RAAF Air-to-air Refuelling Spotted off the Fraser Coast with KC-30 A39-007 "Dragon 61" and C-17s A41-206 & A41-207 "Charger"

On Tuesday 18 May, a pair of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Boeing C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft were spotted completing air-to-air refueling exercises in the Fraser Coast region along with fellow RAAF Airbus A330-200 / KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) A39-007.

The two C-17s were identified as A41-206 and A41-207 looked to fly up together as "Charger" from RAAF Base Amberley to meet with KC-30 A39-007 "Dragon 61" which had also earlier departed Amberley.

One of the C-17s was spotted being refuelled off Bundaberg after meeting up near Hervey Bay.  All three aircraft continued North to East of Mackay before they then turned around and flew back South, again off the coast. 

Between Hervey Bay and Fraser Island the two C-17s separated from the KC-30 and turned inland towards Gayndah.  Nearing there they descended to below 5000ft and operated from ground to that level, and flew from South of Gayndah back East to near Gympie then back West past Gayndah to near Taroom then back East to a position South-West of Gayndah before climbing back to flight-levels to West of Kingaroy and then back to Amberley.

Meanwhile, also on Tuesday 18 May, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Alenia C-27J Spartan transport aircraft A34-002 as "Kaos 57" flew down from Cairns to complete airwork in the Proserpine and Shute Harbour areas before completing a missed approach at Rockhampton Airport.  The Spartan then flew to Amberley.

Of interest, it had left Amberley on Sunday 16 May for Charleville Airport where it spent the night.  On Monday 17 May, A34-002 continued from there to Weipa and then back to Cairns. 

Photo taken by Locky Halliwell  ©️

Machjet (Machjet International) Cessna 525A Citation CJ2 Bizjet VH-ZIY Calls into CQ Airports - Plus More!

On Tuesday 18 May, Machjet (Machjet International) Cessna 525A Citation CJ2 bizjet VH-ZIY was noted visiting a couple of Central Queensland Airports.  It looked to fly up from its Sunshine Coast base to Hervey Bay (Fraser Coast) Airport before then continuing further up to Hamilton Island Airport.

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A little later, VH-ZIY then departed Hamo for Bourke in New South Wales before then returning to the Sunshine Coast.

Also visiting Hamilton Island Airport, also on Tuesday 18 May, was fellow McDermott Aviation Group / Machjet International Raytheon B200 King Air VH-NSN.  It looked to depart to Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.  It appears to have just completed a closed tourist charter around Queensland.

Meanwhile, also on Tuesday 18 May, Gulf Coast Aviation Cessna 510 Citation Mustang bizjet VH-KXM had a really busy day of flying before eventually touching down at Emerald Airport from Normanton.  It then departed to Cairns.

While Vanderfield Pilatus PC-12/47 VH-WPH also called into Emerald Airport, arriving from Toowoomba and later departing to a location South of Inglestone. 

Finally, also on Tuesday 18 May, Brisbane-based Pilatus PC-12/47E VH-AAC flew up from Archerfield to near Lotus Creek on the Western side of the Marlborough Range.

Newly Registered Pilatus PC-12/47E VH-WJA Arrives into Rockhampton Airport - Plus More!

On Monday 17 May, newly registered Property Maintenance Australia P/L Pilatus PC-12/47E VH-WJA was noted arriving into Rockhampton Airport from its Dubbo base.

File photo

At the time of writing, the sleek PC-12 looked to be staying at Rocky for at least the night.

UPDATE! On Wednesday 19 May, VH-WJA departed Rockhampton Airport for Chinchilla Airport and Dubbo.

Another PC-12 also noted arriving into Rockhampton Airport, also on Monday 17 May, was the more familiar sight of Pilatus PC-12/45 VH-PID which arrived from its Toowoomba base. It too looked to be staying.

UPDATE! On Wednesday 19 May, VH-PID departed Rockhampton Airport for Toowoomba.

And Raytheon A36 Bonanza VH-YGM arrived from its Orange base in New South Wales.

UPDATE! VH-YGM returned to Orange on Tuesday 18 May.

Meanwhile, also on Monday 17 May, Avcair (Avgunn) LearJet 60 bizjet VH-OLJ visited Hamilton Island Airport from its Brisbane base.

And Sabstall Beech B200 King Air VH-NME visited Proserpine (Whitsunday Coast) Airport from its Toowoomba base.

Photo taken by Tony Haynes  ©

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Search and Rescue (SAR) Bell 412EP Helicopter VH-EPH "Choppa 66" Arrives into Rockhampton Airport

On Monday 17 May, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Search and Rescue (SAR) Bell 412EP helicopter VH-EPH was noted arriving into Rockhampton Airport after flying up from RAAF Base Amberley via Gayndah Airport.  It is pictured below departing Amberley.

VH-EPH was heard to be using the radio callsign of "Choppa 66".

Of interest, the Bell 412EP VH-EPH is owned by Lloyd Helicopters and operated by CHC Helicopters Australia and spent many years operating as a medical evacuation helicopter for the New South Wales Ambulance Service based at Bankstown Airport.

Photo taken by Simon Coates  ©

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Boeing B737-7DT(BBJ) A36-001 Pops into Gladstone Airport

On Sunday 16 May, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Boeing B737-7DT(BBJ) A36-001 was noted visiting Gladstone Airport. It looked to arrive from Sydney as "Envoy 61".

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Later in the evening, A36-001 departed Gladstone Airport for Brisbane.

