Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023 - A Massive Day of Plane Spotting at Rockhampton Airport - Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) Lockheed L-100-30 (C-130H) Hercules A-1328 Calls in - Plus Much More!

On Wednesday 2 August, it seemed that flight operations following the weekend's sad events in the Whitsundays had pretty much returned to normal with many different military aircraft and helicopters spotted and noted coming and going from various Central Queensland Airports, including many movements at Rockhampton Airport.

The day started early with Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Boeing C-17A Globemaster III A41-209 "Stallion 01" spotted visiting Rockhampton Airport.  

Overnight, it had departed RAAF Base Amberley and called into Proserpine (Whitsunday Coast) Airport before then flying over to Norfolk Island.  The Globemaster then flew to Rockhampton Airport and then back to Amberley.

During the afternoon, fellow RAAF C-17 A41-210 flew down from Townsville to Amberley also as "Stallion 01". 

Also at Rockhampton Airport, the deployed Air Affairs (Australia) LearJet 36 VH-SLF as "Bosen 11", LearJet 35 VH-SLD "Bosen 12" and LearJet 36 VH-SLJ "Blackjack 21" were back in the air, all departing Rockhampton Airport for the Exercise area before later returning to Rockhampton Airport.

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) British Aerospace (BAe) Hawk 127 lead-in fighter jet aircraft as "Raptor" completed two sorties again to and from the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA).  A27-19 and A27-15 were photographed completing the morning sortie.

Another great visitor into into Rockhampton Airport, also on Wednesday 2 August, was Indonesian Air Force / Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Udara (TNI-AU) Lockheed L-100-30 (C-130H) Hercules A-1328 which touched down from Townsville as "Herky 01".  It looked to be staying for the night.

The Herc also visited Rockhampton Airport last week and has been spending most of its time operating out of RAAF Base Richmond.

Australian Army Boeing CH-47F 'Foxtrot' Chinook helicopters A15-306 and A15-308 as "Chainsaw" arrived and departed.

Another United States Marine Corps (USMC) Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter visited Rockhampton Airport direct from the United States Navy (USN) amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA-6) which is currently in waters near the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA).

The mighty helicopter wore the serial number 161994 (Code YN-20) and was heard to use the radio callsign of "Kong 41".  It was interesting to note that the only visible squadron markings were 'HMH-USA' - part of one of the Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadrons.

After heading up there the previous day, the two United States Army (US Army) Sikorsky HH-60M medevac Black Hawk helicopters - identified as 20-21134 and 20-21135 - returned Camp Rocky from Williamson Airfield within the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) as "Dustoff 35".

Both Black Hawks later departed back to Townsville as "Dustoff 134" following their time at Camp Rocky.

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Lockheed C-130J-30 Hercules transport aircraft A97-442 as "Trojan 04" arrived into Rockhampton Airport from RAAF Base Amberley and later departed to the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA). 

United States Air Force (USAF) Lockheed MC-130J Commando II Hercules aircraft 20-5946 "Rogue 73" which arrived last night sometime, departed to the Bay then south to RAAF Base Richmond. 

Finally, elsewhere in the region, also on Wednesday 2 August, RAAF Beech 350 Super King Air A32-003 as "Beaufort 14", which had landed at Proserpine (Whitsunday Coast) Airport yesterday, this morning flew down from there to Dubbo and RAAF Base East Sale. 

And a privately registered Pilatus PC-12/47E VH-YKG was heard to fly out of the Oakey Army Aviation Centre as "Firetail 01" up to Mackay Airport.  It then flew back to Oakey via a missed approach at the Sunshine Coast but as "Firetail 16".  As mentioned previously, the "Firetail" callsign is of the Australian Army Aviation Corps. 

Sincere thanks to the local plane spotters for venturing out and capturing these great photos of a great day of plane spotting at Rockhampton Airport!

Photos taken by Steve Vit, John Lee and Scott Harris  ©