Qantas Founders Museum

irdonn · 31-08-2009, 03:48 PM

Hi all,

Has anyone been to the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach recently? Was it worth visiting?

I'm thinking of making the trip from Perth next April.

Cheers,

Ian

flappist · 31-08-2009, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PANUP

Hi all,

Has anyone been to the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach recently? Was it worth visiting?

I'm thinking of making the trip from Perth next April.

Cheers,

Ian

Yes it is if you are an aircraft enthusiest, do the wing walk. Longreach is not a bad place to visit at all. Stockmans hall of fame is a good half a day and the Commercial Hotel serves the second best steak I have ever eaten (commercial in barky is #1).

If you are coming from perth, fly to bris and then drive up the coast and back through the middle or vice-versa, there are heaps of fun things to do and see and most of it is FREE

Other good pubs, Crackow, Comercial @ Barcaldine, Hidaway @ Tiaro, Ilfracombe, Alpha and a lot more.

Tourism QLD has lots of maps and ideas

P.S. If you do go to any of these pubs don't pay out on the weird looking guys in cowboy hats, they may not be smart but they can lift heavy things as a friend of mine found out.....the hard way..

irdonn · 01-09-2009, 05:37 PM

Thanks mate. Yeah the wing walk had caught my eye. Do you recommend anywhere in particular to stay in Longreach?

terri tx · 02-09-2009, 10:31 AM

My bosses son was there when the 747 was delivered (he flies for quantas). They where all worried it wouldnt bloody stop in time cause the runway was to short. He told me they would not be able to get it out of longreach for the same reason. He said they stripped it out before taking it, put the most worn brakes on it and removed any of the good things from the plane (don't knoew why, he told me but I cant remember).

I think hubby wants to take the kids there at christmas time, deffinatly worth it I think.

Holden Man · 02-09-2009, 02:35 PM

Got back from longreach about a month ago, took the missus on the back of the bike.

We stayed at the discovery holiday park (used to be known as Gunadoo caravan park). we stayed in a cabin, they were Ok, nothing flash and pretty cheap. and you could walk to the ASHOF and QFM.

Their are plenty of motels but make sure you book, it was busy.

The QFM is very good, I am no plane buff but it was good, We did the 747 and 707 tours. We took the full tour including the wing walk and cockpit tour,Its not what you would call cheap but worth it. It sounds odd but you will easily spend the day there, by the time you watch the AV presentations etc.

ASHOF is also worth the visit, lots of reading, very dedicated to the "Stockman" but it has a good amount of Australian history as well, we spent a full day their as well.
The ASHOF also has a restaurant, great feed, highly recommend.

Plenty of other towns around that have interesting stuff to see but time got us, Would go back for sure.

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old_mate · 02-09-2009, 09:41 PM

What's the damage on a wing walk? I used to get paid to walk on wings haha.

yea, EBQ will never leave the desert, it's a really old -200 airframe now, Qantas don't even have any -300's anymore. Like most retiring airframes, they put all the high hours components on it to make it *just* airworthy before disposing of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

Other good pubs, Crackow, Comercial @ Barcaldine, Hidaway @ Tiaro, Ilfracombe, Alpha and a lot more.

Alpha! I was up there for a month, the main hotel in town is a joke, arrogant indian fellow owns it. The golf club is where all the locals drink, it's a dive but the people are tops.

Dazza TT · 02-09-2009, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by terri tx

My bosses son was there when the 747 was delivered (he flies for quantas). They where all worried it wouldnt bloody stop in time cause the runway was to short. He told me they would not be able to get it out of longreach for the same reason. He said they stripped it out before taking it, put the most worn brakes on it and removed any of the good things from the plane (don't knoew why, he told me but I cant remember).

Heard a similar thing from a mate studying at Longreach Ag College at the time, was a huge task pulling it up!
Always makes me laugh though.... Qantas were first based in Winton, but Longreach managed to score the museum.

Spudz27 · 02-09-2009, 09:49 PM

Had a look at their website. Definitely considering planning a trip over and doing the whole tour, even if it is $115. Can anyone shed light as to why it said no photography in the 707?

old_mate · 02-09-2009, 09:55 PM

it was a bit wiiiiiiiiide as well

The 707, while a former Qantas airframe was most recently a Saudi Arabian Government VIP Plane, (John Travolta's is the same, ex QF but VIP config) and as such isn't allowed to be photographed (to the best of my knowledge) i believe that perhaps one day it'll get Qantas cabin put into it but parts must be hard to find.

