Photographed (above) parked on the Rockhampton Airport General Aviation (GA) Apron soon after arriving were A54-048 and A54-049, both PC-21s from the RAAF's No. 4 Squadron. They were heard to arrive together as "Mayhem".
Both PC-21s later completed a sortie up to the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) and back to Rockhampton Airport.
Also on Monday 5 December, the four Air Affairs (Australia) LearJet 35 bizjets that are also deployed for the Exercise also completed sorties out of and back to Rockhampton Airport. VH-SLD and VH-LFA were heard flying together as "Fencer", while VH-LJU and VH-VLJ as "Fishbed" went out and back.
Meanwhile, heard flying through the region, also on Monday 5 December, were RAAF Airbus A330-200 / KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) A39-006 as "Dragon 14" which remained in the air most of the day on a flight out of and back to RAAF Base Amberley.
RAAF Boeing B737-7ES / E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft A30-003 as "Mitchel 10" flew up from Williamtown to the area before then landing at Amberley. During the afternoon, it returned to the Exercise area before then returning to Williamtown. Of interest, the Wedgetail changes its radio callsign to "Outback" while flying in the Exercise area.
And fast jet action again included flights of RAAF Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fighter aircraft as "Hunter", "Hawkeye" and "Hipshot", all flying out of and back to Amberley. While joining them were RAAF Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jets which flew as "Brutal".
An additional three EA-18G Growlers continued up to the Townsville Training Area and eventually landed at Townsville Airport - as shown above. They were identified as A46-301, A46-309 and A46-305 and were heard to be flying as "Sabre" (x2) and "Wolf 21".
Sincere thanks to the local plane spotters for taking the time to capture and send through these great photos!
Photos taken by Scott Harris and 'BW' ©
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