New addition to the SA Airways Museum Society comes home

The Lockheed Starliner ZS-DVJ arrived in Germiston on Friday morning.

October 19, 2017

Germiston City News 3 minutes read

The Lockheed Starliner ZS-DVJ arrives at the Phoebus Apollo hangars at Rand Airport, on Friday, where she will be reassembled and then towed to the South African Airways Museum Society.

If you had been out and about in the streets of Germiston on Friday morning, you may have been met with a strange sight.

It was Friday the 13th, after all, but definitely not an unlucky one for the South African Airways Museum Society.

A huge truck carrying the Lockheed Starliner ZS-DVJ was slowly making its way to Rand Airport.

And yes, she did arrive, safe and sound.

The magnificent ex-SAA aircraft crossed runway 03R at O R Tambo International Airport for the very last time just after midnight to get ready for her final journey.

She was offloaded at the Phoebus Apollo hangars, where her reassembly will take place, and once that is complete she will be towed to the South African Airways Museum Society, a stone’s throw away, which will be her final resting place.

This Starliner is one of 44 built.

A type L1649A Starliner, she was manufactured in 1958 and was one of the last Lockheed piston-engined airliners.

Lufthansa originally purchased this Starliner and she was delivered to them in January 1958.

She was later sold to Trek Airways (Trek Lugdiens) and registered ZS-DVJ in April 1964.

During 1965, ZS-DVJ was leased by South African Airways to operate regular services between Johannesburg and Perth.

She was also chartered to operate services between Johannesburg and Cape Town during the peak season of 1967 to 1968.

In basic Trek colours, she wore SA Airways and SA Lugdiens titles on the fuselage.

In 1966, ZS-DVJ scored two “firsts” in South African aviation history.

They were:

• Flying the first non-stop commercial crossing of the Atlantic by a South African operator, ZS-DVJ touched down in Rio de Janeiro shortly after noon on February 15, 1966, having left Luanda at 10.30pm the previous night.

• ZS-DVJ landed at Tokyo on the first Far East flight by a South African airliner on July 5, 1966.

After making these historic flights, she then went to Safari Travel Ltd and was leased to Luxair in 1967 and was registered LX-LGX, but she returned to Trek Airways in 1968 as ZS-DVJ.

When Trek Airways moved into the jet age, they no longer required the services of the Starliners and they were sold.

ZS-DVJ was retired by Trek Airways in 1969 and stored in Johannesburg.

In 1971 she was purchased, for R2 000, by W J Pelser, the owner of Klein Kariba pleasure resort just outside Warmbaths, now Bela-Bela.

However, in 1979 she was donated to SAA, dismantled by SAA engineers and taken by road to the then Jan Smuts Airport, arriving on May 23, 1979, and painstakingly reassembled.

Restoration began in February 1984 and was completed in time for SAA’s Open Day on April 30, 1988.

She was restored to her former elegant appearance in Trek Airways livery.

This aircraft is another stunning example of what a dedicated group of aviation enthusiasts, all members of the South African Airways Museum Society, can do in the way of restoring a dilapidated old aircraft into something quite beautiful.

In 2004 she was given a new coat of paint, again Trek Airways livery, which was generously donated by SAA Technical.

She is one of four that survive in the world and must rank as the world’s finest Starliner in passenger configuration, restored to static display.

For the detailed history of this aircraft, complete with photos, visit the South African Airways Museum Society’s website at www.saamuseum.co.za.

The South African Airways Museum Society thanks its sponsors Marlboro Crane Hire, DMX Riggers and Transcor, for making the giant task of moving the aircraft possible.