Australia's Aviation Heritage Mascot, New South Wales, Australia
By NationalSteel on 13-Jun-19. Waypoint GC890R7

Well, it saddens me to do this, but with the museum having closed or relocated, the original intention of this Virtual is no longer possible. With the COVID situation I'm not keen on heading up to the airport to re-jig it, so I will archive this for now. Hopefully the Geo-Gods smile on me and give me another opportunity to create a Virtual Cache in the future. Regardless, thanks to the many finders and favouriters of this cache.

Checking in on this one again. Need to make a decision on this one soon.

Just checking in on this one again. Still awaiting a more appropriate time to travel to the city and airport. Thanks.

Just checking in on this one. Still not too keen on going to the airport given COVID etc. Thanks for your patience.

Just checking in to say I am aware of the issues with this cache, but given the current COVID situation I'm not keen to visit the airport. I appreciate your patience.

My intention is to visit GZ and re-assess if this geocache can be reworked and salvaged. Obviously visiting airports is still tricky thanks to COVID. So it may be a little while until that can happen, and I appreciate the patience of hopeful finders and the reviewers in the meantime.

Waiting on further info from the curator.

Disappointing to hear of the museum's demise. Had been hoping to get over there on a weekday, as I work at the airport OPS centre & Control Tower, but was only ever at the Domestic terminal on weekends or after normal hours. Peeking in through the museum's front window was as close as I ever got to this Virtual cache.

TFTC from the Kayakviking!

Noooo ! It can't go. Got this ages ago but lost photo. Will send details to CO. Cheers

Disabling until I can clarify with the curator.

Did what I could with the resources available
Might need another trip soon
IP

As others have noted. No dice for now (not keen on trespassing in airports)

Like others before me I could not believe my bad luck at such yerrible timing. I arrived in Sydney from San Francisco and decided to go for this cache. As can be seen from my photos it was an impossible task. Not only was I too early for its normal opening hours but I was too late to view the exhibition. Unfortunately this virtual will need to be rewritten or archived.

Sadly there is a big problem here.

Brad made an effort to get to the airport early so he could do this cache before his early flight.

However there is a sign on the door to the exhibition indicating it is permanently closed as of 3 Feb 2020.

Sign reads
**“The QANTAS Exhibition Heritage space will close permanently from Monday 3 February 2020. A new QANTAS Traveling Centenary Exhibition will tour major Australian museums during 2020-21.”**

It seems some of the content is already gone.
Brad did take a selfie with part of the still remaining exhibition. But it seems likely that soon there will be nothing left here

It seems this VC will need a rewrite and hopefully will not be lost.

Thanks for the VC NationalSteel
PS Brad’s father worked in the steel industry for Tubemakers of Australia - from foundry floor up to the boss. And Brad’s mother worked as a airline stewardess (the then term) in the 1940s and 1950s.

Sadly the exhibition is closed and some of it seems to be already gone. At the moment it is still possible to see some of the remaining elements but it seems likely that will bot last.
This is the text of the sign on the door - see attached (poor quality) photo.
“The QANTAS Exhibition Heritage space will close permanently from Monday 3 February 2020.
A new QANTAS Traveling Centenary Exhibition will tour major Australian museums during 2020-21.”

Hello everybody. My timing was bad too with this closing recently. Unlucky anticlimax . Thanks anyway

Flew in from Singapore and had a connecting flight to Cairns. Luckily I had time to visit the exhibition and I was the only one there! It was a bit creepy since the lights were not on, but I found what I needed. Tried to inspire my travel companions to visit the exhibition as well, but they seemed more interested in their phones (free wifi;). Thanks for showing this place.

Heading home after coming over to set our aerial tankers to support the fire efforts. Being in aviation I really enjoyed seeing and reading up on some of the displays. Found the answers quickly once a GZ. Submitted answers. Thanks for the Cache

Raven visiting Sydney.

Truckgirl2 asked me to take Raven TB for some site seeing and after our long flight over the pacific, I was glad to see that the first spot for Raven to land was only a short flight from our next gate. We made a quick visit to GZ, sent the answers and proceed to board our plane to Perth. TFTC

Having flown in from Adelaide and with a good hour to wait in my city of birth before flying on, decided to see what caches were around. Was pleasantly surprised to see this one not far from my gate. Enjoyed a quick tour plus a happy snap. Thanks for the cache Nationalsteel.

