Category: Australia

The 707 Mini

Seen in the brief period it served as a test plane, N-93134 was the prototype 138 “B” model.
Photos are dated June 8, 1961.

It is easy to look at photos of a 707 and say to oneself, “Look, it is a 707”. However, any aficionado of Boeing’s first jet airliner knows there are more than a dozen 707 variants, and one of those derivatives was the 707-138B.  Shorter by ten feet compared to the standard 707-120, the 138B was used exclusively by Qantas Empire Airways, which favored the abbreviated version due to its increased range.

The aircraft seen here, N-93134, is the first 138B built and was initially used for testing by Boeing. That project completed, in July of 1961, the bird was off to Australia as VH-EBH, “City of Darwin”. 

One of the interesting details in these photos is that even though Boeing was using the plane for testing, it already bears most of the red and white livery of its ultimate customer: Qantas. 

No. 356 Squadron, RAAF, in the Cocos Islands, 1945

Liberators of No. 356 Squadron on West Island. Photo credit to Robert Livingstone whose father served as an RAAF navigator in No. 160 Squadron.
Surrounded by all the trappings of a tropical paradise, a MK VI Liberator idly awaits its next mission.
A “tropical paradise” had its limits: a soggy days days on West Island were the norm.
Armourers of 356 Sqn prep their bombs on the rain-drenched hardstand.
Although constituted late in the war, No. 356 Squadron made a name for themselves with attacks against Japanese shipping and land targets.

Flying the Consolidated Liberator B Mark VI, 356 Sqn operated from the balmy Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean. An outfit that included Canadians as well as Australians, they proved a good mixture as the squadron amply proved in combat.

The RAAF in the Philippines, 1945

Spitfire (A58-635) of No. 457 Squadron
Lineup of No. 457 Sqn aircraft. A58-642 is second from left.
“Grey Nurses” in the Philippines. Aircraft here include 626 and 634
RAAF Spitfires were more than a match for most Japanese aircraft.
No. 457 Sqn Spitfire coasts down for landing. B-24 Liberator in the background.
No. 31 Squadron Beaufighter.
Beaufighter A8-15 (“Holbrook”) of No. 31 Sqn. The cigar-chomping kid is the source of these photos; Dan Esterly, my next door neighbor.
A8-14 is prepped for another mission.
Beaufighter of No. 31 Sqn roars past USMC Corsairs, Zamboanga, Philippines.