Shipment of a Lockheed Super Constellation purchased by the Qantas Founders Museum back to Australia has moved a step closer after the aircraft was recently raised out of the ground and had its wheels replaced.
Qantas Founders Museum chief executive Tony Martin says the aircraft, which is similar to those flown by Qantas in the 1940s and 1950s, will soon be tugged over to a hardstand at Manila Airport for further work.
Martin says the aircraft is likely to be restored, painted and prepared for transport back to Australia in Manila, given the presence of large maintenance, repair and overhaul providers such as Lufthansa Technik at the airport.
“It makes a lot of sense to have it done there and then ship it back to Australia,” Martin said on Friday.
“Lufthansa Technik is a huge outfit.”
Lufthansa Technik performs maintenance for several airlines at its Manila facility, including work on Qantas’s fleet of Airbus A380 aircraft.
The museum acquired the Super Constellation, which had been grounded for the past 25 years, at a recent auction of old aircraft organised by the Manila International Airport Authority.
Previously used by World Fish and Agriculture Inc to transport fish cargo, the aircraft is not airworthy and will be transported first by ship then onwards to the museum’s location at Longreach, Queensland, by road.