Romulus · 02-09-2009, 11:19 PM

Been there twice now, I'm a QFOM member. Nothing quite like seeing such a large aircraft in an outback country town. The wing walk tour is great to do, done it twice now. The tour which takes you though the cockpit, avionics area and cargo hold is worth doing, just make sure you do it in the winter months. It's quite hot in Longreach in summer time. It was interesting to note at first Qantas did not think they would have any volunteers to fly EBQ to Longreach due to the risk involved landing on such a small runway- as it was there were so many offers from Qantas pilots they had to have a raffle to pick the crew. The aircraft was stripped to it's absolute minimum weight to ensure it would be able to land on the short runway. The two outer engines had to be switched off for the landing to ensure they did not ingest any dirt, as the outer engines were above the grass and not the tarmac.

I missed the opportunity to go through XBA, I was a couple of weeks early on my second trip. All the more reason to go back and check out XBA soon.

Romulus · 03-09-2009, 12:21 AM

Couple of pictures from when I was there in '06.

ltd · 03-09-2009, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVS Super Pursuit

Been there twice now, I'm a QFOM member. Nothing quite like seeing such a large aircraft in an outback country town. The wing walk tour is great to do, done it twice now. The tour which takes you though the cockpit, avionics area and cargo hold is worth doing, just make sure you do it in the winter months. It's quite hot in Longreach in summer time. It was interesting to note at first Qantas did not think they would have any volunteers to fly EBQ to Longreach due to the risk involved landing on such a small runway- as it was there were so many offers from Qantas pilots they had to have a raffle to pick the crew. The aircraft was stripped to it's absolute minimum weight to ensure it would be able to land on the short runway. The two outer engines had to be switched off for the landing to ensure they did not ingest any dirt, as the outer engines were above the grass and not the tarmac.

I missed the opportunity to go through XBA, I was a couple of weeks early on my second trip. All the more reason to go back and check out XBA soon.

Very nice contribuion indeed.

Nice photos too.

Trevor 57 · 03-09-2009, 08:01 PM

IMHO, I reckon the QANTAS museum was heaps better than the Stockmans Hall of Fame, it is just another museum, but the QANTAS one is good.

Romulus · 03-09-2009, 09:37 PM

These are just a couple of pics I took when I went back in '08. VH-XBA 'City of Canberra' had only recently arrived so a tour was not possible.

I really like Pratt and Whitney's logo, and 'Dependable Engine' slogan. Car engines and rwkw pales into insignificance when I look at these things. The new GE90-115B is truly a powerhouse!

CAMS290 · 03-09-2009, 10:10 PM

Awesome stuff, there was a video of the 747 landing at Longreach, I have tried to find it, I think it was on ABC somewhere but to no avail.
Any ideas guys ?

silicon · 04-09-2009, 08:23 AM

Here is the 707 landing anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THbXQWbzTXk

Romulus · 04-09-2009, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAMS290

Awesome stuff, there was a video of the 747 landing at Longreach, I have tried to find it, I think it was on ABC somewhere but to no avail.
Any ideas guys ?

I thought I had it somewhere but can't find it.

Here's another 747 coming in for landing on an even smaller runway than Longreach http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjpguwch3Sk

Check out this take off! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feGZ4...eature=related

Spudz27 · 04-09-2009, 12:00 PM

Second link does not work.

Romulus · 04-09-2009, 12:05 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feGZ4l54Q

ltd · 04-09-2009, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVS Super Pursuit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feGZ4l54Q

Very nice photography indeed.
Gotta tell you though, that 200 cockpit sure is old school.
What's really gross is all the buildup of dead skin and grime on the throttles.

Here's one of the videos of EBQ coming into Longreach

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceCt2_hPoGY

Trevor 57 · 04-09-2009, 05:25 PM

That first link must be another plane at Longreach, when we were there in 2006 it was 747 in the Museum, that footage in 2007 is of a 707.

The footage of the 747 coming is much more spectacular, which is the footage just above this post, but that footage is not the footage they show at the museum.

edit: yep, here is the footage confirming 2 planes at Longreach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxBRv...eature=related

Spudz27 · 04-09-2009, 06:56 PM

I keep getting a message the URL contained Malformed video id.

Romulus · 04-09-2009, 08:44 PM

edited

silicon · 04-09-2009, 10:31 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceCt2_hPoGY

Romulus · 08-11-2009, 02:43 PM

I'm in Sydney this coming Thursday and Friday, so will catch a flight to Brisbane Friday night, then head over to Longreach for Saturday and Sunday, then fly back to Perth Sunday night. I'll take some more pics, this time hopefully will be able to get a good look inside XBA.

irdonn · 11-03-2012, 03:51 AM

Thread mine.