Nice find on a connecting flight

I arrived back from a holiday and this made a must do Vitual while I’m still at the airport.
Museum was open, collected information and a picture as needed.
Interesting collection.
TFTC

Thank you for showing this interesting place.

Lieb ' s Gruessli
#5163

DNF For me today!

Closed until 6/1/2020

Closed from 23 Dec to 6 Jan!

Flight delayed... boo, but wait there is a cache to find, yay!! I visited all three terminals today, for some steps and fun in!

Finally we timed a visit to Sydney when this place is open. Visiting from Qld, we made our way to GZ after we arrived and had a good look around the exhibits, gathering our answers as we went.
Our answers have been sent to the CO.

Thanks heaps for this cache NationalSteel

TFTC, logged it on a flight back from Perth. The museum was open and I was able to grab the required info. Cool place that I never knew existed. It was sadly deserted at the time.

And again ! It’s open but no time.

I am rubbish at geocaching
Find number - 2500

Just enough spare time before my flight so I came for this cache. Great spot to see planes!

Thanks to NationalSteel for the placement and fun.

Dropped a mate off for a flight, and took the opportunity to grab this virtual.
Cool little museum, I’d had no idea this was here.
Tftc.

Was at the airport just after this was laced but at a time where the collection was not open. Have transited a few times since but never enough time (or again closed) so today coming back from Coffs Harbour I had an hour so I wandered over and finally got this one done.
Answers were quick to find (though one helps if you are short) and sent through. A quick response as well from the CO. An interesting spot and photo of smoky Sydney included.
TFTC NationalSteel

Found whilst killing time waiting for a flight
Cool museum
TFTC

Today is our flight to Lord Howe Island. Just before departure, MB1965 and me visited the heritage museum....and surprise: it's open.
Answers are send to cache owner.
Very nice exhibition. One favorite point from Germany
T4tC and greetings from german geocacher team.

On the way to Lord Howe Island, we had a litte bit time to do this Virtual Cache. The answers from MB1965 are send to the Owner. Thanks for showing us this place.

We undertook this Virtual Cache today but until we can find a moment during our current travels to submit our answers to the CO we are posting this Write Note only to keep our cache finds in order. In the meantime thanks so much for the Virtual Cache and for having bought our attention to this very interesting venue. A favourite point will be awarded and greetings from Zimbabwe

With this week being the beginning of Qantas's Centenary Year and suggestions that this museum might close I decided that I'd best come out to the Airport and complete this Virtual cache.

What better way to test out the information in the microscopic article I recently found in the SMH (daily newspaper) that tells you how to travel to the airport by public transport for minimal cost, avoid the hefty charges by train!

Train it to Mascot, walk 100m to Coward St bus stop B, bus 400 to Domestic Terminal 3.
Round trip for me less than $2.50.

The Airport seemed rather deserted this morning. Were flights cancelled and diverted due to the heavy smoke from the bushfires?
I didn't hear anything. Anyway once at the terminal after a few inquiries I made my way to the Heritage Collection. I like museums and found this interesting. I have been to the Qantas Museum in Longreach, Queensland, but a long time ago. I wonder what they have on display there now?

Congrats for receiving this Virtual reward.
Thanks for bringing people, including me, to this little publicised museum. Qantas should advertise it more!


TFTC # 3673

Today i had the opportunity to visit the centre during opening hours. I managed to collect the necessary information pretty quickly and then had a good look at the collection. It is always interesting to see how flying has changed from the porcelain service of yesteryear to today.

Will give a favourite.

Thanks NationalSteel for the cache and bringing us here.

#4552:
I wanted to get this cache back in August when I flew from Sydney to Bundaberg, but unfortunately the collection was closed as it was before 9:30am.

I'm now back in Sydney, and I wanted to find this final virtual cache in the city. It was very strange for me, a foreigner, to enter and go through an airport without a passport or boarding pass. I was actually very anxious going through security. But there was no problem, and I was eventually inside the collection.

