Post by rugbyref on May 9, 2018 18:36:00 GMT
Australia via Taiwan
This was to be our 7th visit to see family in Australia, and having sampled each of Virgin, Singapore, Cathay and Emirates, we decided to book China Airlines from Gatwick via Taipei.We pushed the boat out and travelled up front in seats 12D and 12G on all 4 legs. I would definitely recommend both China Airlines and the A350. Food and service were great, and the one small issue was quickly resolved. On time departure from LGW at 21.10 meant that the only 2 frames of note for me were Rwanda A330 9XR-WP, and our A350 B-18912.
It was still light when we landed in Taipei, and a really swift and efficient transfer process (DXB take note!) saw me by D gates for a quick wander. With the aid of FR24, I picked up over at cargo Polar B767 N643GT, Eva B747s B-16406/16483 and engineless Orient Thai 747 HS-STB. Also made were Peach A320 JA818P, United B777 N2639U, Busan A321 HL8099, China Airlines B737s B-18612/15/63, B747 B-18717, A350 B-18906 and B777 B-18052. From Hong Kong came Cathay A330 B-LNU, and from the mainland China Southern A321 B-8548 and B737 B-5469, Shenzen B737 B-1757, Hainan B737 B-5855, China Eastern A330 B-5920 and Air China B737 B-5198. We then joined A350 B-18902 for a comfortable 8 hrs 55 mins hop down to Sydney.
We had booked a Meriton serviced appartment in the Zetland suburb for our 3 week stay, and quite by chance were given room 2031 on the 20th floor. Opening the curtains the next morning revelaed a great view of runway 16L and part of the taxiways from 16R. Result! I would say that floors 20-22 and rooms 30 or 31 on those levels would be perfect. Activity at SYD starts at 06.00 and stays busy until about 13.00 then picks up again for the evening waves. The following log represents what was seen from the room with the help of ADS-B together with a 5 hour spell one day at Sheps Mound, the official spotting location at the base of the control tower – a superb facility, but almost impossible to reach by public transport. Free parking, benches under cover and a MacDonalds about 1km away, just walkable.
Within 2 days I had cleared my final 2 Qantas A330s, EBE and EBM. For fans of the A330 this is the place to visit. RAAF KC30 tankers A39-003 and A39-005 headed the list for me, and over the 3 week period I cleared 78 new A330s! During my stay the FAA’s change in ETOPS rules for the troubled Rolls Royce engines came into force, meaning LATAM and ANA were forced into equipment changes, much to the joy of the local spotters.
Highlights of each day at SYD were:
12 April. MD500 VH-MDE, Vanuatu B737 YJ-AV8, Fly Pelican Jetstream VH-NTL, B787s CC-BGI of LATAM, JA893A of ANA and B-2760 Xiamen, A330s DQ-FJW of Fiji, 9M-XXY of Air Asia, B5928 of China Southern and B5942 and B5952 of China Eastern.
13 April. B767 N644GT of Polar, B787 JA883A of ANA, A330s 9M-XXC of Air Asia and B8231 of China Eastern.
14 April.
B787s JA866J, VH-VKI, VH-VKL
A330s B-LBJ, HL8003, PK-GPT, N370HA, B6527 Hainan, B8596 Tianjin, B8383, B8579 Air China
B747s N492MC, HS-TGF, N573UP, HL7418
B737s DQ-FJM
B350 VH-Nao of RFDS and C680 VH-EXQ
15 April. Started well with Ar India B787 VT-Nac which keeps eluding me at LHR, plus other 787s JA867J, N829AN, CC-BGA, JA890A, B2761 of Xiamen
B777s HL7775, N706DN, VH-VPE
A330s just keep on coming, with B-HLS, HL8027, PK-GPX, B8015 Haina, B5973 China Eastern and B5927 Air China.
On the lighter scene, B200 VH-AMS of RFDS, Global N68889 plus EC30 VH-XEV and Jetranger VH-ZMF all put in appearances.
B717s are more prevalent than on my previous visits, and VH-NXE was in use today
Of the plentiful B737s Zk-ZQH cleared my JetConnect fleet.
16 April. Star today was RAAF KC30 A39-003 on climbout, as identified for me by one of the members of the YSSY forum. (Their website is worth a look!) Also noted were C650 VH-LYM and another RFDS machine, VH-AMQ
17 April.
B717s VH-NXQ, VH-YQS
737s DQ-FJN (My final Fiji Airways)
757 VH-TCA of Tasman Cargo
777s ZK-OKE, N704DK, HL7755
787s N832AA, JA861J, CC-BGC, 9V-OJA of Scoot
330s B-LAK, N386HA, PK-GPU, B6089 / B8596 of Tianjin, B5942 / B5973 of China Eastern, B5939 of China Southern
MD11 N529FE
18 April.
787s N830AN, JA864J, CC-BGM, JA879A and Jetstar machines VH-VKD /VKE /VKL.
330s B-HLQ, HL8003, 9M-XXJ, N392HA, PK-GPP, RP-C8789, B1020 of Hainan, B5940 China Southern, B6541 Air China, B5930 / B5961 / B5962 China Eastern.
The RAAF provided CL60 A37-002 and LearJet VH-XPN was a nice surprise.
19 April.
A319 VH-VCJ of Skytraders emerged from the exec apron, and on a good day for biz fans, Falcon 20 VH-FAI, Glex VH-IEJ, E50 VH-PNM and EC30 VH-RWC all appeared.
787s JA886A, CC-BGN, VH-VKI
717 VH-NXJ
330s B-LAE, 9M-MTD, N390HA, B5950 Hainan, B5928 China Southern, B5973 China Eastern, B6101 Air China
By this stage, I could see a pattern, with Emirates using on it Sydney and New Zealand services A6-EUE/EUG/EUH/EUI/EUJ/EUK/EUL. Air New Zealand uses A320s in the ZK-OJA-OJO range for their routes other than Aukland. For Aukland they use anything. I cleared my last 2 777-200s, saw a 777-300 and 2 Dreamliners, NZC and NZD. The red tail Chinese mostly arrive between 06.00 and 09.00. Rex Sf340s buzz around all day, as do Dash 8s of various sizes of Qantas Link.
The Delta 777 arrives early, and is one of the N700 series that we no longer see in the UK. 701/702/703/704/705/706/707/709 were all noted during our stay. Thai Airways still use the B747s that used to frequent Heathrow, with 2 per day seen here. Singapore uses a mix of 777 and A380, with all 3 of the new birds seen, SKW being a new frame for me. JAL uses a small selection of 787s, replicating the model we see in the UK.
