Pope's arrival
 

Just heard on the radio that the Pope will not be flying into YSSY, he will be flying into YSRI. No date or time was given.

Gerald

He will arrive at the RAAF base in Richmond on July 13., no time
Banjo

Was looking forward to seeing the pope on Border Security, being asked if he had any food items.......

....... and then saying he didn't understand what the card said before he signed it.

What happens when they asked him if he packed his own bag?

"Sorry my son, Cardinal Philippe packed my bag I didn't know that was in there"

Where's that Narita drug dog officer when you need him...

Hopefully the popemobile is making the trip....I guess it now will have to be either Mercedes/BMW/or Volkswagen based....cant be a fiat or anything Italian ;)

MS

PS: Sorry I forgot...it could be a Porsche !!!! :cool:

MS

Sorry if it's already reported, but I believe it's an Alitalia 777 and the intention is to fly it nonstop to Sydney from Rome if possible.

Then the popemobile cant make the trip (too much weight)...better leave the pointed hat at home too !!!! Looks like it's going to be the Oz version for this trip...a holden ute with a beach umbrella !!!! I hope the seagulls stay home...that mess doesnt look good on the white outfit he wears. :D

MS

I don't think that's correct. It should be a 747-400 of another carrier!

Just a little off topic..

A shy gentleman was preparing to board a plane when he heard that the Pope was on the same flight. "This is exciting," thought the gentleman. "I've always been a big fan of the Pope. Perhaps Ill be able to see him in person."
Imagine his surprise when the Pope sat down in the seat next to him for the flight. Still, the gentleman was too shy to speak to the Pontiff. Shortly after take-off, the Pope began a crossword puzzle. "This is fantastic," thought the gentleman. "I'm really good at crosswords. Perhaps, if the Pope gets stuck, he ll ask me for assistance."
Almost immediately, the Pope turned to the gentleman and said, "Excuse me, but do you know a four letter word referring to a woman that ends with the letters 'u-n-t?'"
Only one word leapt to mind...
"My goodness," thought the gentleman, "I can't tell the Pope that. There must be another word."
The gentleman thought for quite a while, then it hit him. Turning to the pope, the gentleman said, "I think the word you're looking for is 'aunt'."
"Of course," said the Pope. "Do you have an eraser?"

Have a good day all :D

They can always get a 400 from Lufthansa if they cant get everything on the triple 7....and then trade off the cost by having the pope do a commercial pushing the "heavenly" experience of flying Lufthansa. :eek:

MS

Another Pope joke ...
 

The Pope pleaded with his chauffeur over many months to let him have a turn at the wheel of the papal Mercedes but the chauffeur always politely refused telling His Holiness that he was not allowed to do that as he didn't even have a licence.

Finally one day the chauffeur, sick of refusing, relented and told the Pope he could have just a little turn at the wheel. The Pope swapped into the driver's seat and set off down the road with increasing speed until the chauffeur reminded him of the speed limit and warned him to slow down. Undeterred the Pope put his foot to the floor and was doing over 120 km/h in an 80 zone when a passing Highway Patrol gave chase with siren blaring. Knowing he was going to get in big trouble the chauffeur persuaded the Pope to pull over and let him do the talking.

The big burly Highway Patrol officer approached the driver's window and peered in, astonished to see the Pope in full garb sitting meekly behind the wheel. Without saying a word he rushed back to his patrol car and radioed in:

"I've got a problem, base; I've pulled over a VIP whose car was speeding but I can't book him".

"Don't be ridiculous", came the reply, "no-one is above the law, VIP or not - you go right ahead and issue a ticket".

"No", said the officer, "you don't understand, this is no ordinary VIP".

The sergeant in charge came on the radio and demanded to know why the officer was being inappropriately lenient. "Who the hell have you pulled over - the Mayor, the Police Chief, the Prime Minister - they just can't do that kind of speed and not get a ticket so you just go ahead and issue a ticket to the driver".

"This person is much more important than any of those people", pleaded the officer. "I've pulled over GOD!".

"That's absurd", replied the Sergeant, "what makes you think you've pulled over God - have you been drinking on the job?".

"No Sarge - it has to be God because this guy has the Pope as his chauffeur!"

:D

hehe, read that before Phillip, but its so good:D

Richmond is an interesting choice. I'm thinking it's for security reasons.
And on the security front NSW Police are absolutely spitting chips about the Vatican releasing details of his itinerary. They are being gripped by an acute case of "Chaser-itis"!

