Trip Report: SYD-CBR-SYD

[Alexander.L]

Hello Everyone,

On the 4th of December I flew from Sydney to Canberra and back as a day trip. The main reason for this flight is to fly on the E-170 for one last time and to try out the new ATR-72-500.

Introduction

When heard Virgin was going to phase out the E-170 I knew I had to fly it one last time. Once I saw the $89 fares on happy hour I booked the flight. The flight going to Canberra was an ATR-72-500 and coming back was an E-170.

Departure

December 4,2011
Virgin Australia
DJ632
VH-FVL ATR-72-500
Seat 12C

Arrived at Sydney Airport about 45 minutes before boarding so that gave me sometime to take some picutres at the T2.

VH-VOV close up at T2

First time I see Virgin Australia E-190 VH-ZPR

The smallest in the Virgin Australia fleet meets the biggest

Captain of the A330 doing final checks

I finally boarded the ATR-72 VH-FVL at 7:55. The captain then went on the PA and said we are number 3 in line to taxi after the E-190 and A330, he informed us there will now be a 10 to 30 minute delay arriving into canberra

VH-FVL waited at the gate for around 20 or so minutes during that time i took a few photos of the A330 next to VH-FVL

After the 2 aircrafted taxied off VH-FVL taxied out of the gate and we took off at runway 16R a few minutes late

The aircraft then entered into clouds and moderate turbulence started

Due to the turbulence the crew could not serve the drinks but they did serve a nice muesli snack which I enjoyed

after reaching our crusing altitude the captain annouced on the PA that we will be starting our decent in to Canberra

After 20 minutes or so of turning and desending we touched down into Canberra only 5 minutes late

A cabin shot of VH-FVL

A shot of my seat
\
A shot of the aircraft from the rear

Decmber 4 2011
Virgin Australia
DJ661
CBR-SYD
VH-ZHF E170 "Little Miss Sunshine"

Taking off and passing costco from USA. VH-ZHF will end up in USA

[Alexander.L]

Lift off

Safety Instruction Card

Reached crusising altitude

Chesse with crackers and juice, A good combination!

Arrival in Sydney

The wingtip

Cabin shot of VH-ZHF

At the gate

Conclusion

The E-170 is great sized jet and I wish Virgin will not retire it but economics is everything and the ATR is not a bad replacement for the E170 but the ATR is not as comfortable and smooth as the E-170.
If your intrestered here is the video of the E-170 Landing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFFBVKNg4iI


Thanks For Reading!

[Radi K]

Great shots! Sad to see the 170s go.

[Zac M]

The 170s are a great aircraft, it will be sad to see them go, ZHF is my most travelled on aircraft.

The ATRs have many problems that I identified a few days before you on the same aircraft:
-Cabin noise insulation non-existant
-PA Turned up waaaaay to loud
-Seats are rock hard, armrests too low, not high enough in the back
-doesn't handle turbulence as well as the Q400

I am going to give the ATR72 one more go on Monday but if it is like my last experience I will be going out of my way to avoid them!

[Jacob P]

I personally found the ATR to be a lot more quite than the Q400 and Q300.

[Alexander.L]

The ATR is more quite but is slower and handle turbalance a little worser than the Dash 8 series. Personally I would like virgin to get a more softer seat on the ATR