Blackhawks over Brisbane

Today there was going to be a "Thank You" parade in every Australian Capital City for the Troops; Police and Government workers that served in Afghanistan under the code name Slipper.
There was to be a fly over Brisbane city by two Blackhawks and three C-17 Globemaster's.
At 10.44am two Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopters flew over the city and the parade, then banked right over the Story Bridge and tracked back down the Brisbane River right in front us.
After waiting another 40 mins for the C-17's we got word the flyover was cancelled; so we packed up and went out to the airport to get the Dubai Air Wing 747 that came in last night.
As some silly idiot (me) left his sim card at home on his desk the so below photos were taken by my wife Judy. Thank you for allowing me to put these up on my blog.



 







Airlines say NO to lithium ion batteries as cargo

From the 1st of April 2015 Lithium ion batteries will no longer be able to be sent as cargo on board Qantas and Jetstar aircraft after the airline group conducted a new safety assessment.
Following similar moves from US-based United and Delta Air Lines, Qantas and Jetstar are the latest to issue a blanket ban on the shipment of lithium ion batteries on both passenger and cargo aircraft, and now Virgin Australia has introduced the same ban.
Passengers using lithium ion batteries to power devices such as tablets and laptops can continue to bring them on board as carryon luggage. Virgin Australia said in a statement shipments of lithium metal batteries packed separately to equipment have not been carried on its aircraft since March 2014 and the prohibition would extend to lithium ion batteries from 1st April 2015.
It is now believed the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared a little over a year ago (and is still missing) was carrying about 200kg of lithium batteries.

Brisbane's Underbelly

My job had me working pretty close to home today in an area called Acacia Ridge / Archerfield: Archerfield is home to Archerfield Airport (ICAO: YBAF) which is Brisbane main airport for light aircraft. It is also where the way point GLENN is for aircraft when using runway 01 in Brisbane.
Aircraft from both north and south track to GLENN before they establish themselves on the 01-ILS.
I managed to get a few "under belly" shots of aircraft arriving throughout the day.

SINGAPORE 255 FROM SINGAPORE  9V-STI A330-343 (CN 1085)

PHILIPPINE 221 FROM MANILA A 320 214 RP-C8620 (CN 5371)

QANTAS 650 FROM PERTH A330-202 (CN 1094)



AIR TAHITI NUI OPERATING FOR
ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE



CALLSIGN "AUSSIE SIX" A 340-403 F-OLOV (CN 668)

The below Emirates were taken Tuesday morning from my office

 



EMIRATES A 380-861 A6-EDB (CN 13)

EMIRATES 434 ON CLIMB FROM BRISBANE TO AUCKLAND



 

Hijack attempt on United Flight

UNITED AIRLINES BOEING 737-800                 (File Photo)

                                                                                                               A United Airlines spokesman says a flight headed from Washington, D.C., to Denver had to return to Dulles International Airport after a passenger failed to comply with crew instructions.
The pilots of the United Airlines Flight 1074 (a Boeing 737) told air traffic controllers that the passenger had become violent but was restrained by passengers.
The pilots told Air Traffic Control a passenger ran towards the cockpit screaming "I have a bomb I have a bomb", and he is being restrained by passengers. The cockpit is secure and we would like to return to the airport and have authorities meet him,” a pilot said, according to ABC News.

A passenger on the flight told ABC News that two other men on the flight grabbed the suspect and held him down while flight attendants retrieved plastic restraints for his arms. She said at one point, the suspect said there were “jihadists in the cargo hold.”

A United Airlines spokesman said in an emailed statement local law enforcement met the plane at the gate and detained the passenger.
A search of the man and the cargo hold failed to find anything.
The incident has been recorded as a “failed hijack attempt.”

Travel Service 737 calls into Brisbane

It was about 11.15am this morning when I checked my phone for a text message and I noticed I had a calendar alert about a Travel Service Boeing 737 that was due into Brisbane today from Noumea and it was due in at 11.30. Unfortunately due to work commitments I couldn't be there for the arrival but knew I could make it for the 2.30 departure. The Travel Services 737 is on its world tour and had to call into Brisbane to clear customs before it could head off to explore Australia.

