The first Cathay flight and another Dreamliner!
Now I have finally finished school for the year, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to head down to the airport to catch some of the special visitors, and normal arrivals we’ve had in this past week!
Just after publishing last week’s spotting update, I was off to the airport again to see the first of 21 Cathay Pacific Boeing 777 flights arrive. However, before all that excitement, Qantas Boeing 737-800 VH-XZJ was off to the mainland. The 7 year old 737 wears the “Mendoowoorrji Dreaming” scheme, designed by indigenous artists from the Balarinji studio, based in Sydney.
Just before the Cathay 777 lined up with the runway, this RAAF P-8A Poseidon, A47-003, made a missed approach, coming just over the runway threshold before throttling back up and heading back north. The Poseidon was designed to replace the Lockheed Electra based P-3 Orion, and did just that within the RAAF’s fleet. With a strengthened 737-800 fuselage, 737-900 derived wings, and raked wingtips based off those fitted on the 767-400ER, the Poseidon is a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster.
Finally, after all the distractions, the beast of a plane that is the Boeing 777-300ER touched down, the GE90s roaring as reverse thrust was applied. B-KQB then taxied right down to the far end of the runway to turn round and come right back to come off on the first taxiway. Loading was completed on the taxiway in from of the terminal, but I had to head home before departure.
I popped by the airport again a few days later, and arrived just in time to see Link Airways’ Saab 340 VH-VEB heading back to Canberra.
Also on the ground at the time were Qantas Boeing 737-800 VH-VZG, and QantasLink Boeing 717-200 VH-YQU, the first 717 I have seen with the updated livery. The above photo is probably one of my favourite I have ever taken, the new livery is quite flashy, and the comparison between the Qlink and standard schemes is quite nice.
As its getting late, and I still want to get this post out on a Wednesday, I’ve decided to skip ahead to the other notable visitor and finish up here. Qantas Boeing 787-9, VH-ZN, visited briefly to ferry five BBL cricket teams back up to Brisbane. Unfortunately, the lighting was sub optimal and the photos didn’t quite come out fantastic. Well, that ends this week’s spotting update, I didn’t quite fit in all the photos I wanted too, and I’ll be taking a break over Christmas and the new year. I am exploring the possibility of swapping round my posting schedule to better reflect my spare time, but I’ll keep you updated on my Instagram page.