Sydney to Brisbane (November Trip)

After a few really productive days in Sydney it was time to go home. My Qantas flight was at 4pm so I made my way to the airport arriving there at 2.45pm. I made my way up to the Qantas Heritage Museum to do some plane spotting but unfortunately it was closed due to a private function. I would say it was a Qantas function to celebrate their 96th birthday which was yesterday.

I found a spot to do some plane spotting but it really wasn't ideal as you can see by the photos.

MALAYSIA A330-323 9M-MTC (CN 1229)

BRITISH AIRWAYS B777-336ER G-STBJ (CN 43703)

QANTAS B737-838 VH-XZP (CN 44577)

ROYAL NEW ZEALAND AIR FORCE B757-2K2 NZ-7572 (CN 26634)

QANTAS DASH 8 Q400 VH-LQM (CN 4450)

QANTAS A380-842 VH-OQJ (CN 0062)

AIR CHINA A330-343 B-5978 (CN 1673)

QANTAS B737-838 VH-VYA (CN 33762)

QANTAS A330-202 VH-EBF (CN 853)

TIGER AIR A320-232 VH-VNG (CN 3674)

QANTAS A380-842 VH-OQG (CN 047)

After a short time there it was time to head down to gate 2 where my 737-838 was waiting, the aircraft today was VH-VXJ. We began boarding at 3.40 and I took my seat which was 9F. The gentlemen in the middle seat was a large man and his arms protruded well into my space; so I was very uncomfortable and couldn't move much in my seat.

We pushed back at 4.01 and began taxiing at 4.04. Runways 34L and R were in use so we taxied out for runway 34R; this is the furthest point from the terminal to line up and it took us 13 minutes to get down there. 

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA B737-8FE VH-VUU (CN 36609)

We lined up and got airborne at 4.20pm, we banked right shortly after take off and then after a few minutes we made a slow left hand turn where we set course for Brisbane. We climbed to flt Lvl 390. Unlike the flight down this flight was extremely smooth and very comfortable. Our track took us up over Newcastle and directly over the Gold Coast. We began our descent at 5.03 and landed from the north on runway 19 at 5.34pm. Because Queensland doesn't have daylight saving we lost an hour so our actual arrival time is 4.34pm.

Happy Birthday QANTAS

IATA ICAO Callsign QF QFA QANTAS

QANTAS A330-303 VH-QPJ (CN 712)                 NEW LIVERY

Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia and its largest airline in Australia by fleet size, international flights and international destinations. It is the third oldest airline in the world, after KLM (7th Oct 1919) and Avianca (5th Dec 1919) having been founded on the 16th November 1920.  It began international passenger flights in May 1935. The Qantas name stands for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services", and it is nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo".

The airline is based in the Sydney suburb of Mascot with its main hub at Sydney Airport. Various subsidiary airlines operate to regional centres and on some trunk routes within Australia under the QantasLink banner. It has a subsidiary airline "Jetconnect" which provides services between Australia and New Zealand, flying under the Qantas brand. Qantas also owns "Jetstar Airways", a low-cost airline that operates both international services and domestic services  and operates in Australia and New Zealand.

Fergus McMaster was a wealthy grazier who took little convincing about the benefits of aviation. He was crossing the sandy bed of Queensland's Cloncurry River when his car broke an axle. Paul McGinness helped repair the vehicle and the two struck up a friendship. Back in Brisbane, McGinness and Fysh outlined to McMaster their plans for an air service, beginning with joy rides and air taxi trips. McMaster, fired with enthusiasm, convinced business acquaintances to invest with them. With their former flight sergeant Arthur Baird as aircraft mechanic, Fysh and McGinness travelled to Mascot Aerodrome, Sydney, where they ordered two Avro aircraft. The purchase agreement, dated 19 August 1920, was in the name of The Western Queensland Auto Aero Service Limited. A new company name was later adopted, Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited, which was quickly abbreviated to the acronym 'QANTAS'.

Papers formally establishing Qantas were signed in the Gresham Hotel, Brisbane, on 16 November 1920. The company, based in Winton, was registered with Fergus McMaster as Chairman.

In 1921 the Qantas fleet consisted of two biplanes - an Avro 504K with a 100 horsepower (74 kw) water-cooled Sunbeam Dyak engine and a Royal Aircraft Factory BE2E with a 90 horsepower (67 kw) air-cooled engine. The BE2E was purchased for £450 ($900) from Charles Knight, a Longreach stock and station agent who, having experienced a turbulent delivery trip, swore nothing would induce him to fly again. Today QANTAS fleet consists of 118 aircraft.

Qantas has 8 Boeing 787-9's on order to be delivered during 2017 with an option of 15 more; these will replace the aging fleet of 747's which will be completely retired by the end of 2020.
Qantas also had another 8 Airbus A380's on order, (out of the original 20 they were going to get) but these have now been cancelled indefinitely.

