Sir Elton John (Gama Aviation) Bombardier Global Express Bizjet M-EDZE Arrives into Hamilton Island Airport - Plus More!

On Tuesday 27 December, Gama Aviation Bombardier BD-700-1A10 Global Express bizjet M-EDZE was spotted as it arrived into Hamilton Island Airport after flying up from Sydney as 'GMA986'.

The sleek Global Express is the personal ride of British singer Sir Elton John who was spotted, along with his partner, kids and several others, boarding the bizjet at Sydney for the trip up to Hamo.  Sir Elton is in Australia in the lead up to a series of concerts starting early in the new year.

It is believed that Sir Elton and passengers then travelled from Hamilton Island to Hayman Island.

Also calling into Hamilton Island Airport, also on Tuesday 27 December, was ADD Aviation Services (Australian Corporate Jet Centres) Raytheon Hawker 800XP bizjet VH-OFJ which visited Hamo from its Melbourne (Essendon) base via Port Macquarie.

While after arriving the previous day, Stroud Aviation and Transportation (Boonah) / Navair Flight Operations Cessna 510 Citation Mustang bizjet VH-SHI as "Navair 125" departed Proserpine (Whitsunday Coast) Airport for Archerfield.

And Navair Flight Operations Embraer EMB-500 Phenom 100 VH-HQK as "Navair 141" was spotted visiting Rockhampton Airport once again, this time from Dubbo.

Finally, also on Tuesday 27 December, Colville Aviation Services / Torres Strait Air Pilatus Britten-Norman BN-2B-20 Islander VH-PSX called into Emerald Airport from Watts Bridge before it then departed to Cairns.

And Torrens Creek (Hughenden) based SOCATA TBM700 VH-CEA looked to fly down from Aberfoyle to Tamworth.

Photos taken by 'AC', Kellie Leonard and Grahame Hutchison  ©

Whitsunday Air Services Takes Delivery of a Pair of DHC-2 Beaver Float Planes VH-OHU and VH-OHD

It was interesting to note that in late 2015, Whitsunday Air Services / Hamilton Island Air took delivery of a pair of De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver float planes from the United States of America (USA).

The first Beaver to break cover was VH-OHU (c/n 826) which was spotted wearing an attractive colour scheme for the 'One&Only' resort at Hayman Island.

VH-OHU has had an interesting history with the airframe first delivered to the US Army in 1955.  After a series of re-registrations and two accidents in 1987 and 1999, the Beaver has most recently been operating in Bear, Delaware as N88G, before being de-registered and exported to Australia in mid-2015.

David Lednicer / http://www.dhc-2.com/

It was noted in a crate at the Chrisair maintenance facility at Mackay Airport in late 2015 before being re-built and then taking to the air and commencing operations out of Hamilton Island Airport shortly after.

The other Beaver is (to be) registered VH-OHD (c/n 1590) and has yet to be seen around the Whitsundays.  This slightly younger Beaver first flew in 1965 and was operated by Field Air and then Float-Air Picton in New Zealand before being re-built by Wrightair at Tauranga in New Zealand.  It wore the New Zealand registration marking of ZK-CMU.

Dirk Septer / http://www.dhc-2.com/

It operated in New Zealand until the mid-1990s when it was exported to the USA.  It then operated as N97FW for Barnstormer Classic Aviation Inc at Fairfield, Connecticut until mid-2015 when it too was dismantled and exported to Australia.  It was also noted in a crate at the Chrisair maintenance facility at Mackay Airport in late December awaiting re-build.

Of interest, Whitsunday Air Services / Hamilton Island Air also operates DHC-2 Beaver float plane VH-ZDA (c/n 803) which too has had an interesting history following its initial delivery to the US Army in 1955.  It joined the Whitsunday Air Services / Hamilton Island Air fleet at Hamilton Island Airport in late 2010 after previously wearing the registration of N317DH in the USA.

For this post I referred to the fantastic website devoted to the classic de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver - http://www.dhc-2.com/ - which incidentally features a great photo of VH-OHU as its cover photo!

Chris Roughan / http://www.dhc-2.com/

The website is chock-full of fascinating information and photographs of pretty much every DHC-2 Beaver ever built.  Well worth checking out!

Additional photos taken by 'AC'  ©

CQ Rescue (Mackay) and QGAir Rescue (Townsville) Helicopters Visiting the Whitsundays and Bowen

It has been interesting to note that over the last few days both the Mackay-based Central Queensland Rescue Helicopter Service (CQ Rescue) Bell 412 helicopters VH-CQJ ("Rescue 412") and VH-LSY ("Rescue 422"), along with the Townsville-based Queensland Government (QGAir) Rescue Bell 412EP VH-ESB "Rescue 521", have all been quite busy making frequent trips to Bowen and the Whitsundays on various medical retrieval flights.

