A Couple of Bizjets and a Couple of Air Link Navajos at Longreach Airport Over the Weekend

Over the weekend, it was interesting to note a couple of familiar bizjets and light General Aviation (GA) aircraft called into Longreach Airport on various flights around the region.  

File photo

As we mentioned on our Facebook page, the Queensland Government (State of Queensland) Raytheon B300 Super King Air VH-SGQ arrived at Longreach Airport on Saturday 30 April from Brisbane and Eromanga.  It then operated a return flight to Barcaldine Airport where it dropped off Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk who came to town for the The Tree of Knowledge Festival and Labour Day on Monday 2 May.

As the evening wore on, Air Link Piper PA-31-350 VH-MZF called into Longreach Airport from Dubbo and Charleville. It later departed further North to Karumba where it arrived in the early hours of Sunday 1 May.

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Then around mid-morning on Sunday 1 May, fellow Air Link Navajo VH-DVW flew in the opposite direction, arriving into Longreach Airport from Karumba before departing onward to Dubbo via Charleville.

This saw yet another swap of aircraft by the Dubbo-based regional airline which looks to be operating regular flights between Karumba (previously Normanton) and Mornington Island.  Air Link is also a member of the Regional Express (REX) group.

Also during the morning on Sunday 1 May, the Queensland Government Raytheon Hawker 850XP bizjet VH-SGY arrived at Longreach Airport from Brisbane.  It looked to be staying the night.

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Finally, in the early afternoon on Sunday 1 May, Gulf Coast Aviation Cessna 510 Citation Mustang bizjet VH-KXM once again called into Longreach Airport, this time heading back South to Bankstown from Vanrook Station.  It had flown North via Longreach earlier last week.

A busy couple of days!

Photos taken by 'AC'  ©

Alliance Airlines Fokker F-70 Jet VH-JFB Calls into Rockhampton Airport Saturday

Spotted parked at Rockhampton Airport on Saturday 30 April was Alliance Airlines Fokker F-70 jet VH-JFB.  It had touched down from Brisbane just before lunchtime, flying in as UTY550.  I assume that it came to the beef capital on a closed charter - possibly yet another sporting charter?

VH-JFB continues to wear a sticker promoting the Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA).  BCNA works to ensure that Australians affected by breast cancer receive the very best support, information, treatment and care appropriate to their individual needs.  It is the peak national organisation for Australians affected by breast cancer, and consists of a network of more than 100,000 members and 300 Member Groups. More than 90 per cent of their members have had a diagnosis of breast cancer, and the remaining members have had a personal experience with breast cancer through a family member or friend.

They are represented by the 'Pink Lady' silhouette, symbolic of their focus on the women diagnosed with breast cancer and all those around her. See more at: https://www.bcna.org.au/

UPDATE!  After staying parked for a couple of days, VH-JFB departed back to Brisbane on Monday 2 May as UTY551.

Thanks to local plane spotter 'IAD' for taking the time to capture and send through his great photos!

All photos taken by 'IAD'  ©

Machjet Cessna Citation Bizjet VH-SQM Airwork at Gladstone and Rockhampton Airports Saturday

On Saturday 30 April, McDermott Aviation Group / Machjet International Cessna S550 Citation S/2 VH-SQM was noted in the air above Gladstone Airport completing what looked to be a practice ILS approach followed by an overshoot.  It had flown up from its Sunshine Coast base.

VH-SQM then continued further North to Rockhampton Airport where it landed for a couple of hours after again completing some airwork in the circuit area.  It was captured parked on the General Aviation (GA) apron by local plane spotter 'IAD'.

VH-SQM then appeared to depart back to towards Gladstone and then further South on return to the Sunny Coast.

Finally, it's worth noting that on Friday 29 April the Queensland Police Service (Airwing) Cessna 560 Citation Ultra bizjet VH-PSU called into Rockhampton Airport twice while on a busy day of flying looking to be transferring prisoners up and down the Queensland coast.

Thanks to Michael F and 'IAD' for capturing and sending through these great photos!

Photo taken by Michael Fleetwood and 'IAD'  ©

Skytrans Dash-8-100 VH-QQF at Mackay Airport Saturday

Presumably in town to bring a sports team to town, Skytrans Dash-8-100 VH-QQF was noted arriving into Mackay Airport on Saturday 30 April.

An older photo of VH-QQF departing Rockhampton Airport in 2014  (File photo)

It touched down as SKP9002 from Cairns.

At the time of writing, it appears that VH-QQF will depart Mackay to Townsville mid-morning on Sunday 1 May.

Photo taken by Kayanne Hardsman  ©

DASNAIR (Switzerland) Dassault Falcon 7X Bizjet HB-JSN Arrives at Hamilton Island Airport Friday

Certainly a sleek looking bizjet arrived at Hamilton Island Airport on Friday 29 April in the form of DASNAIR (of Switzerland) Dassault Falcon 7X HB-JSN.

It touched down from Sydney where it arrived the previous day from Bali (Denpasar).

As these photos captured on Saturday 30 April show, HB-JSN remains parked at Hamo.

DASNAIR is a business aviation company based in Geneva, Switzerland and was founded in May 2001.

Meanwhile, also on Saturday 30 April, Brisbane-based Cessna 340 VH-LKM was noted calling into Hamilton Island Airport from Archerfield.  It too seems to be still parked on Hamo.

Finally, an interesting visitor back on the mainland at Proserpine / Whitsunday Coast Airport on Friday 29 April was Townsville-based Curtin Bros  Raytheon 1900D VH-VPZ which operated a Townsville-Hughenden-Proserpine-Townsville flight.  It was due to operate this earlier in the week but was re-scheduled.

