Saturday, July 18, 2015

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'  ©

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