LifeFlight (Aeromed) LearJet 45 Bizjet VH-CXJ Pops into Hervey Bay (Fraser Coast) Airport After Maintenance

Interesting to note on Monday 7 September that LifeFlight (Aeromed) LearJet 45 bizjet VH-CXJ called into Hervey Bay (Fraser Coast) Airport after spending some time in the hangar at Brisbane presumably undergoing maintenance.

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It arrived from Brisbane via the Sunshine Coast and later returned to the capital over the same route.

VH-CXJ completed its last flight in mid-July and has appeared to be in the hangar at Brisbane since then.

VH-CXJ was photographed at Rockhampton airport in early June minus any LifeFlight titles and tail logo.

Interesting... will it be leaving the fleet?

UPDATE!  It appears that VH-CXJ has rejoined the LifeFlight aero medical fleet with it completing a medevac flight to and from Rockhampton Airport some 10 days later.

Photo taken by Steve Vit  ©

Two LifeFlight (Aeromed) Canadair Challenger 604 Air Ambulance Bizjets VH-OFA & VH-OFC Both Call Into Mackay Airport

On Sunday 6 September, a pair of LifeFlight (Aeromed) Canadair CL-600-2B16 Challenger 604 aero medical bizjets were both noted visiting Mackay Airport.

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Before dawn, VH-OFA "Ambulance 614" arrived from and later departed back to Brisbane.

Then later in the morning, VH-OFC "Ambulance 634" arrived from Townsville and departed to the Gold Coast. It later returned to its Townsville base.

Photo taken by 'JM'  ©️

A Couple of Other Corporate Bizjets Also Around CQ Airports on Saturday - Plus More!

There were a few other corporate bizjets and other light General Aviation (GA) aircraft and helicopters noted visiting some Central Queensland Airport also on Saturday 5 September.

Brisbane-based Cessna 525 CitationJet M2 bizjet VH-YWS was noted visiting Hervey Bay (Fraser Coast) Airport.  It arrived from and later departed back to its Archerfield base.

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Re-registered BHMM Aviation Cessna 650 Citation VII bizjet VH-SSZ was noted flying into Hamilton Island Airport from the Gold Coast.

UPDATE!  VH-SSZ remained parked on Hamo until Sunday 13 September when it was noted departing and returning to the Gold Coast.

Gulf Coast Aviation Cessna 510 Citation Mustang bizjet VH-KXM popped into Emerald Airport from Cairns and Stirling Station (northeast of Normanton) before it then later departed to the Sunshine Coast.

And late in the afternoon, Machjet (Machjet International) Cessna 525A Citation CJ2 bizjet VH-ZIY looked to fly down from Cairns via airwork and missed approaches at Townsville and Gladstone Airports before it then flew into the Sunshine Coast.

A nice slightly smaller corporate turboprop to pop into CQ Airports also on Saturday 5 September was Fly Weel Pilatus PC-12/47E VH-KWZ which departed Bowen Airport for Rockhampton Airport before it then later returned to Bowen.  It had flown into there from its Gold Coast base on Friday 4 September.

At the time of writing, VH-KWZ is due to fly from Bowen Airport to Bundaberg Airport on Sunday 6 September.

Finally, Heli Qld Airbus helicopters EC 130 T2 VH-WJY popped into Rockhampton Airport from Toowoomba-Wellcamp and Monto Airports.  It then departed to the Whitsunday Airport at Shute Harbour.

It appears that VH-WJY was also in the region, calling into Roma and Alpha Airports during the previous week.

Photos taken by Ryan Hothersall and James Kirk  ©

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Dassault Falcon 7X Bizjet A56-002 "Envoy 27" Calls into CQ Airports

On Saturday 5 September, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Dassault Falcon 7X bizjet A56-002 was noted visiting a couple of Central Queensland Airports.

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The still fairly new Falcon 7X bizjet, which is flown by the RAAF's VIP 34 Squadron, looked to arrive into Bundaberg Airport from Canberra before then heading up to Gladstone Airport.  A56-002 then returned to Canberra. 

It was heard to be flying as "Envoy 27".

