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Saturday 14 April 2012

Sepia Saturday 121; Flight;



Qantas was founded in Winton, Queensland on 16 November 1920 as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited. The airline's first aircraft was an Avro 504K. The airline flew internationally from May 1935, when it commenced service from Darwin to Singapore.
In June 1959 Qantas entered the jet age when the first Boeing 707–138 was delivered

QANTAS = "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service"




In 1920 Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd had its headquarters in Winton, Queensland. In 1921 the head office moved to Longreach, Queensland. In 1930 the head office moved to Brisbane.





Here I have to include a story about early flights. A Family living in the outback, the father was manager of a  property, send  two  of the older girls, starting school, with a Quantas plane to boarding school. The cockpit was open, at the back was sort of an enclosure, but the windows had no glass. The children had to be bundled up in warm clothes and blankets, as it must have been freezing up there. Everybody came to the airport to say goodbye and brought presents for the girls to take with them.

Later the father flew with a Quantas plane to by bulls in Victoria. On his homeward flight the plane came down and he lost his life. The mother with her 5 small children could not manage the big property and moved to Brisbane. At the time she did not have the money to go to her husband's  funeral, far away,  as he was buried in Tambo where the plane crashed.




1920Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd is formed on 16 November with headquarters in Winton, Queensland.
1921Headquarters move to Longreach, Queensland.
1922The first scheduled Qantas mail and passenger flight operates from Charleville to Cloncurry, Queensland.
1924S M Bruce flies Qantas, becoming the first Australian Prime Minister to use an aircraft for official travel.
1926Qantas begins building its own aircraft in Longreach.
1927Qantas takes on its first apprentice.
1928The Flying Doctor Service is launched, using Qantas aircraft.
1929The outback network extends to Brisbane.
1930Qantas establishes its headquarters in Brisbane.
2012Next generation flying with the arrival of the first of our B787 fleet.
2020Centenary of Qantas.


Quantas through the years   if you would like to read more up to 2012


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12 comments:

  1. So interesting to hear about the history of Qantas and the very sad story of that poor family.

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  3. My comment crashed due to too many typos.

    The history of Quantas is interesting. I was thinking about the flying doctors before I got to the timeline at the end. Flying doctors on TV was the first I heard of flying in Australia.

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  4. Interesting post about the history of Qantas- but that is such a sad story about the family who lost their dad and husband.

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  5. Your post reminded me of the many novels I've read that take place in Australia. So much about flying around that vast country in small planes. There was no other choice. That poor family. Such a sad story.
    Nancy

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  6. This was a fun read! Those early planes -- yikes!

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  7. Well of course I knew a little bit about the Flying Doctor service, but the story about the family from the outback really brings home the vast scale of the country. A very interesting post.

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  8. I didn't realize that QANTAS is an acronym. I would have guessed the name was some kind of bird or animal.

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  9. A fascinating post - which provided me with a bonus, I have managed to add another question to the pub quiz I am doing for next Friday - "What does QANTAS stand for?" Thanks Titania

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  10. I see you've also opted to give some local colors to the theme.
    I especially love the first pic with the old hangar.
    Open cockpit??? You'd never seen me flying those. No Thanks!! I'll walk...
    Funny though, I already knew what Qantas stood for.
    How did I come by that one?...
    ;)~
    HUGZ

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  11. That is an interesting history. I admit that I never before knew what Qantas meant...so I learned a lot here today. I used to think it was some relative of the Koala bear and don't ask me why? Funny what we think when we really do not know.

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  12. I love the lettering on the hanger. The poor "Q", the most important letter, is squished. The sign looks like it's saying "ANTAS."

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