All photos taken by 'AC'  ©

Virgin Australia Embraer E-190 VH-ZPE Also Departs Australia For Good

Also departing Australia this week was Virgin Australia Embraer E-190 jet VH-ZPE which was initially withdrawn from service on Saturday 23 April and departed Brisbane on Tuesday 26 April for Apia (Tonga) and all stops to Nashville (Tennessee) for post lease maintenance.

VH-ZPE on one of its last visits to Gladstone Airport  (File photo)

VH-ZPE is the fourth of five Virgin Australia E-190s that will be withdrawn from the fleet and transferred to operate for Aero Mexico.  VH-ZPD, VH-ZPG and VH-ZPF have already left Australia - see referring Blog post HERE.

VH-ZPE was originally delivered to Virgin Blue at the start of July 2008 and took up the name 'Bluephoria'.  After re-painting into the new Virgin Australia livery, it then wore the name ‘Coogee Beach’.

VH-ZPE at Rockhampton Airport in 2011  (File photo)

VH-ZPE 'Coogee Beach' at Gladstone Airport  (File photo)

VH-ZPE made frequent visits to CQ was looked to make its final visit last Friday 22 April when it operated the VOZ1249/1252 rotation into Rockhampton Airport from and back to Brisbane.

Sad to see them go!

Photos taken by Col  ©

Skytrans / Maroomba Dash-8-100 VH-QQL Departs Australia

Once a common sight at CQ Airports when it operated out of Cairns, Skytrans Airlines Dash-8-100 VH-QQL has recently departed Australia for good at the completion of its lease.  It departed Cairns last Friday 22 April for Majuro in the Marshall Islands and has subsequently been spotted at Honolulu while trekking back to (possibly) Canada.

VH-QQL arrives at Rockhampton Airport  (File photo)

VH-QQL operated all over Queensland on both Regular Passenger Transport (RPT) flights and Fly-in Fly-out (FIFO) charter flights while with Skytrans and I managed to capture it several times when it visited my local airport at Clermont.

VH-QQL at Clermont Aerodrome on FIFO duties  (File photo)

In recent times however, VH-QQL operated flights out of Perth, Western Australia, in the full colours of Maroomba Airlines.

VH-QQL recently spotted at Cairns Airport

VH-QQL was delivered to Skytrans at Cairns in August 2010 as N825EX and entered the Australian register shortly after.

Photos taken by 'IAD' and FNQ Skies Blog  ©

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Airbus A330-203 / KC-30A (MRTT) A39-003 Yet Another Missed Approach at Rockhampton Airport

Conducting yet another missed approach at Rockhampton Airport, this time on Friday 29 April, was Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Airbus A330-203 / KC-30A (MRTT) A39-003.

This particular KC-30A (MRTT) is becoming a familiar sight in the skies over Rocky, completing missed approaches at Rockhampton Airport at least once-per-week for the previous few weeks!

On this occasion, A39-003 was flying as "Dragon 31" and flew North from RAAF Base Amberley to Townsville and called into Rockhampton on its way back South to Amberley.

File photo taken by Kayanne Hardsman  ©

ex RSAF SIAI Marchetti S-211 Jet Trainer VH-DZJ at Gladstone Airport Thursday

Certainly an interesting nice little aircraft to arrive into Gladstone Airport on Thursday 28 April was Victoria-based SIAI Marchetti S-211 Jet Trainer VH-DZJ.

It initially flew into Gladstone from Dubbo having spent the night there after earlier arriving from Melbourne (Essendon) on Wednesday 27 April.

VH-DZJ reportedly operated a local flight around the Gladstone area a little later on Thursday.  It returned to Gladstone Airport and looked to be spending the night.

VH-DZJ is one of 20 former Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) jet training aircraft that were operated out of RAAF Base Pearce in Western Australia.  VH-DZJ wore the serial number '381' and was retired from service with the RSAF in mid-to-late 2009.

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I captured '381' amongst the other Marchettis in early 2010 after it was placed in storage at Jandakot Airport near Perth in early 2010.

VH-DZJ was first placed on the Australian aircraft register in June 2011 and it was registered to its current operator in Victoria in August 2012.

Of interest, pilot trainees from the RSAF now complete basic flying training on Pilatus PC-21 training aircraft still out of RAAF Base Pearce.

Sincere thanks to Tam D for capturing - and to Col for sending through - these great photos of a great little jet!

Photos taken by Tam Diehm  ©

RAAF Search and Rescue (CHC Helicopters) Sikorsky S-76A VH-HRP "Choppa 3" at Mackay and Gladstone Airports

After one failed attempt, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Search and Rescue (CHC Helicopters) Sikorsky S-76A VH-HRP "Choppa 3" was finally noted departing Townsville on Thursday 28 April for RAAF Base Amberley, flying via Mackay and Gladstone Airports.  It had originally departed from Townsville about a fortnight ago however it returned to Townsville due to a maintenance problem.

File photo taken by Michael Fleetwood  ©

"Choppa 3" has been in Townsville during April to provide support during the RAAF's Exercise Black Dagger.  RAAF Pilatus PC-9 aircraft from Number 4 Squadron were spectacularly eight United States Navy (USN) Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-115 F/A-18E Super Hornets from Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan, which staged out of Townsville during the Exercise.

File photo taken by Dave  ©

File photo taken by Dave  ©

Exercise Black Dagger is a field training exercise that has been held at RAAF Base Townsville and surrounding airspace over the past couple of weeks.  Exercise Black Dagger is the culmination of Number 57 Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) course designed to produce combat-ready JTAC-qualified personnel.