The CQ Rescue chopper on Hayman Island  (http://www.cqrescue.org.au/)

VH-ESB was noted flying to Bowen Hospital early on Tuesday 12 January.  Meanwhile, since the start of the previous weekend, CQ Rescue's VH-CQJ and VH-LSY have between them also flown to Bowen Hospital, as well as Proserpine Hospital, Clermont Hospital and Moranbah Hospital, along with at least three trips to Hamilton Island and Hayman Island to retrieve patients that have stung by jellyfish and/or are showing symptoms of Irukandji Syndrome.

Remember folks, it is stinger season!

Finally, its always good to remind followers that the RACQ-CQ Rescue Helicopter Service is a valuable community service that serves a vast area of Central Queensland. Donations to CQ Rescue are welcomed all year round.  To make a donation visit the CQ Rescue website:  https://cqrescue.org.au/

RAAF Aircraft Visit Rockhampton Airport Saturday - Boeing B737-7DF(BBJ) A36-002 "Regent 33" - And A Pair of King Airs

Aside from more sorties by the four Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) British Aerospace (BAe) Hawk 127 jets that are currently based at Rockhampton Airport, there were a couple of other interesting RAAF aircraft that were spotted calling into Rocky on Saturday 18 July.  Perhaps the nicest - and the one that drew local spotters to Rockhampton Airport - was RAAF Boeing B737-7DF(BBJ) A36-002 which touched down from Sydney as "Regent 33".

As the photos by local plane spotter 'IAD' show, A36-002 brought Prime Minister Tony Abbott to Rocky to meet with local farmers and attend the Paradise Lagoons Campdraft.

A36-002 departed back to Sydney just after dark again as "Regent 33".

Meanwhile, a pair of RAAF Beech B350 Super King Air aircraft were also noted calling into Rockhampton Airport on Saturday 18 July with A32-675 "Dingo 15" arriving from Townsville and departing to RAAF Base Amberley, and A32-426 "Blackduck 7" returning from RAAF Base Tindal near Katherine in the Northern Territory and departing to Darwin a short time later.

Finally, the four RAAF Hawk jets were heard to go on what we could possibly describe as a 'sight-seeing' flight from Rockhampton Airport North via Mackay to the Whitsundays.  Two pairs of Hawks - "Puma" and "Leopard" - were both heard to request clearance to fly over Hamilton Island, Hayman Island and Daydream Island before returning to Rockhampton Airport a little while later.

Thanks to 'IAD' and Isaac M for sending through these great photos!

Photos taken by Isaac Matthews and 'IAD'  ©

A Couple of Nice Helicopters Spotted at Whitsunday and Mackay Airports Recently

While I've been holidaying in the beautiful Whitsundays, I've taken the opportunity to call into the Whitsunday Airport (WAVE) at Shute Harbour and, as usual, there has been a nice selection of locally-based helicopters to photograph.  

Perhaps the most striking choppers to be seen at the Whitsunday Airport are the beautiful red liveried Robinson R44 and R66 helicopters of North Queensland Heli Taxi.  I managed to catch one of their two R66s in the form of VH-VRN.

North Queensland Heli Taxi provides helicopter taxi, tour, and air work services in the Proserpine and Airlie Beach area based out of the Whitsunday Airport.  This includes transit 'Heli Taxi' flights on request from travellers, from the Whitsunday Airport to and from:  Proserpine / Whitsunday Coast Airport, Bowen, Collinsville, Abbot Point, Montes, and the islands (only exclusions being Hamilton and Hayman Islands).  North Queensland Heli Taxi also provides tours to the Great Barrier Reef to view Heart, Hardy and Hook reefs as well as Whitehaven Beach and other unique destinations around the Whitsunday and Bowen Basin regions.

One of the bigger hangars at the Whitsunday Airport belongs to Heli-Biz.  Heli-Biz usually has 2-3 choppers undergoing maintenance, however during my recent visit, I only spotted Whitsunday Air Services fairly new and beautifully presented Eurcopter EC120B VH-HIL undergoing some work outside the hangar.

Elsewhere, Mendi Enteprises Robinson R44 II VH-NEM departed the Whitsunday Airport for its Townsville base.

On a different visit to the Whitsunday Airport (WAVE), I captured another Whitsunday Air Services chopper in the form of Robinson R44 VH-WIY which also wears the titles of the 'One&Only' Hayman Island resort.

Nearby was fellow Whitsunday Air Services Bell 206L-3 VH-VTO.

Meanwhile, down the road at Mackay Airport, there have been a nice pair of 'larger' type helicopters to call in over the last week.  Over this weekend, Karreman Quarries (Austcopters) corporate Sikorsky S-76B VH-KQL was noted calling in from the South on Saturday 20 December.  Of interest, VH-KQL was also noted at Gladstone earlier in the day.

After overnighting, VH-KQL departed to the North, later being noted at Townsville, on Sunday 21 December.

Also, as mentioned below, Bell 205A-1 helicopter P2-HBY also called into Mackay Airport last Monday 15 December, also flying South to North.

It was noted in Cairns later in the week.

