Today’s flight is to a historic location for Qantas, as we’re going back to the airline’s roots in the sleepy Outback town of Longreach.
Server: Solo
Airline: QantasLink (Operated by Sunstate Airlines)
Aircraft: De Havilland Canada DHC-8-400
Origin: Brisbane Airport, Brisbane, Australia (BNE)
Destination: Longreach Airport, Longreach, Australia (LRE)
Flight Number: QF2542
Route: YBBN-YLRE
Seat: 8D (Economy)
Time En Route: 2 Hours 11 Minutes
Walking out to our aircraft on the QantasLink ramp at Brisbane Airport. Our destination today holds a special significance for Qantas, because even though it was founded in Winton, Queensland And Northern Territorial Air Services had its first operating base at Longreach. In addition, the name Longreach adorned Qantas’s 747-400 fleet, as both a nod at the airline’s humble origins and at the -400s staggering range.
Starting up the starboard engine prior to a single-engine taxi
Taxiing out of the QantasLink ramp
Running up the engines prior to departure at the hold short line. The Pratt and Whitney Canada PW150s are a lot quieter than the General Electric CT7 on REX’s Saab 340s, the other aircraft type serving Longreach, possibly because they weren’t developed initially as helicopter engines.
Climbing away from Brisbane
Continuing our climb as we head inland
Humming along over rural Queensland at 24,000 feet under the cirrus layer
Descending into Longreach
Wheels down in the Outback
Parked at the passenger terminal with the Qantas Founders Museum’s hangar in the background. Among its exhibits pertaining to the 105-year history of Qantas are the airline’s first jet aircraft, a Boeing 707-138B (the -B suffix indicating the engine type of Pratt and Whitney JT3D turbofans, replacing the original JT3C turbojets) registered as VH-EBA and named “City of Canberra” (one of two such named Qantas jets on display in Australia) and the 747-200 registered as VH-EBQ and named “City of Bunbury”. The youngest of Qantas’s 747-200 fleet, EBQ served from 1979 to 2002 and is currently the only 747-200 on display in the world with Rolls-Royce RB.211 engines.