Come fly with me......

Longreach is one of the small outback towns that we had heard so much about, so many attractions here for us, not least the Qantas Founders Museum. It turned out to be much better than we expected it to be, we have had a great day here. Although originally founded in Winton in 1920 by two returning pilots from WW1, it moved to Longreach within a year,and the hanger was built in 1922.

The boys were originally barnstormers, and their first aircraft an ex WW1 De Haviland DH 504 which cost £1450, in which they gave joy flights and did air displays around the area, and occasionally operating the occasional air taxi job, until they were awarded an air mail contract by the Post Office from which they earned £12000 in the first year, which just managed to keep them afloat. Gradually they expanded, throughout Queensland and Northern Territory, building airstrips from which they could fly people all around the two states in th Dh Giant Moth, the first plane they had which had a cabin for seven, and a toilet to relieve the tension! But the pilot still sat in an open cockpit behind the cabin, and had trouble seeing ahead, so many times they landed on their nose!

From there QANTAS has become one the world's biggest airlines, with routes throughout the world, flying the very latest airliners. In the museum there are two classic jets, the 747-200, and the 707. We got to see round them both, to stand in an engine nacelle, and to sit in the pilots seats as well as walk along the wing in an extended visit.

The luggage compartments in a 747.

We also got to see down in the engineering and computer bay, as well as the luggage compartment below the main deck. From there we were shown the black boxes, and the hydraulics that operate the tailplane and the auxiliary engine in the tail. Fascinating, all of it, we feel we understand airplanes much better

The 'Black Boxes'

We also went into the 707, the very first of it's kind sold overseas by the Boeing company, and bought by QANTAS. It had many lives during it's time, ending as a luxury jet for a Saudi prince, containing lounges and bedrooms fitted out to the height of luxury
Even the bathrooms were plush, 'fit for a prince!'

Later I got to fly a simulator, a fast jet, from Carlisle Airport! I managed to get off the ground OK, but failed miserably to land the plane safely, crashing it some six times. It's a good job I didn't manage to fly the real thing!

We've had a great day, met a lot of nice people, not least Janice and Anne Marie who took us round the planes, and a couple who we dined with tonight, Alan and Margaret from Sydney.
Once again I'll finish with a few more pics.

A DC3

707 - 200

747-200 and our guides