SYDNEY TRIP. JULY 5 2006.

[Guest David747]

Hello everyone!

 

Yesterday, myself and David Brown went on a very exciting and action packed spotting trip to Sydney Airport. Enjoy the report.

 

BRISBANE AIRPORT

 

We met at BNE at 06:00 and quickly checked in, recieved our boarding passes and immediately cleared customs and security no worries. To our astonishement, Qantas 747 400ER VH-OEI and United Airlines 747 400s N122UA (grey ghost) and N179UA new c/s) had diverted to Brisbane due to early morning fog in Sydney! I was a little concerned that our flight could be delayed as well. As time went by, Qantas Boeing 747 400 VH-OED also ended up diverting to Brisbane! What a surprising morning. Then there was all the usual movements including the Garuda 333, SQ 772, O7 732, EK 773, QF 333, NZ 320, JL 743 and to our surprise, a JL 742 in the new c/s. It was a very interesting and surprising morning and it was about to get a lot lot better!

 

QF176 BRISBANE-SYDNEY BOEING 747 400 VH-OJD "BRISBANE"

 

I was not at all surprised to find that VH-OJD was to be our a/c on QF176 to Sydney today. Despite it had arrived about half an hour late, I was amazed to know that we were to board on time! David and I proceeded to our allocated seats which were bulkhead seats just behind the wall that divides Business and Economy class. David had the window seat for take off! We pushed back right on time and listened to the safety demo prior to long taxi to RWY19 on taxiway Alpha with the N179UA taxiing a little way behind and N122UA pushing back. It was a race to Sydney which we won! We made a thrilling and exciting take off on 19 and commenced our southbound track to Sydney on this magnificently beautiful sunny morning. Not long after take off, we were given our breakfasts which as always on a 744 BNE-SYD flight consisted of a cereal, small bread bun, water etc. After a nice healthy breakfast, I was up and out of my seat to get plenty of photos including business class in the upper and lower deck as well as the economy cabin. The cabin crew were very friendly and kind as they always are on a 747 domestic sector. One of them took a nice pic of me in business class on the upper deck! They were more than happy for me to get my pics and well and truly saw me as a happy and excited plane enthusist! They allowed me to move seats to a window seat over the starboard wing so I could get some decent wing pics as we decended. I was very happy to know that we were going to land on RWY34L. We flew over the airport and towards the south over southern Sydney and then winged our way into the ILS approach for a 34L arrival. We made a lovely landing and taxiied to the international terminal but instead, we parked on the foreign carriers side. Funny that. Finally the engines were shut off and I said a very big thank you to the crew and David and I disembarked OJD.

 

SYDNEY.

 

We made our way through customs and quarrentine no worries and made our way to the departures level where we met Chris Weatley who was to take us spotting today. I was very excited at this point!!! Unfortunately, we had just missed Air Tahiti Nui and Martainair Cargo but a lot of exciting things awaited us. We first of all went to the tower mound to get photographs and watch the planes. Despite the new poles that had been installed, I got some very good photos from here. Had an absolute ball as we saw many domestic and international departures and arrivals including an Emirates 777 300ER, China Airlines A340 300, China Eastern A340 300, LAN A340 300, Phillipine Airlines A330 300, Singapore Airlines 747 400, Air Canada 767 300, Atlas Air 747 400F, Cathay Pacific A330 300, Vietnam Airlines 777 200, Air Pacific 747 400, Air New Zealand 767 300 and A320, Freedom Air A320, Australian 767 300 plus numerous Qantas A330s, 767s and 747s. It was just amazing! Finally the dead period had tempreroly come. Some RWY 25 departures were happening that this point so Chris showed us the wonderful Barton Park. Wow, you can get great views of 25 departures as they soar low and loud over ya head. If only 07 was in use! Saw a QF A330 and 763 take off over us. Out of any spots at SYD, it was the beach I most wanted to go to. I must say WOW! The beach has gotta be the best viewing area in Australia! Perfect for photos as the 747s, A340s A330s etc taxi past, especially if your on the beach itself. We watched and photographed a Cathay Pacific A330 300, Aircalin A330 200, Malaysian 747 400, Ozjet 737 200, Austrian 777 200, British Airways 747 400, Virgin Atlantic A340 600, the 2 United 747 400s, Thai 747 400, (old c/s) Air New Zealand 777 200, Fedex MD11, United Parcel Service MD11 plus Qantas A330s, 767s and 747s. Our time at the beach was just brilliant! I just had so much fun and excitement! By the end of the day, I was sooooooo thirsty!!! My feet were sore! I was very tired! Finally, we unfortunately had to leave the beach and head to the domestic terminal and say goodbye to Chris for whom we had such a wonderful time with. David and I checked in, cleared security and had a brief break in the Qantas Club lounge. I was so tired and thirsty and drank several cups of orange and apple juice. That was good! It was now night time and time to leave the Qantas Club Lounge and go home.