One of the answers took longer to hunt down, but eventually I had them all. I spent a long time in there reading the info. Very interesting. TFTC.
___
120th Virtual cache found.

Observations sent to CO. Thanks NationalSteel for guiding us here.

Excited to see that there is a new virtual cache, and a particularly interesting one at that, in the T3 terminal, but disappointed to find that the museum doesn't open on weekends.

Living on the Central Coast these days, I don't get to the airport (and the QF terminal in particular) very often any more but today, I happened to be right there putting my 88 year old mum onto a plane home to Brisbane at a departure gate right outside the museum, and it would have been really great to have a wander through this museum before I headed off back home. Alas, it was not to be on this occasion ... but congrats to NationalSteel for discovering the place and for placing a virtual cache here to encourage us to reflect on our aviation heritage.

This cache is becoming my nemesis - my 2nd time DNFing this as I’m often at Sydney airport, but seldom during the collection opening hours.

Time to kill at airport so off to find this collection that I had never heard of. Now I can see signs everywhere. Very interesting, but unloved gem here. Will bring the kids next time we are in town. TFTC

Was a mission to locate since I had to go to the ‘other’ terminal but well worth the effort. Interesting exhibit, 70’s uniforms were a blast. TFTC.

Found with Redrover09 Answers sent TFTC

Very interesting,thank you for taking us there, Found with Bublyn.

I flew into Adelaide via Sydney a week ago, but alas arrived at nearly midnight. In other words, this display was closed. at least I had time to get the virtual out the front. However on the way back I had plenty of time to stop here. Alas, plenty of time still wasn't long enough. Okay, sure, I got the answers for the virtual, but I could easily spend an hour in here. Ihad a blast in South Australia. Hopefully I will be back.

Man it was a busy week. 13 badge upgrades! Two badges now on double diamond that were not even diamond just a week ago. Yes, is was busy. Australia is a crazy place. Colours are all wrong (the country is red instead of green), temperatures are all wrong (42 degrees!! Nuts!!) The animals are all weird, and the petrol stations simply cannot get their act together re colour coding their fuel. Made some great friends and... and... there is so much I still missed. Yeah, I gotta come back.

Previously logged under team account BoogieRogue. Re-logging with my individual account. #Find#: 2445#

Found on: 10 October 2019 10:15

Buddies: none

Muggles: none

Weather: sunny

Cache condition: virtual



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What a great little oasis of calm in this busy place. Great information can be gained here too. Answers sent to CO



**TFTC NationalSteel TNLNSL**

Discover my trackables: 654EMY, GSVG86, TAKM0W, GM5KY0

#Find#: 2445#
Found on: 10 October 2019 10:15
Buddies: none
Muggles: none
Weather: sunny
Cache condition: virtual

---
What a great little oasis of calm in this busy place. Great information can be gained here too. Answers sent to CO

**TFTC NationalSteel TNLNSL**
Discover my trackables: 654EMY, GSVG86, TAKM0W, GM5KY0

We arrived after a long flight from Newark, NJ, to Houston, Texas (waiting for a planed delayed for about 2 hours and boarded around 1:00 am) and then on to Sydney. There the later flights to Brisbane were sold out due to the delay, so we had another 4 hours in the airport. Let's see if there is a geocache (we own an earthcache one in Denver International Airport, so had to do this one). Gabi and I walked over and did the hunt for the answers. It was fun and the museum is pretty cool. Thanks for our first ever Australia geocache, A favorite point.

Well who doesn’t love a geocache inside an airport? FP. Great idea. Very interesting even after the long haul from Heathrow via Hong Kong. Love some of those uniforms. Answers sent and a photo will follow when I get home. Thanks!

Well this was fun
So glad its done
Today I had some luck.
Door left ajar
It can't be far
In here I'll quickly duck.
A few quick shots
In secret spots
Before I end up stuck.
My answers done
I sure had fun
Some random words I'll pluck.

T.F.T.C. from Mr E.

