Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of Qantas in the outback and of the Qantas Founders Museum.
On this page
Founders, a hangar and a museum
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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1919
A survey
Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness survey the ground route for the Great Air Race.
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1920
Winton
Qantas is incorporated at Winton, backed by Fergus McMaster.
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1921
To Longreach
Operations move to Longreach, and Arthur Baird joins as the first paid employee.
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1922
The hangar
Qantas builds its hangar at Longreach, and McGinness flies the first air mail from Charleville to Longreach.
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1930
Moving on
Qantas operations from Longreach come to an end.
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1942
Wartime
From May to July, Longreach is a base for three US Army flying fortress squadrons.
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1988
Qantas Foundation Memorial
Western Queensland communities form a trust to create the museum.
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June 1996
Stage one
The Governor-General opens the museum in the Qantas Hangar.
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March 2002
Stage two
A climate-controlled museum building opens.
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2020
Under one roof
The Airpark roof and the light and sound show are completed.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
- Qantas Founders Museum: Our history
- Qantas Founders Museum: About and FAQs
- Wikipedia: Qantas Founders Museum
Links lead to the original publishers.