Speaking of which, here is the itinerary From the Catholic News Agency (yes they have one !!!):

Im not sure if this is the reason and i may be completly off on this theory but when i was coming into Sydney i drove past Richmond on Friday and noticed that they are placing those concrete barriers they use at road works and stuff in the inside of the perimeter fence. From what i remember about apec which isn't much cos i upped and left Sydney at the time, but weren't those big apec fences all around Sydney placed on the concrete blocks?
Is it possible that they will be putting the apec fence as a bit of extra security around Richmond?
Like i said, i may be completly wrong but its just a thought.

Gerard

They could be doing that to bolster security around the prerimiter in case someone decided to drive through the fence. like a road block.

Maybe they are preparing for "The Chaser".

What about a streaker !!!!! (what a great venue for that activity) would be about as popular as a pork chop in a synagogue.:o

MS

Foir those in the know, what time does this mean he'll be leaving Sydney?

Will he be driven around in a Bullet-proof car like Dick Chaney when he was here does anyone think? Pottentially bringing some cool looking cargo aircraft in? Because an Antonov An-124 brought a few Bullet-proof cars for Mr Chaney when he was here i think.

Any ideas what aircraft this will be? His charter or a different one?
Tim

If I remember correctly, wasn't it a couple of C-17 aircraft that brought the cars and SUVs to Richmond?

Ah your probably right Greg but i got a photo of one coming into RWY34L when he was in unless it was bringing something else.

http://myaviation.net/?pid=01011114

Tim

lets speculate
 

Why is the Pope arriving @ Richmond?
1/ security - YSSY had POTUS could handle the Pope

2/ Is he arriving after 11pm???

Any ideas all.

QF are the official WYD08 airline partner, I would be very very surprised if the pope arrived in to Australia on anything other then a QF 744.

Cheers

M

Holy see announced destination
 

It was already announced that the aircraft with the Pope will arrive into Richmond. I always thought he flew on an Alitalia plane.

here is the latest travel information from the Holy See

World Youth Day organisers also announced at least 36 extra flights scheduled for next month, including four additional Qantas flights from Los Angeles and Europe and a charter flight.

The charter would be call signed "Shepherd 1". Type of aircraft has not been published yet.

We could start a tote on this. Well, at least there's lots of discussion on this one! ;)

I don't think so Tim. Hell would freeze over before the US Government allowed security vehicles to travel on Russian aircraft. Russian aircraft move Russian government freight, US aircraft move US government freight.

Dont be surprised when this pope show's up on Lufthansa !!!!;)

MS

I'll wager against Biman bringing him in!

:cool:

I found this 2007 contribution on flagspot.net (my emboldening) but I don't know how authoritative it might be:

Is Australia considered a Catholic state? Officially Australia doesn't have any religion, but according to the 2006 census Christianity is the most common, and Catholicism is the most popular sub-category of Christianity...

hmmm, good question, I think Australia is officially a Catholic state. Surley, WYD which is obviously a catholic event, would only be held in Catholic nations.

I still think he will be here on a QANTAS jet. The Popes coat of arms will be a nice addition to one the QF 744s.

Cheers

M

In the sense of the meaning from the Papal notes, no we are not a Catholic state. A Catholic State is where the government runs law in line with the belief of that religion. This can not happen in Australia as per Section 110 of our Constitution, we are not permitted to have a state religion.

There are only a few countries that are such as Italy where this is so such as Italy where the population is close to 90% Catholic. (Australia is 26%)

Too subtle?
It will be a 747-400 of an Australian Airline, wearing a red and white livery, on the VH register, maybe Rolls Royce or GE engines..........

Going by earlier quoted post:
Does Qantas fall in that category?

Just on the previous post about "Catholic States", Spain is a declared Catholic State. Hence I would guess why we have seen the Holy See has used Iberio aircraft in the past.

Interesting though, the Pope has also used AeroMexico as well. Whilst 90% of Mexican's are Roman Catholics, they are do not have a Catholic State status (like us, it's against their Constitution).

Qantas have announced in their Media release they have a "charter flight" booked for WYD from Europe. They have not released any other details...yet!

Seems we're all having a stab in the dark here, well, here's my guess.....he arrives on AZ, then the AZ acft postions to RJAA.
Ciao...;)

the last time a Pope (Pope John Paul II) was in Australia was 1995, and he arrived on Air Niugini, a great Catholic airline IMHO.

he flew MNL - POM on Philippine Airlines

Banjo

And lets just review this once again for those who are bereft of intelligence...