I called in for about an hour after we touched down on Monday 13 April and captured a nice pair of bizjets that were parked at Hamo. Silver Linings Aviation Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign VH-ZEK and Marcplan Charter Embraer EMB-135BJ Legacy VH-VLT had both arriving into Hamo last week.
VH-VLT evenutally departed South on Tuesday 14 April while VH-ZEK departed to Bankstown on Thursday 16 April.
One other bizjet I captured at (or above) Hamilton Island Airport on Monday was Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Boeing B737-7DF(BBJ) A36-002 which performed a missed approach before heading onward to Townsville as "Envoy 91".
Commercially, QantasLink Dash-8-Q400 VH-QOE was spotted departing to Brisbane as QLK2825.
QantasLink Dash-8-Q400s operate into Hamilton Island on daily flights from and back to Cairns while they visit four-times-a-week on flights directly from Brisbane.
Qantas itself operates Boeing B737-800 jets into Hamo from Sydney twice each week as well.
Virgin Australia Boeing B737-800 VH-YVC was spotted parked on the Hamilton Island Airport apron operating from and back to Brisbane as VOZ1497/1496.
Virgin operates into Hamo from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne (Tullamarine).
And Jetstar Airways Airbus A320 VH-VGZ was spotted just before touching down from Sydney as JST846.
Jetstar only operates to Hamilton Island from Sydney and Melbourne (Tullamarine) - where we flew in from!
I was lucky to capture photos of most of the fixed-wing and helicopter fleet that locally-based Whitsunday Air Services / Hamilton Island Air operates - including Cessna 208FP Caravan VH-WTY and De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver Float Plane VH-ZDA, along with their recently acquired Gippsland Aeronautics GA-8 Airvan VH-AZH.
Whitsunday Air Services / Hamilton Island Air Robinson R-44s VH-WDI, VH-UXW, VH-WIY and VH-TGZ.
I returned to Hamilton Island Airport on Thursday 16 April and captured the remaining helicopters in the Whitsunday Air Services / Hamilton Island Air fleet - Bell 206L-3 VH-VTU, Eurocopter EC120B VH-HIL and Eurcopter EC130B4 VH-WYH.
And visiting for the day from Hervey Bay was Maroochy Air Piper PA-46R-350T Malibu VH-UPY.
Shortstop Jet Charter British Aerospace BAe-125-1000B bizjet VH-LMP was back at Hamilton Island once again after arriving from Melbourne (Essendon) on Wednesday 15 April.
On the commercial front on Thursday 16 April, I spotted a pair of Virgin Australia Boeing B737-800s - VH-VOO operating VOZ1281/1282 from and back to Sydney - and VH-VUF operating VOZ1497/1496 from and back to Brisbane.
I found a nice park North of the Airport that overlooks the Runway at Hamilton Island with pretty much unobstructed views. It was a nice place to sit and enjoy my own lunch on the tables and chairs provided at this area known as "The Oval".
I also capture Jetstar A320 VH-VQH which was operating from and back to Sydney as JST846/849.
There is a golf driving range nearby too, so if golf and plane spotting are your two favourite hobbies then Hamilton Island is perfectly suited to you!
Finally, on the 'other side' of Hamitlon Island Airport, Britten-Norman BN-2A-8 Islander VH-SYU sits idle after seemingly being scrapped there in the mid-2000's.
It was operated over the years by Rottness (Island) Airlines, Island Air Gold Coast and Heli-Aust of which it appears to wear a basic livery.
I really enjoyed my time-off on Hamilton Island - plane spotting is quite easy at the Airport with most locations on the Eastern side of the Airport predominently around the Hamilton Island Airport hangar. As shown above, moveing further North to "The Oval" also yields spots overlooking the main Runway 14/32. There are free buses avaialble on Hamo that connects to these locations as well.
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