I woke early, showered and went down stairs to the restaurant for breakfast as I had to be at the airport by 7.30am for an 8.30 flight. This morning I was going on an airline and an aircraft I have never flown on before. It was a Saab 340B and the airline was REX (Regional EXpress). I got to the airport and as I went to check in the fun started... My bag weighed 21.6 kgs; I was 1.6 kilo overweight and the lovely lady checking in said it would cost me $8.60; so I said no worries. I was then told my bag may not fly today due to the overweight bag. I was asked by the check in lady if I wanted to take a few things out of the suitcase. So over to one side I go so other passengers could check in. I did that; put the bag back on the scales and it weighed 19.4 kilo... Yay or so I thought. Then the lady checking me in said OH you have a carry on bag, I have to weigh that.... and you guessed it; it was now over the weight limit for a carry on. I was feeling really pissed right now I chose to fly REX as I don't have these issues with the other carriers. I had to carry the things I took out of my carry on brief case with me which made no difference. Anyway I clear security and head off to gate 14 from which our aircraft was departing. We began boarding at 8.18 and had a good 3 minute walk to our plane which was on a stand off bay. We boarded; all 8 of us; and I took my seat in 6C the emergency window seat. After we were all seated I got another surprise; all electronic devices had to be switched off... Yep off.
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| MY REX FLIGHT TO TOWNSVILLE VH-ZLK |
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| GENERAL ELECTRIC TURBO PROP |
Here in Australia (and I am sure in other countries) the major airlines let you keep your electronic devices (phone; iphones; iPads etc) on the whole time as long as flight mode is selected... So this was another shock to me. We started taxiing at 8.35 and headed out for runway 15 in Cairns; we got airborne at 8.42 and climbed to a flt lvl of 150, (15,000 feet). We commenced our descent at 9.18 and landed in Townsville on runway 01 at 9.29 am
During the flight I asked Danielle our flight attendant if I could visit the cockpit when we land, she said it is against company policy but I will ask. Sure enough the guys were happy for me to pay a visit.
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REX SAAB 340B VH-ZLK (CN 340B-381) PARKED UP
IN TOWNSVILLE |
The flight down was very smooth, the aircraft although a little noisy was comfortable and Daniellle was nice and pleasant. Would I fly them again; absolutely and I suggest to my Australian viewers if you get the chance, give REX a go.
After collecting my hire car I headed south about 85 Klm's to a place called Ayr; there I had 4 customers to see. I headed back to Townsville and headed for the airport to grad some afternoon shots before checking in to my motel.
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| CH 47F CHINOOK HELICOPTER |
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| QANTAS LINK BASH 8-400 VH-QOU (CN 4275) |
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| BEECH 1900D VH-VPZ (CN UE-310) |
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ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIRFORCE SUPER KING AIR
A32-675 (CN FL-675) CALLSIGN DINGO 43 |
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QUEENSLAND POLICE BEECH 1900D VH-PSK (CN UE-311)
USED TO TRANSPORT PRISONERS |
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| QANTAS B737-838 VH-VXH (CN 33478) |
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| BEECH KING AIR 200B P2-LNJ |
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| REX SAAB 340B VH-ZLF (CN 340B-374) |
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| ALLIANCE F28-100 VH-XWN (CN 11278) |
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| VIRGIN AUSTRALIA ERJ190 VH-ZPB (CN 19000162) |
When I stay in Townsville I always stay here at the Aquarius on the Beach because of the views and I always get I high level; you don't get to see the airport from here but when they depart for the South they fly past the hotel.
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| VIEW FROM MY BALCONY OVER LOOKING MAGNETIC ISLAND |
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