Photos taken by 'AC'  ©

And Some Photos From the Whitsunday Airport (WAVE) incl Another New GSL Aviation Airvan and Wagners King Air VH-WJW

Over the last few days I've also called into the Whitsunday Airport (WAVE) at Shute Harbour a couple of times, and as always, there's plenty of varied aircraft and helicopters to take photos of!

I firstly called in on Thursday 30 October and was able to capture some great photos of a new helicopter to the region, along with another new Airvan for GSL Aviation.  

Whitsunday Air Services strikingly beautiful Eurcopter EC130B4 VH-WYH was parked outside prior to undergoing maintenance - sadly the camera didn't quite to the fluro-orange justice.  VH-WYH operated predominately to the 'One&Only' Hayman Island resort.

There were no less than four GSL Aviation Airvans at the Whitsunday Airport on Thursday including their recently acquired Gippsland Aeronautics GA-8 VH-IGW.

VH-IGW was joined by another recently acquired Gippsaero GA-8 Airvan VH-VMU and two older Airvans VH-NOQ and VH-URB (pictured at the top).

On Friday 31 October, Wagners Development Company Hawker Beechcraft B300 Super King Air VH-WJW called in from Toowoomba.

http://www.facebook.com/whitsundayairport

Also spotted calling in but from Redcliffe was Piper PA-32R-301T VH-ASC while another of Whitsunday Air Services' recent acquisitions in the form of Eurocopter EC120B VH-HIL was spotted in between flights.

http://www.facebook.com/whitsundayairport

http://www.facebook.com/whitsundayairport

I returned to the Whitsunday Airport on Monday 3 November and was able to capture VH-WJW while it was preparing to depart back to Toowoomba.  However, at the time of writing, VH-WJW had not departed the Airport possibly due to a mechanical issue as I noted that work was being done on the aircraft's starboard-side wing-tip.

I also captured Gold Coast-based Gulfstream Aerospace (AeroCommander) 695-A JetProp 1000 VH-LMC which had arrived on Saturday 1 November.

Heli-Biz Robinson R44 II VH-DCN arrived back at the Airport after completing a local flight.

And finally, I captured a couple of photos of the recently re-painted Skydive Airlie Beach Gippsland GA-8 Airvan VH-RTS as it returned from dropping another load of skydivers out over the spectacular Whitsundays.

Some great aircraft!

Thanks to the Whitsunday Airport for their assistance in preparing this post!

JetGo Embraer E-135 VH-JGB Calls into Hamilton Island Airport on Bill Peach Journeys Australian Tour

JetGo Australia Embraer E-135LR VH-JGB has called into Hamilton Island while operating for Bill Peach Journeys.  The E-135 has been noted in various airports around Australia flying under the radio callsign of "JetGo 99".  It's been confirmed that VH-JGB was flying for Bill Peach Journeys on an around-Australia private luxury tour.

VH-JGB at Townsville Airport recently (Photo taken by Dave  ©)

VH-JGB arrived into Hamilton Island from Cooktown in North Queensland on Thursday 9 May.  After allowing its passengers to explore the nearby Whitsunday Islands - including Hayman Island - VH-JGB was noted departing Hamo for Ballina/Byron Gateway Airport on Saturday 11 May.

It's also worth mentioning some other private corporate bizjet visitors to Hamilton Island Airport over the past few days.

A familiar visitor to Hamo in the form of Balmoral Air Dassault Falcon 2000EX VH-WIO made yet another trip from Bankstown on Monday 6 May.  It departed back to Bankstown on Thursday 9 May.

On Saturday 11 May, Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign VH-VPL called into Hamilton Island from the Gold Coast.  It later departed to Broome in West Australia.

Lastly, a couple of corporate turbo-prop aircraft called into Hamilton Island over the weekend with Raytheon B200 King Air VH-NSN - which is operated by Austrek Aviation at Toowoomba - flying return from there and Brisbane on Saturday 11 May.  Meanwhile, Beech B200 VH-LQR also arrived at Hamo on Saturday 11 May and then departed to the Sunshine Coast on Sunday 12 May.

Some Weekend Action from Gladstone Airport

On Saturday 10 November, Kawasaki BK-117 B-1 helicopter VH-NGH was spotted by Jamie C as it passed through Gladstone Airport heading Northbound.  It departed to Mackay and then Cairns.  VH-NGH is registered to Rotor-Lift in Tasmania.

Meanwhile, on Sunday 11 November, Shane T ventured to Gladstone Airport and photographed a couple of the locally based helicopters that operate from Gladstone Airport.  Shown below are Heli-Reef (Aviation Tourism Australia) Bell 206L-3 VH-CKP and Aerospatiale AS.355F1 VH-ZWB.  VH-ZWB was also caught by Shane a little later returning to Gladstone Airport from parts unknown.

Reid Heliwork Robinson R44 VH-ROM was photographed near the General Aviation apron.

Lastly, commerical visitors to Gladstone Airport on Sunday 11 November included Virgin Australia (Skywest Airlines) ATR 72-600 VH-FVP.

Also noted were QantasLink Dash-8-Q300s VH-SBI and VH-SBT.

Great coverage as always - thanks Shane!