Qantas Founders Outback Museum, Aviation museum in Longreach, Australia
The Qantas Founders Outback Museum is an aviation museum centred on the heritage-listed Qantas Hangar of 1922 in Longreach. Its collection includes a Boeing 747-238B named City of Bunbury, a Boeing 707-138B registered VH-EBA, a Douglas DC-3, a Consolidated PBY Catalina and replicas of an Avro 504K and de Havilland DH.50 and DH.61.
Qantas was registered on 16 November 1920 in Winton and held its first board meeting there in 1921, deciding to move operations to Longreach, where the airline was based from 1921 to 1929. The museum opened on 9 June 1996 in the 1922 Qantas Hangar, which is listed on the Australian National Heritage List. Stage 2 formed part of a 1999 Queensland and federal heritage trails network project.
Qantas was registered as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd on 16 November 1920 in Winton; at a 1921 board meeting in Winton it was decided to move operations to Longreach, which remained the airline's base from 1921 to 1929. The museum keeps that origin story, and the 1922 hangar it occupies is listed on the Australian National Heritage List.
The museum is centred on the 1922 Qantas hangar, with the large aircraft displayed outside under the Airpark Roof built from 2019. The Boeing 747-238B City of Bunbury can be entered and viewed inside; guided tours cover the aircraft. Longreach lies 177 kilometres from Winton, the airline's first home.
The Boeing 707 VH-EBA, Qantas's first jet, returned to Australia in December 2006 after restoration at Southend Airport in England. Its delivery flight covered over 31,500 kilometres in eight days, routing via Ireland, the Canary Islands, Bermuda, the United States and Fiji before landing in Sydney; it reached Longreach by road in June 2007.
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