National Heritage List inscription date 2 May 2009
An unassuming hangar in the remote Queensland town of Longreach, 700 kilometres from the coast, is the home of Australian civil aviation. From here the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd, better known as QANTAS, took to the skies for the first time.
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The birth of an iconic Australian airline
Two returned First World War airmen, Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness, were inspired to create an air service while surveying the muddy outback of Queensland and the Northern Territory for the 1919 England to Australia Air Race. They were struck by the advantages of linking outback towns by air.
A chance meeting brought together the three men that would found the first air service in Australia. McGinness helped local grazier Fergus McMaster repair his broken down car at a crossing on the Cloncurry River, and discussed his idea for starting an aerial service. McMaster saw merit in the idea and months later Fysh, McGinness and McMaster established the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services in Brisbane on 16 November 1920. They were joined by Arthur Baird, whose engineering skills and technical innovations were devoted to making the airline a success.
The airline quickly grew from two small planes and a simple galvanised iron hangar to become Australia’s first international air carrier and an internationally recognised symbol of Australia.
The hanger at Longreach, built in 1922, became the centre of the fledging airline’s operations and is where the four men worked to secure its success. Each of the four brought their own skills and style to the task—McGinness had the drive, Fysh was the businessman, McMaster the strategist and Baird the technical expert.
By November 1922 QANTAS had made its first scheduled service, the 577 mile route from Charleville to Cloncurry, flown in two stages with an overnight stop in Longreach. Fysh flew from Longreach to Cloncurry with Baird on board as engineer, carrying their first official passenger, 87-year-old Alexander Kennedy. Kennedy had invested £250 in the airline on the condition that he was to be its first passenger on a scheduled flight.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service
The QANTAS Hanger has also played a crucial role in the Aerial Medical Service, now known as the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) which was founded by the Reverend John Flynn, 'Flynn of the Inland,' in 1928. QANTAS supplied the first aircraft and provided logistical support from its Longreach base for the service.
The jet age
By 1930 QANTAS reached its first million miles and moved its headquarters to Brisbane. It became a public company in 1947 and entered the jet age in July 1959 with its first Boeing 707.
The company's first Boeing 747 landed in Sydney on 16 August 1971, starting a new chapter in the company's history. During the evacuation of Darwin in the aftermath of Cyclone Tracy, QANTAS set a record for the number of passengers carried on a B747, with 674 passengers and 23 crew.
The first 707 jet passenger aircraft to be registered in Australia is on display at the QANTAS Founders Outback Museum at Longreach, thanks to the QANTAS Foundation Memorial and support from the Australian Government.
The QANTAS hangar provides a physical link to this iconic Australian company's early years. The aerodrome, in its harsh physical setting, will continue to demonstrate the environment in which the company's founders laboured to make the airline a success.