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Trip Report: QantasLink BNE-LRE-BNE (Lots of Photos)
Introduction:
On Saturday May 5th and Sunday May 6th I went out to Longreach to see the Qantas Founders Outback Museum. It was a fantastic trip! Back in January my friend Josh told me that QantasLink had a sale on flights to Longreach, usually $180 or more one-way it was just $99. We had both always wanted to go out to Longreach so we took the opportunity and booked, we would just be staying the one night as we thought that would be long enough. The flights were $200 all up and the hotel would be $66 each so it ended up being very cheap. We also booked our tour at the Qantas museum; we would be doing the ‘Ultimate tour’ which includes museum entry, B707 tour, B747 tour and B747 wing walk. And while on the internet one day I thought I would search the net to see if there were any scenic flights out of Longreach. I saw that ‘Queensland Helicopters’ offers scenic flights out of Longreach. They offer a 10 minute flight for $50 which I thought was pretty good for a helicopter flight. They offered longer flights too but I thought this one would be long enough and I didn’t want to spend too much. We were booked on QF2532 on Saturday May 5 from Brisbane (depart 0835) to Longreach (arrive 1120) with a quick stopover in Barcaldine. The flight back was on the following day, QF2535 from Longreach (depart 1610) nonstop to Brisbane (arrive 1805). Both flights on Dash 8-Q400s. About two weeks before the trip we both received an email from Qantas saying our flight to Longreach had changed. We would have no stopover in Barcaldine; QantasLink had put on an extra flight which would fly BNE-BCI-LRE-BNE. So we would be lucky and see two QantasLink in the one day. And also we received an email from the QFOM saying that they were no longer offering tours of the B747 because the soil under the nose gear isn’t as stable as they thought, the concrete slab for the nose gear had sunk about a foot or two into the ground. Luckily they began to offer B707 wing walks so we would do that instead but it was a shame that we couldn’t go inside the B747. Woke up at about 6am, I had packed the night before so just did a quick check in the morning. Left at 6:30am and got to the airport at 7am. Used the check in machines to get my boarding pass (was given Seat 9D) and bag tag for my checked luggage. Put the tag on my bag then went to the manual bag drop off. Took me a while to do because I hadn’t done it before but now that I know, it is pretty simple. Josh arrived at 7:30am and did the same, he was given Seat 5D. Huge line for security screening but we got though fairly quickly. Brisbane Airport: Firstly we went up to the main gates to have a look around. Was just the normal stuff, went down to the common user satellite to see QantasLink Boeing 717 VH-NXQ which was off to Alice Springs for an aircraft swap over, VH-NXN would be returning to operate the BNE services. VH-NXQ nearly ready to go Qantas tails We then went down to the QantasLink gates; it was quite busy down there with a flight departing every 10 mins while we were there. We had about a 20 minute wait and then boarding was called for the flight through Gate 1. May 5, 2012 QantasLink QF2532 BNE-LRE VH-QOS DH8D Seat 9D I guessed the day before that we would get VH-QOS and we did. On the bus out to VH-QOS On-board in Seat 9D, I only saw one available seat on the flight. There was a group of people from the RFDS so they took up nearly a quarter of the plane. Lining up on RWY19 I didn’t take any more photos during the flight because I was facing the sun the whole time and my window was quite dirty. After the seat belt sign was switched off breakfast was served which was a scone with jam and butter and yogurt with muesli. I just watched a couple of episodes of two and a half men on my iPod and listened to some music. And before I knew it we were descending into Longreach. We flew over the small town of Ilfracombe on descent and over the Landsborough Highway. We landed on RWY22 and taxied to the small terminal, was surprised to see a Gulfstream GIV there (N810LP). Longreach Airport: At the gate Walked off QOS and entered the small terminal. The bag pickup area is just outside the terminal after collecting our bags we walked over to the stunning VH-EBQ. Qantas Boeing 747-200 VH-EBQ, been in LRE for nearly 10 years now Quick turn around and VH-QOS was back off to BNE, had the rest of the day off Weird looking ultra-light taxiing out to RWY04 About 30 minutes after QOS departed, SBI arrived from Brisbane via Barcaldine. Turning into the gate After SBI arrived we went a few hundred metres down the road to the Jumbuck Motel and checked in. We dropped our bags off and then went back to the airport to grab some lunch. After lunch we had a look around VH-EBQ and the Boeing 707 VH-XBA. QFOM Newest addition to the museum, Catalina VH-EAX
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EBQ
XBA XBA and EBQ [img]http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5035/7156568018_b7***d314b_z.jpg[/img] Wing walkers on XBA Far end of the GA Apron Afterwards we returned to the motel for an hour before returning to the airport for our Helicopter scenic flight. We went to the Queensland Helicopters office, no one was in the office, the pilot was currently out on another scenic flight, there were two other groups waiting outside before us as well. The helicopter returned shortly and took another group for a flight. 10 minutes later they returned and he shut down the helicopter. There was a group of about 10 Asian tourists who had being doing the scenic flight. The pilot came into the office us and another group came in and we payed for the flight and had a quick 5 minute briefing and then we were off. The other group went first, we waited the 10 minutes and when It arrived we walked out for our flight May 5, 2012 Queensland Helicopters LRE-LRE VH-HOQ R44 Back row, left hand side HOQ arrives back to take us for a flight View of the B707, B747 and Catalina from the Helicopter Departing Longreach Airport
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Longreach from the air
Longreach Airport Alongside RWY22 GA Apron and Qantas Museum GIV N810LP can be seen here Up front, after the flight HOQ Queensland Helicopters office Had a great flight, my first time in a helicopter and I loved it. Afterwards we returned to the motel and just relaxed for a while, about half an hour before sunset we went back to the airport for some more photos. Nice looking jet [img]http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5072/7156707296_b78aa***04_z.jpg[/img] QFOM Qantas’ original hangar