 

QF544 SYDNEY-BRISBANE BOEING 767 300 VH-ZXB "BOURKE"

 

Ahhhhhh!!! If only it still had its Socceroos c/s!!! Grrr! A little too late!!! David and I went to our seats and settled in for the flight home to Brisbane. We pushed back right on time, did the safety demo, and made an extermely long 15 min taxi including waiting to RWY34R where we finally made an exciting take off and sharp right turn over the suberbs as we headed northbound to Brisbane. I looked through my photos on my camera LCD, listened to a bit of music and ate and enjoyed a nice dinner which included a hot yummy mince and pasta, water and juice, a bread bun and a nice chocolate. We finally made a sharp left hand turn over Moreton Bay and made a nice landing on Brisbane's RWY19 dead smack on time and taxiied to the domestic terminal. I never bothered getting any photos or chatting to any crews etc as I was really tired and out of my plane spotting mode. After this lovely flight home, David and I disembarked, said goodbye and there was the end of this wonderful, exciting and memorable day of flying and spotting.

 

FINAL WORDS...

 

WOW! What a day! Definately the best day of spotting I've ever had in Sydney. I owe a huge thank you to Chris Weatley for meeting us and taking us around the airport, this day would've been nothing if it wasn't for you. As always, great flights onboard the fantastic Qantas The Spirit of Australia and I couldn't of thanked them more! Thank goodness the weather was nice on our trip and made the photos and time so good. I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever and I still wish I was in Sydney spotting my heart out! Sydney Airport is indeed the place to be!!! As always, I'LL BE BACK!!!

 

David...

 

 

[Uncle Chop Chop]

Great Trip Report David. Have you got any photos to share with us? I would love to see them.

 

 

[Guest David747]

Thank you Uncle Chop Chop.

 

Oh yes, I took heaps and heaps of photos. You can view my photos on myaviation.net from the www button at the bottom of my posts. Here are some links of some of my better photos from the trip.

 

FX M11 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743898

 

QF 333 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743897

 

NZ 772 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743895

 

MH 744 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743869

 

SQ 744 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743870

 

BA 744 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743873

 

TG 744 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743876

 

UA 744 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743880

 

UA 744 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743888

 

QF 744 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743889

 

VS 346 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743893

 

UA 744 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743861

 

LN 343 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743856

 

VN 772 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743855

 

CA 763 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743853

 

JL 744 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743846

 

UA 744 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743902

 

QF 744 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743900

 

QF 744 = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743903

 

QF 744 ENGINES = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743905

 

QF 744 SKYBEDS = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743920

 

QF 744 WING = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743973

 

QF 744 ECONOMY = http://myaviation.net/search/photo_sear ... d=00743925

 

Enjoy

 

David...

 

 

[TAA Matt]

David, some fantastic and astonishing photographs there - maybe you should consider uploading some into the gallery on here.

 

 

[Uncle Chop Chop]

Matthew is right. They should all be in the Album. What camera are you using?

 

That 1st picture of the FedEx MD 11 is pretty dirty but my favorite picture is that of the Air New Zealand Boeing 777-200ER slowing down taken from the beach.