Photo taken by Michael Malick  ©

First Visit to CQ at Rockhampton Airport by Qantas / QantasLink (Cobham Aviation) Boeing B717-200 VH-YQU in New 'Silver-Roo' Colours

This past week, on Thursday 3 September, QantasLink (Cobham Aviation-operated) Boeing B717-200 VH-YQU looked to make its first visit to Central Queensland after it was recently re-painted into the new Qantas / QantasLink 'Silver-Roo' colour scheme.

It called into Rockhampton Airport while operating the QJE1794/5 service from and back to Brisbane.

VH-YQU underwent planned maintenance at Singapore (Seletar) Airport during May, June and July and it is believed that while it was there, it was re-painted into the new Qantas / QantasLink colour scheme.  

Since arriving back into Australia at Brisbane in early July, VH-YQU appears to have been mostly utilised on flights from Brisbane to Cairns (pictured above in August) and Brisbane to Canberra, so its visit to CQ was a great surprise!

VH-YQU is now the tenth of the fleet of Cobham Aviation-operated Boeing B717-200 regional jets to wear the new and updated Qantas livery and kangaroo logo, which was introduced to coincide with the introduction the Boeing B787 Dreamliner into service with the airline in 2017.

It also appears that the previously un-named VH-YQU has now been named 'Royal National Park'.

VH-YQU is also the third of the 2-class QantasLink B717-200 aircraft to be re-painted having previously worn the 2007 'New Roo' style livery.

Of interest, VH-YQU has had an interesting history to the present day.  The Boeing B717-2BL (c/n 55180-5132) was originally ordered new in 2004 by Midwest Airlines of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the USA and entered the US Aircraft Register as N918ME in July 2004.

N918ME in 2006  (GDClearedToLand / https://www.flickr.com/)

It operated with the airline until 2008 and was stored at Victorville soon after.  In early 2009, the B717-200 was leased to Mexicana Click and was entered onto the Mexican Aircraft Register as XA-CLB in March 2009.

XA-CLB at Miami in 2009  (Roberto Collazo / https://www.flickr.com/)

Mexicana Click ceased operations in 2010 and the aircraft was stored at Mexico City before re-entering the American Aircraft Register as N795BC and subsequently being again stored at Victorville where it remained until August 2013 when it was prepared for lease to Qantas Airways.

N795BC at Tulsa in 2011  (aatus / https://www.flickr.com/)

N795BC was ferried to Jacksonville and painted into full Qantas / QantasLink colours before it was then subsequently ferried to Australia where it arrived into Adelaide in South Australia just before Christmas in 2013.

N795BC arrives into Adelaide Airport  (Tony Haynes / https://www.flickr.com/)

It was then registered VH-YQU with National Jet Systems (now Cobham Aviation Services) as the registered operator.  VH-YQU entered service with QantasLink in February 2014 when it operated as QFA1510 from Canberra to Sydney.

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It remains one of seven B717-200s in the Qantas / QantasLink fleet to be in a 2-class configuration with 12 Business Class and 98 Economy Class seats, along with Q-Streaming - Qantas' wireless entertainment system.

Finally, it appears that fellow QantasLink (Cobham Aviation) Boeing B717-200 VH-YVQV has ferried overseas to Singapore's Seletar Airport for planned maintenance and I assume, re-painting.

Photos taken by Jonathan Williams and Tony Haynes  ©

Australian-based American-Registered Cessna A185F Skywagon N185MW at Charleville and Longreach Airports

On Friday 4 September, it appeared that Australian-based but American-registered Cessna A185F Skywagon N185MW popped into Charleville and Longreach Airports while on a flight North to Far North Queensland.

The aircraft features on the Facebook page 'Wrong Way to Australia - and New Zealand' with the aircraft flying to Australia via New Zealand the 'wrong way' through Europe and Asia.

N185MW has spent some time in New Zealand but now appears to have taken up residence in Australia at Coffs Harbour in New South Wales.  Indeed on its flight North, N185MW departed Coffs Harbour for Goondiwindi before calling into Charleville Airport and possibly Longreach Airport before ending the day at Winton (as shown above).