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DC3 VH-EAP
VH-EBQ looking great with golden light and the full moon Entrance to the small terminal Beautiful! Cessna 210 looking great in the golden light GA Aircraft HOQ from the back, the Queensland Helicopters hanger can be seen in the background EBQ looks very big from this angle RFDS King Air VH-FDI arrives from Brisbane More of EBQ
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VH-HOQ and N810LP
FDI getting filled up When it got dark we walked back to the motel for dinner, we then returned to our room and relaxed before going to sleep. We woke up at 7:30 the next morning and went to the motels buffet breakfast. We then went back to our room and packed our bags and checked out. We asked the owner if we could leave our bags at reception while we were at the tour and he was more than happy for us to do that. At 9am we left for the airport for our 9:30am tour. We arrived a little early so we went into the terminal to get a few photos. Check in desks Inside the terminal Entrance and the B747 About 10 minutes before the tour we went into the museum. The ticket sales, gift shop and restaurant behind. Our tour guide picked up the group at 9:30 and we were on our way out to the B707, B747 and Catalina. We started with the B747, even though nobody is allowed in it at the moment we still had a look around the aircraft. You can see here that the nose gear has gone down about a foot. Looking around EBQ XBA
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Catalina
Baron VH-JCJ Boarding the B707 Wing view from an emergency exit door up front Cockpit Hopping off XBA The tour was great, very informative and learnt lots about the history of the three aircraft. After the tour we stayed back for the wing walk as well as two others, as part of the wing walk we were allowed to actually go into the cockpit as well as all the rooms which were all blocked off which was great. In the captains seat The front area Back area After that it was onto the wing walk! Whilst doing the wing walk, the GIV N810LP departed for Essendon. Tail Front end of XBA
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Wing
HOQ doing more scenic flights Disembarking XBA After the wing walk it was nearly 12pm, we went into the museum Avro 504K Replica de Havilland DH50 Iris Replica We then went out to the DC3 Interior And then into the Original Qantas hangar de Havilland DH61 Giant Moth "Apollo” Replica VH-UJB After looking at everything in the museum we went to the restaurant for lunch, we then went just across the road to see the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame. We just had a look outside, wouldn’t have really interested me. The view of the 747 from across the road The Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame By then it was 2pm so we went back to the motel to get out bags before returning to the airport for our flight home. We waited in the terminal til check in opened; I just went on the internet on my phone to pass the time. I went on balus to see if our flight had left; it had left about 20 minutes late and was unfortunately VH-QOW in “Taronga Western Plains Zoo Dubbo” livery. My second time on QOW after flying on her 2 months ago from MKY-BNE and Josh’s second time on QOW after flying on her from BNE-ROK about 6 months ago. Check in opened just over an hour before the plane arrived. We lined up straight away and dropped of our bags and got our boarding passes, I was in 17A and Josh was in 18A. The lady that checked us in said that the flight was completely full. There were two groups travelling on the flight, the same RFDS group as the day before and some outback sport group? Not sure though. Since we had a little time til our flight left we just stood in front of EBQ for a while. And when QOW was due in we went up to the gate to get some photos.
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Just arrived on RWY22
Turning into the gate Parked at the gate Boarding started pretty much as soon as everyone was off the plane. I was standing right next to the gate so when boarding was called I was first in line. May 6, 2012 QantasLink QF2535 LRE-BNE VH-QOW DH8D Seat 17A QOW looking great in the afternoon light First on-board! In seat 17A Leaving Longreach We lined up on RWY04 and we were on our way to Brisbane, I didn’t bother with photos because I was facing the sun. Turning to the right The small town of Ilfracombe, there little airstrip can be seen at the top of the photo Afternoon tea was served which were cheese and biscuits, wasabi peas and almonds and a little piece of dark chocolate with our choice of drinks. There were some very nice views on our way to Brisbane and the afternoon light kept getting better and better. Soon it went dark and the northern suburbs of Brisbane came into view. We got some great views of the lights as well as the super moon reflecting off the water which looked fantastic. We got a magnificent view of the city, we turned right around the city on a fairly long final approach into RWY01. We had a very bumpy touchdown and then taxied to our gate. It was quite far from the terminal so we were put on buses again. We arrived at the terminal about 20 minutes late. QOW from the bus, she was heading up to Rockhampton that night We picked up our bags which came off pretty quickly and then went to the pickup zone where my parents picked me up and Josh’s picked him up and that was the end of our Longreach weekend trip. Conclusion: Fantastic trip had a great time, QantasLink were good as usual. The hotel was nice and the Qantas museum was fantastic. There were lots of signs at Longreach Airport about a big expansion which is meant to start soon. It will include a new terminal with security, departures and arrivals lounges, baggage carousel and much more. There will also be a new aircraft apron connected to the current one. Also there are plans for a huge shade to go over the Qantas museum. Once this is done I will definitely head back up there! No more trips for 3 months, going down to Newcastle for the day in early August. Down on a Virgin Fokker 100 and back up on a Jetstar A320. Thanks for reading, Brandon
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That was great. I definitely want to get out there now!