Ahhhggghhh!!
Oh yeah
Today is Sunday

With an early finish to today's proceedings, I was able to organise an earlier flight home, which also gave me a chance to try for this one. Even though that meant that I needed to 'swap sides', once at GZ I was able to find the answers during an interesting journey around the exhibit at ~14:30ish.

What a great concept for a virtual.

Thanks NationalSteel.

{logged while awaiting approval}

TFTC. Nice little hideaway to get away from the noise and it's a nice way to fill in time also.

First visit on this virtual Saturday, September 7 but the exhibition is closed every week ends. So today we come back here to visit the expo and retrieve the answers we sent to the owner (thank you for the validation and the quick response). Thank you for discovering these places. Hello from France. 1 FAV ************************************
Premier passage sur cette virtuelle le samedi 7 septembre mais l'exposition est fermée tous les weeks ends. C'est donc aujourd'hui que nous revenons ici afin de visiter l'expo et récupérer les réponses que nous avons envoyé à l'owner (merci pour la validation et la réponse rapide ).
Merci pour la découverte de ces lieux.
Bonjour de la France. 1 PF
************************************

Flying to Hobart this evening, I got to the door to access this Virtual at 1730. And... Closed.

Damn, and it certainly won't be open Sunday night when I come home.

Oh well, next time!

Cheers!

A very nice little museum. Thanks for the fun while waiting for our flight.

There's been some comments with concerns about the future of this museum - I have emailed the curator and received this response:

*The heritage display at T3 will remain open until the end of this year with a whole new exhibition concept to be announced for our centenary year in 2020. Details will be announced before then.*

So I wouldn't worry. Worst case I will have to relocate this Virtual at some point, but hopefully the reviewers will be understanding if that has to happen.

It's amazing how this game brings things to your attention. I have flown in and out of Sydney literally hundreds of times over many years and never noticed this place. To be fair, I have only been down the right end of the terminal a couple of times though.

When this virtual popped up, I had already planned a weekend in Wollongong with the clan, so we keen to nip up here on the inbound flight and have a look around. What a great set up, so many things to view and read about, although I was more drawn to the technical things. [^]

I wandered around, gleaned the answers, snapped some obligatory photos, then had to head off on the drive south.

Thanks for bringing this place ot my attention, I will be back again for a longer look around.

Cheers NationalSteel.

A very quick dash to the museum. I was convinced it was going to be closed due to being just outside hours of operation but for whatever reason the doors were open. I had a quick look around as my flight was due to board shortly after. I wish I could have stayed longer but got what i needed for the cache and made it back with a few mins to spare for my flight. Thank you for placing a cache so accessible for me as my conference was right by the airport and I have not had an opportunity to travel or to get more (I got only one other which involved a very early morning walk before conference began.

A couple of months ago while transiting through Sydney I missed entrance to the Heritage Collection by a couple of minutes. Today Sydney is my starting point so I have plenty of time before my flight to have a look around and collect the answers. An interesting museum though it looks like it's getting bigger.

TFTC NationalSteel

Tftc! A truly excellent display. I’ve been past here many times and never stopped to look. A top spot.

As soon as this new virtual was published, noted I had an upcoming interstate trip that would give me an excuse to be at the airport so it was definitely a priority on the agenda. Our flight left too early on the Friday to duck across so while the rest of my travelling companions returned to Sydney on a Sunday afternoon, I stayed on in Queensland an extra 48 hours and chose a flight that would correspond with the museum’s opening hours (ok, so I managed to find other caching I could do in Qld as well). Flight home ended up being delayed 90min and then my lift (who would look after my luggage rather than drag it through security) got lost picking me up in the chaos that is Sydney airport, so by the time I raced between terminals, I had less than 20 minutes to jump the queue at security, find gate 13 (always the furthest away from the entrance!) and collect the required information however Signal and I did it and it was worth it. Congratulations NS on an interesting choice for your virtual reward. Maybe one day I can spend a bit more time taking it all in at a leisurely pace.

Sniff !!! Exposition fermée le samedi.... notre avion a du retard. Nous avions le temps de visiter cette exposition et faire cette virtuelle.....
********************************
Sniff !!! Exhibition closed on Saturday .... our plane is late. We had time to visit this exhibition and do this virtual .....