Over the years several Qantas aircraft have been decorated with sporting liveries;

BOEING 747-48E VH-OEB (CN 25778)

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2011

BOEING 747-438 VH-OEJ (CN 32914)

PROUDLY SUPPORTING THE SOCCEROOS

BOEING 747-438 VH-OJO (CN 25544)

GO WALLABIES

BOEING 747-438 VH-OJS (CN 25564)

QANTAS SOCCEROOS; WERE WITH YOU ALL THE WAY

AIRBUS A380-842 VH-OQH (CN 0050)

GO WALLABIES

BOEING 737-838 VH-VXG (CN 30901)

BRING IT ON (WALLABIES V LIONS)

BOEING 737-838 VH-VXA (CN 29551)

NOW IT'S ON OUR TURF!! (CRICKET)

BOEING 737-838 ZK-ZQF (CN 34204)

THE JOURNEY HAS JUST STARTED (RUGBY IN NZ)

BOEING 767-336 VH-ZXB (CN 24338)

SOCCEROOS

One World Liveries;

BOEING 747-438 VH-OJU (CN 25566)

AIRBUS A330-202 VH-EBV (CN 1365)

Retro Liveries;

BOEING 737-838 VH-XZP (CN 44577)

BOEING 737-838 VH-VXQ (CN 33723)

Aboriginal themes;

BOEING 747-438 VH-OEJ (CN 32914)

WUNALA DREAMING

BOEING 737-838 VH-VXB (CN  30101)

YANANYI DREAMING

BOEING 737-838 VH-XZJ (CN 39365)

MENDOOWOORRJI

Promoting Prostate Cancer

QANTAS BOEING 737-838 (CN 34191)

PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION OF AUSTRALIA

and even ones with names from regular everyday Australians.

AIRBUS A380-842 VH-OQK (CN 0063)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY QANTAS

Brisbane to Sydney (November Trip)

Yet another month has flown by and it won't be long before the fat man will be here and we will all be singing Auld Lange Syne.

I once again find myself at the airport at 4.30 AM... My Qantas flight 503 departs at 5.20 and boarding time is 5am, so I left home at 3.45 and arrived here at 4.20am.

After clearing security, and yet again getting swabbed for explosives, I made my way up to the Qantas club in time for a quick coffee and a light breakfast.

I headed to gate 21 at 4.55 stopping to grab a quick photo on the way 

QANTAS B737-838 VH-VZB (CN 34196)

As soon as I got to the gate we began boarding, the aircraft was the usual B737-838 and this time I was on VH-VYG (CN 33995) and I took my seat which was 7F.

We pushed back at 5.22am and started taxiing at 5.25, because it was before 6am curfew runway 01 was in use for departures and runway 19 for arrivals.

ALLIANCE F28 MK70 VH-JFB (CN 11521)

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA B737-8FE'S AND AN ATR 72

We taxied out for 01 and had a rolling start becoming airborne at 5.30.

After climb out we banked slowly to the right and flew back abeam the airport. I quickly discovered the outside window had many scratches on it making clear photos impossible.

BRISBANE AIRPORT

BRISBANE CITY

ARCHERFIELD AIRPORT

We climbed to flight level 380 and the flight was very smooth at first but then as we climbed pass 200 I'm guessing it became very rough and bumpy. The flight smoothed out for a while but on descent it became very rough and uncomfortable. I have had many many flights but this made me feel sick in the stomach for a few hours.

We began our descent at 6.15am and landed on runway 16L in Sydney at 6.40, due to daylight savings we had to put the time forward on hour making our arrival 7.40am

We taxied past the Myjet Asia B737-7KK which I was pleased about since I missed this in Brisbane 

MYJET ASIA B737-7KK VP-CAM (CN38608)

We had a very long slow taxi in stopping a few times and arriving at gate 1 at 8.04am.

Hello Kitty Speed Puff in Brisbane

When I woke this morning I checked the aircraft radar as I do everyday to see what is happening and I noticed that Eva was bringing in their Hello Kitty aircraft. We have had a run on B-16311 the Happy Music livery but today was B-136309 the Speed Puff livery. Although this aircraft has only been into Brisbane 3 times in total (the other two visits were Apr and Aug this year) this was the first time I have seen it. Even though I would have rather stayed home and rested I made my way out to the airport to see this aircraft.... the things we do for our passion.

EVA AIR A330-203 B-16309 (CN 661)

HELLO KITTY SPEED PUFF

I arrived early enough to catch the early morning movements

QANTAS B747-438 VH-OJS (CN 25564)

AIR CANADA B787-9 C-FGDT (CN 37171)

CHINA SOUTHERN A330-323 B-8538 (CN1699)

LIFE FLIGHT AGUSTA AW-139 VH-XIL (CN 41411)

EMIRATES A380-861 A6-EEG  (CN 116)

KOREAN AIR A330-323 HL-8003 (CN 1590)

TOLL  B737-476F ZK-TLJ (CN 24432)

CATHAY PACIFIC A330-343 B-LBJ (CN 1618)

China Airlines was on final before Cathay but was to close to the aircraft in front, a QantasLink Q400 and the pilot called "WE'RE GOING AROUND" 

CHINA AIRLINES A330-302 B-18359 (CN 1367)

AIR NEW ZEALAND B777-319 ZK-OKS (CN 44547)

WESTERN GLOBAL MD 11 N435KD (CN 48435)

RAAF C-17 GLOBEMASTER III