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ABQ ABX ACV ADD ADL AKL ALB AMA AMS ANC ARN ATH ATL AUA AUH AUS AVL AVV AZA BCN BDL BFL BGO BGR BHD BHM BHQ BIL BIS BKI BKK BLD BLI BLV BNA BNE BOG BOI BOJ BOS BRO BSB BTR BUF BUD BUR BWI BZE BZN CAI CBR CGK CHC CHS CLE CLT CMH CNS CNX COS CPH CPT CTG CTS CUE CUN CUZ CVG CXF CYS CZM DAL DBO DCA DEN DFW DLH DOH DRW DSM DTW DUD DUR DXB ECP ELP EUG EWR EYW EZE FAI FAR FAT FCA FCO FLG FLL FNL FNT FRA FRS FSD FU'K FWA GCN GDL GDN GEG GGW GIG GJT GOT GRI GRR GRU GSP GTF GUA GVA GYE HAM HAN HBA HBE HEL HHH HKD HKG HLZ HND HNL HOU HRL HSV HVB IAD IAH ICN ICT IDA IND INV ISP IST ITM ITO JAB JAX JFK JNB JNU JOG JTR KEF KGC KIX KMI KMJ KMQ KOA KRK KTN KUL LAS LAX LBB LBE LEJ LFT LGA LGB LHR LIH LIM LIN LIT LRD LST MAD MAF MAO MCI MCO MCT MCY MDE MDT MDW MEL MEM MEX MFE MFR MHU MIA MID MKE MNL MOB MOT MQL MRY MSN MSO MSP MSY MTJ MTY MUC MVD MXP MZT NAN NAS NRT NTL OAG OAK OGG OKA OKC OMA OME ONT OOL ORD OSL OTZ OUI PAE PBG PDX PEK PER PHL PHX PIA PIT PLO PLZ PNH PSC PSG PSP PTY PVD PVG PVR PVU RAP RDD RDM RDU REC REP RIC RIX RNO ROC RSW SAL SAN SAT SAV SBA SBD SBN SBP SCK SCL SDF SDU SEA SFO SGF SGN SGU SHA SHV SIN SIT SJC SJD SJO SJU SLC SMF SMX SNA SOF SSA STL STS SUN SYD SYO SYR TIJ TLL TMW TPA TPE TSV TUL TUS TWF TYS VAR VIE VNO VPS WAW WDH WGA WLG WRG WVB XIY XNA YEG YHM YHZ YKM YOW YQB YQG YQM YTZ YUL YUM YVR YWG YXE YYC YYJ YYT YYZ ZRH Next Trips: 21-24JUN LAS-GJT-LAS G4 29-30JUN LAS-FAT-LAS WN/G4 03-09JUL LAS-MAN/LHR-LAS VS 13-14JUL LAS-DTW-LAS WN/DL 20-21JUL LAS-DEN-CPR-DEN-LAS UA 27-28JUL LAS-YVR/YCD-YVR-LAS AC/WS 03-04AUG LAS-SAN-LAS WN/F9 10-11AUG LAS-LAX-JAC-SLC-LAS UA/DL 17-18AUG LAS-SEA-KTN-SEA-LAS AS 24-25AUG LAS-SLC/EKO-SLC-LAS DL 29AUG-03SEP LAS-MSP-TVC-DFW-LAS SY/AA 06-08SEP LAS-ANC-ADQ-ANC-LAS AS 14-16SEP LAS-CLT-LAS AA 20-22SEP LAS-DEN-XWA-LAS UA/SY 28-29SEP LAS-DEN-LAS UA 07-12NOV LAS-DUB-LAS EI 28NOV-02DEC LAS-OGG-MKK-HNL-LAS HA/9X 19DEC LAS-LAX UA 01-02FEB LAS-SEA-LAS AS 15-18FEB LAS-EWR/BTV-ORD-LAS UA |
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Excellent trip report Brandon- I have done it many times now but your descriptions and images really capture a trip to Longreach. Well done!
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Eagerly counting down to the next YSSY Spotters Weekend |
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