Photo taken by Scott Harris  ©

Australian Border Force (ABF) Cobham Aviation-operated Dash-8-200 VH-ZZB "Borderforce 22" at Rockhampton Airport

On Sunday 16 May, Surveillance Australia / Australian Border Force (ABF) Cobham Aviation-operated Dash-8-200 VH-ZZB was noted operating out of Rockhampton Airport.

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It had arrived on Saturday 15 May after completing a patrol originally out of Cairns.

After spending the night parked, it completed another surveillance sortie out of Rocky where it ultimately landed back at Cairns. 

VH-ZZB was again heard to be using its 'usual' radio callsign of "Borderforce 22".

Photo taken by 'IAD'  ©

Recently Delivered Virgin Australia Boeing B737-800 VH-YQM (ex VH-YFN) First Visit to CQ and Spotted at Rockhampton Airport

On Sunday 16 May, Virgin Australia Boeing B738-800 VH-YQM was spotted at Rockhampton Airport, arriving as VOZ1235 from Brisbane. VH-YQM looked to be making its first visit to Central Queensland since it was (re-)delivered to Virgin Australia in mid-April.

The B737-800 was previously operated by Virgin Australia as VH-YFN and was one of five aircraft that were re-registered and ferried back to lessors in the USA in 2020. VH-YFN took up the registration marking 2-VYFN and ferried out of Australia in mid-September 2020.

On Monday 12 April, 2-VYFN arrived back in Australia from the USA and promptly took up the registration marking of VH-YQM.  It re-entered services with Virgin Australia only last week.

Of interest, it appears that VH-YQM is still named 'Ballina Beach'.

The second and third Boeing B737-800s have recently returned to Australia with VH-YQO (ex VH-YFQ / 2-VYFQ) and VH-YQR (ex VH-YFP / 2-VYFP) arriving back into Brisbane on Friday 23 April and Monday 3 May respectively. We hope to see it back in CQ soon.

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  ©

LifeFlight (Aeromed) Canadair Challenger 604 Bizjet VH-OFC "Ambulance 634" Overnight Visit to Emerald Airport

In the wee small hours of Sunday 16 May, LifeFlight (Aeromed) Canadair CL-600-2B16 Challenger 604 bizjet VH-OFC "Ambulance 634" was noted visiting Emerald Airport.

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It looked to arrive from and then later depart back to Brisbane.

Photo taken by Steve Vit  ©️

Finishing Touches Left for Major Upgrades at Emerald Airport Terminal and Carpark

A $6 million upgrade of the terminal building and carpark at the Emerald Airport is almost complete, making this important gateway to the Central Highlands and Coalfields safer for travellers.

In the carpark area, there is now a formal drop-off and pick-up zone with shade structures.  There are new ticketing machines and raised traffic crossings.  This should make it safer for passengers moving between the terminal and the carpark and will also remove traffic from right out front of the building.

Inside the Emerald Airport terminal, there is now a new screening hall with private search rooms, upgraded screening equipment and a new body scanner, aimed at picking up a class of threat that there was little capability to do so before.

I also noted that the flow of the departure and arrival process has also been improved.  Passengers now remain inside the building from check-in to boarding.  

There also is an anti-pass-back door that has also been installed between the arrivals and departures areas, a highly sophisticated security device which restricts unwanted passenger movement.

The kiosk was open again - under new management - and now located on the other side of the security screening point.

Sadly though for plane spotters, there are no 'improvements' inside the terminal building with awnings and shade structures and pylons still in the way and obstructing views of aircraft parked at the terminal and on the movement areas.

All that seemingly remains is directional signage, which is planned to be installed over the next few weeks, with the project set to be officially completed later this month.

Central Highlands Regional Council’s Airport Manager Salomon Kloppers said the entire project was a 'game-changer' for security at the facility.

Mr Kloppers also said that behind the scenes, there has been an "absolute leapfrog" in terms of building safety, with improved onsite water supplies and fire pumps, as well as increased firefighting capabilities, and smoke and heat detection.

Emerald Airport is the 34th largest in Australia.

Additional images from Central Highlands Regional Council

Isle of Man-Registered Bombardier Global 5000 Bizjet M-CVGL Calls into Whitsunday Airports - UPDATED! - Plus More!

On Saturday 15 May, Isle of Man registered Bombardier BD-700-1A11 Global 5000 bizjet M-CVGL was noted arriving into the Whitsundays after flying up from the Sunshine Coast.

It firstly visited Hamilton Island Airport before then flying over to the mainland and landing at Proserpine (Whitsunday Coast) Airport.

At the time of writing, it appears that M-CVGL is staying at Prosie for at least the night.

UPDATE!  M-CVGL was photographed above parked at Proserpine (Whitsunday Coast) Airport on Sunday 16 May.

UPDATE!  On Sunday 23 May, M-CVGL finally departed Proserpine (Whitsunday Coast) Airport and returned direct to the Sunshine Coast.

Meanwhile, also on Saturday 15 May, Homada Pty Ltd Cessna 560XL Citation XLS bizjet VH-XCU departed Hamilton Island Airport for Gove, Broken Hill and Melbourne (Moorabbin).  It had arrived from Moorabbin via Melbourne (Essendon) the previous day.

While Graham Aviation (Cairns) Cessna 510 Citation Mustang bizjet VH-FNI was noted arriving into Hamilton Island Airport from Mareeba and Cairns.  

UPDATE!  On Sunday 16 May, VH-FNI appears to have returned to Cairns from Hamo.

And AAA Aircraft / Flight Options (Australia) Cessna 650 Citation VII bizjet VH-ING was noted calling into Longreach Airport from Sydney.  It later departed further North to Weipa and then Cairns.

Photo taken by James Kirk  ©️