Travel Service Airlines (incorporated as Travel Service) started on the 28th April 1998 and is an airline with its head office in Prague, Czech Republic. It operates charter flights and also wet and dry leases aircraft to other airlines. It has subsidiaries in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. It also operates scheduled flights under the brand name Smart Wings. It has 52 aircraft all up and they are; 36 Boeing 737-800's; 3 Boeing 737-700's, 10 Airbus A320's and 3 Cessna Citations. Shortly after 2.25pm Travel Service 4476 asked for start and push, he was given taxi clearance up to Alpha 3 via taxi way Bravo. At 2.43 Travel Service 4476 was given "Clear for Take Off"

On this sector they were heading off to Ayres Rock and then on to Alice Springs later this evening.

TRAVEL SERVICE 737-8FN OK-TVL (CN 37076)



MORAVIAN-SILESIAN REGION

Moravian-Silesian Region is one of the 14 administrative regions

of the Czech Republic; it is 300klms (186 miles) from Prague

and it is the 3rd most populated region in the Czech Republic.

ON ALPHA 3 AWAITING LINE UP



"TRAVEL SERVICE 4476 RUNWAY 01 CLEAR FOR TAKE OFF''

 











Rockhampton - Brisbane Flight

After another long hard week it was time to go home, and I was looking forward to it. Being a Silver member of Qantas I get to jump the queue on check in, and it does feel good when you turn up at the airport and there is a l-o-n-g queue waiting to check in and I walk up to the priority check in counter and get checked in immediately.
For this flight I was in 29A, the very last row of this Q400 Dash 8 flight. Luckily I am a tall and thin man because the seats are not big in this aircraft, but this afternoon on the way home I had this big big man sitting next to me, and for the next hour and twenty I was really squashed in my corner.
We boarded through gate two and had a short walk across the tarmac to our aircraft, VH-QOR. We all seem to board quickly which surprised me because the aircraft was full, then at 3.23 we taxied out for a runway 15 departure.

We taxied out past the control towers, the short one is the old one and the tall one is the newest one. We lined up immediately and at 3.26 we were airborne. We climbed to flight level 210 and as it was a little bumpy we climbed to 220. Approaching Brisbane we were put in a 10 minute holding pattern at a place called Kingaroy, after completing one large circuit we continued in and landed on runway 19 at exactly 4.39pm... Another flight done and dusted!!



More from Rockhampton

Before my first appointment I ventured out to the airport for a quick look and hung around for about 30 mins. Just as I pulled up I saw a Pilatus touch down, so I quickly grabbed my camera and run up to the viewing platform (as seen in my previous post) then I notice a Qantas Q 400 taxied out and one was coming in. I got in the car and started to drive off when I heard "Fly Doc 456 runway 15 clear for take off" so I quickly turned around, grabbed the Fly Doc and proceeded on with my day.

PILATUS PC 12 VH-PID (CN 231)

QANTAS LINK Q 400 DASH 8 VH-QOC (CN 4117)

PILATUS PC 12 VH-PID (CN 231)

QANTAS LINK'S Q 400 DASH 8 ''DESTINATION TAMWORTH"

THIS GUITAR HAD A BIG 40th  ON IT CELEBRATING 40YRS
OF THE TAMWORTH COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL

QANTAS LINK Q 400 DASH 8 VH-QOI (CN 4189)





                      ROYAL FLYING DOCTORS BEECHCRAFT B200

                                          VH-FDG (CN BB2012)

Arriving at the airport for my flight home I thought I would give the viewing
area one quick drive past before I checked in, and there to my surprise were
two aircraft parked on the freight apron. The Queensland Police Air Wing
Raytheon and a Royal Australian Air Force Challenger







QUEENSLAND POLICE AIRWING RAYTHEON 1900D
VH-PSK (CN UE-311)

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIRFORCE CHALLENGER 604
A37-003 (CN 5538)