On Saturday 5 September, N185MW appears to be flying up to the top of the state at the Cape York Peninsula.

Maryborough Airport Based InflightER Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) 1124A Westwind II Bizjet VH-IER Completes Medical Evacuation Flight to Fiji

Interesting to see that late on Thursday 3 September, locally-based Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) 1124A Westwind II bizjet VH-IER was photographed and videoed departing its Maryborough Airport Base on a short flight to Bundaberg Airport before it then flew down to Brisbane.

After spending the night, VH-IER then made an early departure out of Brisbane on Friday 4 September for Fiji where it is believed to have completed a medical evacuation flight back to Brisbane.

VH-IER then returned direct to Maryborough Airport.

As we've mentioned previously, VH-IER - which as suggested by its 'InflightER' titles - is fully kitted out as a specialist medical retrieval and evacuation (med-evac) aircraft.  In fact the name worn by the aircraft - 'InflightER' - is literally short for 'InFlight Emergency Room'.

VH-IER is also part of Australia Air Medical, whose mission is to be known as the safest, most ethical and best value jet aeromedical retrieval services in the Australasian and Asia Pacific marketplace.

More information about 'InflightER' - as well as some great images of their Westwind at work - can be found at their website:  http://www.inflighter.com.au/

To learn more about Australia Air Medical, visit their website:  http://www.aamed.com.au/

Sincere thanks to local plane spotter Rowena B for taking the time to capture and send through this great photo and video!

Photo and video taken by Rowena Baumgart  ©

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Alenia C-27J Spartan Transport Aircraft A34-010 "Wallaby 22" Spotted at Rockhampton Airport

Also on Friday 4 September, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Alenia C-27J Spartan transport aircraft A34-010 "Wallaby 22" was noted completing airwork at Central Queensland Airports.

It was noted departing RAAF Base Amberley and completed airwork at Bundaberg and Mackay Airports before being photographed (above) also completing a missed approach at Rockhampton Airport.

A34-010 then returned to Amberley.

Sincere thanks to local plane spotter Scott H for taking the time to capture and send through these great photos!

All photos taken by Scott Harris  ©

A Pair of Australian Army Boeing CH-47F 'Foxtrot' Chinook Helicopters Call into Rockhampton Airport Heading Home

After completing exercises in the South-East corner of the state, on Friday 4 September, a pair of Australian Army Boeing CH-47F 'Foxtrot' Chinook helicopters were noted passing through Rockhampton Airport heading home to Townsville.

Chinook A15-306 flying over Brisbane City recently

The two Chinooks were identified as A15-306 and A15-308 (possibly?) and are both operated by the Australian Army's 5th Aviation Regiment (5 Avn Regt) 'C' Squadron based at Townsville. They were noted to have flown together into Rocky from the South using the radio callsign of "Chainsaw".  After taking on fuel, both Chinooks departed Rockhampton Airport for Townsville.

A third Chinook - A15-310 - also headed South recently but at this stage, we haven't noted it returning back North.

Photo taken by Rhys Cheng  ©

QGAir Rescue (State of Queensland) Leonardo S.P.A. Helicopters (Agusta) AW139 Helicopter VH-EGF Ferries South via Rockhampton Airport

On Friday 4 September, Queensland Government (QGAir) Rescue (State of Queensland) Leonardo S.P.A. Helicopter (Agusta) AW139 helicopter VH-EGF was noted ferrying South to Archerfield from Townsville via Rockhampton Airport.

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It is assumed that another AW139 helicopter will ferry North via CQ Airports in the coming days to replace VH-EGF.  

UPDATE!  On Thursday 10 September, fellow QGAir Rescue Agusta AW139 helicopter VH-ESH was noted ferrying North to Townsville from Archerfield via Rockhampton Airport.

As we have mentioned previously, this is all part of the 'rotational system' the service utilises to ensure the even distribution of flying hours on each of the QGAir Rescue helicopters.  This system avoids the need to have multiple helicopters offline for simultaneous scheduled maintenance.

Photo taken by 'JM'  ©