TFTC,
I am trying for a different sort of challenge at present. To do a different type of cache on every consecutive day for 31 days. This is day 10.
Also heading towards 8,000 finds with 5 to go. Needs to be a letterbox or a Virtual and will be in Tasmania.
Left home early today to make sure we had time to visit the History collection before our flight. What an amazing group of items assembled here for some of us to reflect on. Nana nel even sent a photo of the uniforns to her brother to ask which he had warn and was told 4 during his time with Qantas.
I was interested in the 707 knowing that the one owned by John Travolta will be arriving T HARS in November.
Now to send the requested information to the CO, visited trackables and added a favourite.

We have been planning this cache for a while, knowing we would be flying out of Terminal 3 today, I never knew this Heritage Collection existed, a good display, enjoyed walking around getting the answers. Thanks to NationalSteel for bringing me to this area. Loved the patchwork quilt, it has 'Connie' in it.

That was rather interesting. Giving it a favourite as was a great use of a virtual. Even if it is more suited to travellers then locals.
Looking out the windows I never realised there was so many different sized planes. Even double decker ones.
Have include some pictures of retro planes. Don’t know if they where old or just done that way but they certainly looked like they had done a lot of miles.
Tftc

Found with geo-boy Pearcey. TFTC

Interesting hunt with the geo-girl minniemousejojo. Tftc.

So I never knew this was here. Made our way on the free shuttle from the international airport. Found answers to question and email sent. Guy in museum said this was closing down in October and they they don’t know were it will be moved to yet.

Never knew this was here very interesting geoing is a great tool for. Learning our history

This is the 3rd time I have visited this Heritage Collection. It's a good location to visit when you have plenty of time between flights. The crew's various uniforms bring back many memories of previous flights, it was once a very glamorous thing to take an aeroplane trip.
Today I wandered collecting information & noticing things that I had previously overlooked.
A FP given.
Thanks National Steel for placing this virtual cache at a location where a normal cache would not be allowed.

The answer sent to CO.

My first time using the domestic terminal.
It's a great terminal and I love it!

I would never have come up here if it were not for the cache!

TFTC!

We are on a vacation to New Zealand and Australia, visiting from Wisconsin, USA. This is only the second geocache we have ever logged and it is our very first Virtual Geocache! We had a delay of our flight out of Sydney (we are heading to Cairns to head out to the Great Barrier Reef) so we decided to spend some of our free time completing this geocache.

All of our answers have been sent to the cache owner and we will post our photo. We enjoyed this museum! Thanks for giving us an additional reason to take a look at the displays here.

As a frequent traveller I do pass through this airport often though rarely at times when the museum is open.
On first attempt I duplicated one answer and didn’t see the correct name on the crew person. Probably because I saw the listing 10 mins before boarding.
This time I took more time to enjoy the exhibition and collect the answers.
Well worth a visit and no better way to kill time between flights. I even got to see a vintage decorated plane on the tarmac. TFTC.

In Sydney for work so stopped by and got what I needed for this virtual.
A very interesting display which I would not have found with caching.
A fav point from me and answers sent.

Oh bum, it’s 1630 !

Thanks for the reason to visit the collection

I think I am going to struggle to be here during opening hours... I come through this airport every few weeks but usually on sundays or before 8am or after 6pm.... hopefully that changes at some point.

Visiting NSW from Perth for a week on a family holiday. After spending a couple of days in Katoomba, we are now in Sydney enjoying the sights.

After a week in NSW it was time to go home. Stopped by here to check out this museum and grab the answers to another virtual.

Another really cool display is Australia’s history. Thanks for bringing me here.

Answers sent to CO. Pic attached. A fave from me.

NationalSteel SVKR_WA found your cache Australia's Aviation Heritage today at 21:35:27 1 Aug 2019.

NationalSteel - Thanks for placing and maintaining this cache for our enjoyment. We love travelling the state and visiting some places that we would only visit due to this game.

Logged with permission. While a frequent flyer and frequent visitor to Sydney Domestic Airport our timing is often too early or too late to make a visit to what turned out to be a very interesting bit of history. So today we were able to move our schedule around and finally make the visit. TFTC.

