revenue service Palau - Nagoya - November 23, 1987

It was observed parked at Manila with a broken right windscreen - March 1988

Qantas was approached to charter this aircraft for the Australian Bicentennial Air Show - May 1988

It was intended to repaint the aircraft in the Qantas livery and display it at RAAF Richmond in October 1988

The Qantas Chief Executive Mr John Medadue supported this proposal

Qantas General Manager Operations Captain Alan Terrell attempted to arrange this charter

As the Constellation was embroiled in litigation it was unable to leave the Philippines

It was officially impounded at Manilla (Philippines) under a court issued order from George Tan - June 1988

It was claimed that World Fish was not honouring the terms of its contract

The contract stipulated that World Fish would haul 38,000 pounds of fish on each revenue flight

The aircraft could only upload 33,000 pounds of fish per flight

This situation was made worse by the non-availability of the require AVGAS fuel grade at Nagoya

This required the crew to carry drums of fuel on board for the return flight reducing the available payload to 15,000 lbs

Whilst stored at Manila the engines were regularly fired up until 1989

The aircraft was abandoned at Manila by World Fish & Agriculture Inc

Cancelled from the United States Aircraft Register - September 18, 2007

Manila International Airport Authority announced its intention to sell off several abandoned aircraft - July 07, 2014

Sold to the Qantas Founders Museum, Longreach, Queensland - September 12, 2014

It was dismantled at Manila in preparation for shipment to Australia - March 2015

It had to be raised out of the mud, propellers and engines removed from the wings, complete tail assembly removed,

landing gear and wings removed and generally made safe for transportation to Australia

All sections were moved from Manila Airport to the Port Of Manila pending shipment - December 2016

It is intended to restore the aircraft to display standards in the Qantas livery at Longreach, Queensland

The three sections were sucessfully loaded onto the vessel BBC Maine at Manila - May 08, 2017

This ship docked at Townsville with the deck cargo wrapped in protective covering - May 18, 2017

The three sections departed the Port of Townsville on trucks for Longreach - May 24, 2017

Route: Townsville - Emerald - Longreach

The aircraft was restored to display condition by volunteers at Longreach

The exterior of the aircraft was repainted to represent the Qantas Constellation 'VH-EAM - Southern Spray'

The interior was refurbished with the main cabin featuring a display that outlines the essential elements

of the Lockheed 749 and 1049 Constellations operated by Qantas from 1947 t0 1963

The forward cabin features the story of this particular airframe from recovery to refurbishment

The cockpit has been refurbished into a 'good-as-new' condition

Current with Qantas Founders Museum