Laurence Clark & The Queen Of The Skies (Qantas Boeing 747)

Outback Stories

It's 1942 and Laurence Clark is climbing into a plane, a Sunderland to be specific. He is part of the Air Force and has been selected to fly within the Australian Squadron, an elite few, flying in England during World War 11 But what happens when the fighting stops and you head home after three years abroad? Well, you start working for Australia's largest aviation company of course. @qantas hired Laurence just moments after his feet were planted firmly on home soil and he continued with them for over 37 years, flying around the world, being a test pilot in some of the worlds FIRST and most notable planes. Just late last year Qantas retired the Queen Of The Skies, the last @boeing 747 in a spectacular farewell flight out of Sydney to California where it was mothballed. The jumbo was extremely familiar to all of us and of course to Laurence - in fact he was one of the first pilots to ever fly a Boeing 747!!! ✈️And he shows us his logbook, clocking up tens of thousands of hours in the cockpit. But his most Notable flight was in 1971, the first flight out of Seattle to Deliver Qantas first Boeing 747 to the Kingsford Smith Airport in Sydney. In this podcast Laurence tells us of his time working alongside Freddy Fox a dear friend and captain. He tells us of growing up during the depression and his time in the war and flying around the world , oh and I forgot to mention ... Laurence had a stint flying for the royal family too. Without much further ado our podcast is now LIVE on Apple and Spotify 🎧🎙 please excuse the sound quality of parts of this podcast Laurence he is after all 96 years of age, but sharp as a button. Also as always please feel free to leave us a review or if you have an amazing outback story get in contact with us on Facebook @extraordinaryoutbackstories or Instagram @extraordinaryoutbackstories or email [e-mail] #qantas #boeing747 #boeing #flying #outbackstories #podcast #ruralstories #rural #outback