The second big attraction in Longreach that we visited was the QANTAS Founders Museum. As I previously mentioned booking ahead is essential. Sadly, due to the influx of travellers from the Birdsville Big Red Bash, by the time we came to book our days and options were limited. So on our last day we visited QANTAS Founders Museum at 9:30 which was a time that allowed us to pack up our caravan and find a parking spot at their carpark adjacent to their plane display.

How to Make a Booking.

To make a booking you should visit the QANTAS Founders Museum site, Tours and Experiences section. Depending on the time of the year there are a number of options available. Due to being booked out we were unable to choose the Platinum Experience, the Upper Deck Sunset Experience, the Airpark Experience or the Wing Walk options. Missing out on the Airpark experience didn’t worry us as we have flown on 707 and the 747s. However friends did the Wing Walk and loved it.

Admission costs

So what did we manage, only to book the Museum entry which costs $30 Adult, $25 Concession $22 Student, $20 Child.

The combined Museum/Airpark Experience cost $67 Adult, $57 Concession $52 Student and $47 Child.

The Wing Walk is $70 Adult, $65 Concession, $65 Student and $60 Child. It is a totally separate experience to either of the above mentioned tickets.

Our QANTAS Founders Museum visit.

Our booking allowed us to firstly visit the Museum’s Main Exhibition Hall. There are many static displays, some replica planes and old support vehicles to see as well as view some historic film footage in a couple of lounge areas.

From the main hall we walked out past another replica plane

to the National Heritage Listed Qantas Hangar. Here there were full size replicas of the DH-50 and DH61. 

We could actually take a seat in the DH61 which could take 7 passengers.

Glad we didn’t take a real flight. Certainly pleased our most recent pre-COVID flights were in an Airbus or a Boeing 777. This brought us to the end of the museum section so after passing through the shop area we headed back to our rig and made our way through Longreach passing the well preserved old railway station as we drove off towards Winton.

Dog Sitting in Longreach

One more thing I should mention as I finish this post is dog sitting. Like many other travellers we have a canine member of the family travelling with us. This is usually great as we meet many other like minded caravanners. However it does make it tricky when you want to visit somewhere that doesn’t allow dogs such as national parks or in the case of Longreach this includes the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and the QANTAS Founders Museum. We usually ask at the Tourist Information Centre for suggestions and the helpful staff at Longreach Tourist Information Centre suggested the local vet had kennels where dogs can be cared for during the time they are there. So that is where we left our dog, Mel, during the time we visited the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and the QANTAS Founders Museum. They have a reasonable daily rate which was $24 at the time we visited and the vet nurses were very friendly and helpful.