Finally managed to get here in November last year. Had both museums and town to myself. I've never felt crook in the air until the short flight between Blackall and Longreach. The big bloke behind me was much worse off though, spreading his breakfast over the back of my seat.

Spent a day in each museum. QF Founders was a big highlight for me. Did the complete package alone with Gene as my guide (all the staff were excellent). We spent a good three hours in the sun looking over everything. From what I gather photography is not allowed in the 707 because the Saudi hierarchy don't want the plebs to know the high life they live. It's a pity they don't get any direct funding from AJ's pocket or the government. The 747 could do with a bit of a tidy up inside. Still amazing to be able to climb all over it. The PTVs in business made my chuckle. How things have changed!

Took a heap of photos, but most are the same as previous posters.

On finals into Blackall:

Cheers.

irdonn · 11-03-2012, 03:53 AM

Forgot to mention how much EBQ stands out out there. Even from the town itself it looks amazing.

Stazza_Brendan · 11-03-2012, 12:31 PM

Me and Dad did a trip out west a few years ago. Was great to see the museum.
Another standout was a town 27km away from Longreach called Ilfracombe.
Me and Dad were just driving through on our way somewhere else and seen all the old farm machinary from early 20th century lined up on the side of the road. Ended up spending hours there looking at it all.

2011G6E · 12-03-2012, 12:33 AM

DEFINITELY!!

Just do it. You really need to see this place, as well as the Stockmans Hall Of Fame across the road. Oh, and the old Powerhouse Museum around one of the back streets while you're at it.

If the Qantas museum and Hall Of Fame were down at the coast, you couldn't move for the visitors. As it is, they're pretty busy.

I rode out there last year on my bike...it's about 500km from here to Longreach, and was a pleasant ride on the bike leaving before dawn and arriving at dinnertime.
The photos above are far better than any I have, so they pretty much sum it up. If you have kids they will love it!

I'll agree that you should also set some time aside to check out Ilfracombe on the way out...the lf machinery there is astounding, as well as the amazing (and free!) bottle museum in the center of it all...thousands of bottles of all shapes and sizes are there on display.

One sour note is in Barcaldine as you head out to Longreach...you'll see the monstrosity long before you get to Barcy...a massive 18 meter square monument to a political party, the "Tree Of Knowledge" memorial...

This ugly blight on the landscape was built right in the middle of town, at a cost of EIGHT. MILLION. FRICKING. TAXPAYERS. DOLLARS! Imagine how much that money could have helped the Flying Doctor, local hospitals, or other essential services instead of chest-beating for one damn political party!

This is the underside of it, with the stump of the tree where it has been moved. Interestingly, those hanging lumps of wood are about four inches square and several meters long...each hanging on a single bolt. They're already cracking, and some nuts have come loose. In the memorable words of one disgruntled old guy in a pub who spoke to us about them, "If one of them fell and hit you on the head, it wouldn't stop until it came out your bum..."

More sickening, just an hour down the road at the same time this enormous money pit was being built, the little town of Blackall was trying to build a statue of a First World War hero who had been a local kid, and who won the Victoria Cross for bravery...while the government was throwing many millions of taxpayers dollars at the great black cube up the road in Barcaldine, they had to have raffles and beg for money to raise the $30,000 or so to put up a statue to this hero...

Back to the subject...go to Longreach...you won't regret it. I stayed in a caravan park, but there are great hotels and cabins available elsewhere, depending on what you're after. A quick web search will turn up all you need.

Oh, and go to the Longreach RSL for dinner...try the reef and beef...you won't regret it either...

And if you're driving out from Rockhampton, stop at Alpha at the bakery in the middle of what passes for the main street...Snows Bakery I think, an award winning place. The sausage rolls will have you considering selling up and moving to Alpha to live just so you can have one of them every day...

EDIT: Just found some pictures from my ride out there last year...
Pie and snag roll in Alpha for breakfast...

My GSX-1400 in front of the Stockmans Hall of Fame...

Reef & Beef at the Longreach RSL...

The looooooong straights from Alpha onwards to the west...and yes, I only did only 110kph...officer...

irdonn · 12-03-2012, 05:41 PM

Loving these photos! On the topic of food I had the best spinach and ricotta pie at the bakery in Longreach. I still dream about it.