Found today before driving back home awesome cache, my dad put in the answers!. FP

###***TFTC***###

Found after arriving from Singapore. I was interested in visiting this exhibit even though I didn't have a domestic flight to catch - I was amazed that just anyone can go into the secure area without a boarding pass! First time I've ever seen that (in my relatively short, mostly post-9/11 life)... After a quick walk through the terminal I found the exhibit and explored it for a while. Thanks very much for highlighting this interesting gem! I never would've seen it without this cache. What luck that my flight arrived during the opening hours so it was no problem to visit. I've also included a photo with my log of an old Qantas uniform that I loved - they REALLY world bring it back. It's kangariffic... TFTC!!

#3304
We were pretty disappointed to have missed this on our departure last weekend, and it seemed our run of bad luck would continue today, with our aircraft landing at 1630. We disembarked at 1645, and were walking past the exhibit - Samuel wanted to go up and 'Check - just in case!' - lucky, as the doors were open!
We flew around grabbing answers, half expecting to be kicked out any minute. We did enjoy our flying visit, but will endeavour to drop in again for a better look around another time, there is soe interesting stuff in there. TFTC NationalSteel

Found after getting back to Sydney! TFTC!!!!

Great exhibition. Enjoyed exploring it. Tftc

Was closed when we got here super early - luckily will be back in a few months and will give me something to do when we return

Open Monday to Friday.... After all, it’s only in sleepy olde Sydney Airport!

I was stoked when I saw this cache, but my hopes were dashed when I realized the museum was closed. I still walked up, just to take picture of me looking sad in front of the entrance (see attached).

Well, that was an adventure. Hadn't planned on being anywhere near Sydney today on our journey from London to Perth, but our Qantas flight from Heathrow was delayed and we missed our connection in Singapore. They flew us to Sydney and we had a tiny window of opportunity to grab the answers for this cache in between the exhibit opening and boarding our flight home to Perth. Some days later now, catching up with logging our holiday caches and managed to find the answers scribbled down on a scrap of paper in a trouser pocket; thought I'd lost them! Sent the answers to the CO and here's a photo from our visit; it's a place we would never have discovered were it not for the cache.

Got an earlier flight than expected in from Canberra on the way to Qld, but missed entry by minutes. Dreams of getting two airport virtuals in one day, dashed (picked up the Canberra one in the way up).

I'm pretty sure that I went here before when I was young but can't seem to pinpoint my memories exactly. Loved this cache and great to know that these places still exist.

tftc #349

First time in Sydney since 1991. We (from Wellington, NZ) have a few hours at the airport before catching our connecting flight to Cairns. Good way to fill in the time by checking out what caches are nearby!

Interesting viewing the various items in this display. And a great spot to watch departing aircraft. Especially enjoyed seeing an A380, immediately followed by one of the few remaining “giant of the skies” 747 passenger planes.

The answers have been sent to the CO. #2578. TFTC.

Was sitting at the airport awaiting my connecting flight when I chanced a geocache search and surprise, I found this one. Fabulous views from this vantage point and very interesting exhibit. Collected answers and have sent to CO.
Pic of great view attached.
TFTC A favourite for entertaining me while awaiting my flight.

This is a handy little cache.
What do you do when your plane is delayed, go caching.
This is the closest cache that you can get at the airport and you have to go through security unless the flight you are catching is a QANTAS flight.
I've been here numerous times, but that was before this virtual was here.
TFTC

Jess.daphne and I were about to wing our way back to NZ after attending the Mega event in Wollongong. We sought out this virtual as soon as we arrived at the airport. It's neat that they've set this up at the airport for the public to enjoy. I had an enjoyable time looking around, especially at the uniforms, I love vintage clothing. We have a similar display at Te Papa in Wellington. Thanks for the virtual and the distraction while waiting for our plane.

Today we are traveling back to New Zealand after thoroughly enjoying ourselves at the OZ Geomuster at Wollongong. We specifically stopped here at the domestic terminal to get this cache on our way home. We were a little confused at first about how to get there but further reading of the cache page explained well. Thanks for the virtual cache!