CQ Plane Spotting Historic Spot - Antonov Airlines (Antonov Design Bureau) Antonov AN-124-100M-150 UR-82073

This month, I thought I'd share some of my photos from Friday 5 October 2007 when Antonov Airlines (Antonov Design Bureau) Antonov AN-124-100M-150 UR-82073 called into Rockhampton Airport.

The giant Ukrainian-registered aircraft delivered several Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) Boeing AH-64D Apache Helicopters to Rockhampton to participate in the Singapore Armed Force's Military Exercise Wallaby which is held annually in the nearby Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA).

With the 2014-version of Exercise Wallaby starting on Monday 15 September, Rockhampton Airport is again set to play host to several RSAF Apache helicopters, along with RSAF Aerospatiale / Eurocopter AS332M Super Puma and Boeing CH-47SD Chinook helicopters.  There are rumours floating around of two arrivals from a giant Antonov AN-124 transport plane around Saturday 6 September and again around Tuesday 9 September, bringing some of the RSAF helicopters into Rockhampton Airport.  The rumours are suggesting that Antonov Airlines will be operating the uplifts this year, with UR-82008 being the aircraft.  As shown below, this particular AN-124 has visited Perth, Darwin and Adelaide already this year!

Ben Cambridge / http://planefinder.net/

Stay tuned to the CQ Plane Spotting Blog - and our Facebook page and Twitter feed - for all the latest updates!