ANA 787 R2-D2

[David C]

Not sure if this has already been reported , however, the following has appeared on Airlive .net .
LERT Apart of the inaugural service, ANA will be flying their R2-D2 787 to Sydney on the 11th of December. - @S118869

Dave C

[Grahame Hutchison]

Can't wait, this is an amazing livery :D:D

[Matthew Arnaoutis]

Should be great!! What a wonderful livery to use on a first flight to a new destination!

[John Thoroughgood]

Can the Sydney arrival date be confirmed please? Friday 11, or Saturday 12?

My reason for asking is that I have seen an advert on youtube, quoting December 12 as the first arrival date for ANA's R2D2.

Many thanks , and cheers, John.

[Paul L]

According to ANA Facebook Page

Departs Tokyo 11/12 @ 2210 Japan Time
Arrives Sydney 12/12 @ 0935 EDST

[John Thoroughgood]

Many thanks Paul. Much appreciated ;-))

[Grahame Hutchison]

All Nippon Airways inaugural service from Tokyo Haneda to Sydney arrived this morning, and certainly did not disappoint. The Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner in
Starwars R2D2 livery was simply stunning.

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=JA873A D300-20151212-113.jpg

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=JA873A D300-20151212-115.jpg

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=JA873A D300-20151212-121.jpg

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=JA873A D300-20151212-128.jpg

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=JA873A D300-20151212-130.jpg

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=JA873A D300-20151212-131.jpg

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=JA873A D300-20151212-164.jpg

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=JA873A D300-20151212-168.jpg

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=JA873A D200-20151212-036.jpg

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=JA873A D300-20151212-197.jpg

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=JA873A D300-20151212-362.jpg

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=JA873A D300-20151212-372.jpg

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=JA873A D300-20151212-373.jpg

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=JA873A D300-20151212-391.jpg

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=JA873A D300-20151212-417.jpg

[Greg Hyde]

Nice shots Grahame,

Not a fan of the colour scheme even though I'm a Star Wars fan

[James P Warner]

Great photos Grahame, it's a shame they took you guys to the wrong side of the runway for a Morning shot

[Grahame Hutchison]

It's a bit of a Catch 22 James.

If they were to take you to the other side for the touchdown shots, it takes too long to get back for the Water Cannon salute, as ATC don't like to allow vehicles (two Buses) to cross the active Runway. The Foxtrot west Stop Bar is not a bad compromise, you just turn 180 degrees on the spot for Touchdown and Water Cannon, without moving location. It is also the shortest bus trip from the Terminal.

[Nigel C]

Great photos Grahame, it's a shame they took you guys to the wrong side of the runway for a Morning shot


There is nowhere on the eastern side apart from the old Bravo-6 (which, incidentally was the place where Sydney Airport took a bus load of spotters at the last Sydney Airport organised spotting weekend) to park a bus and safely have a large group of people congregate, especially when it's 16R arrivals and departures. The bus would get bogged if it parked off-pavement. But the old Bravo-6 is some 570m away from the nominal touhdown point on the runway, and if an aircraft was parked on Bravo-4 or taxiing along Bravo then all viewing of it would be lost.

Whereas Foxtrot west isn't utilised for departures very often (probably because an aircraft that stops at the holding point blocks the path on Alfa to the Alfa-1 holding point) and so it can be used to park a bus there with cooperation from ATC.


If, however, the arrival is on 34L, then yes, the bus can park in a spot to allow correctly lit shots, but as Grahame alluded to, it's then a mammoth (read near impossible) task to get a bus load of photographers/videographers back on the bus and up to the terminal for the water cannon salute without having substantial delays for the aircraft.


Critics will cry foul, and some people are NEVER happy with what happens on the day, but if you have a genuine, workable solution for all situations, then come and buy me a beer; I'd be more than happy to listen!

[James P Warner]

It wasn't a complaint, merely an observation. It does appear though in some of Grahame's photos that there are infact photographers/videographers on the eastern side. I guess it just comes down to who you know!

[Nigel C]

For just about every airline launch or major new aircraft type (A350, B787, A380 etc), there's nearly always been a stand-alone professional photographer and/or videographer group separate from the main media group.

You simply can't obtain images such as this (taken by James Morgan) with a whole media bus. And it's the exclusivity of this shot that has seen it used time and time again as a file photo for news outlets. http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2008/09/21/1111120/445463-qantas-039-airbus-a380.jpg

[Grahame Hutchison]

My full image and video coverage of the All Nippon Airways inaugural ANA879 service into Sydney from Tokyo Haneda, can be seen at news.16Right.com (http://news.16Right.com)

[Kurt A]

Hi Grahame,

I love your coverage as always, nice shots.
Here's some alternate angles. These taken for ANA and SACL.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g183/yssy_moderator/YSSY%20Stuff/AMS_0900s_zpsckjzs6es.jpg~original

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g183/yssy_moderator/YSSY%20Stuff/AMS_0904s_zpsw84jenvh.jpg~original

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g183/yssy_moderator/YSSY%20Stuff/AMS_0983s_zpsg2u3pnp4.jpg~original

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g183/yssy_moderator/YSSY%20Stuff/AMS_0479s_zps62otylvo.jpg~original

[Nigel C]

Quality as always, Kurt! Nice selection!

[Grahame Hutchison]

Great shots Kurt, sunny side makes such a difference, love the light effects in the night shot - particularly the red strobe.

When I looked at my video, I could not believe how far R2D2 floated along the Runway compared to other aircraft landing at the same time.

Different airline, but almost the same angle Nigel

http://www.16right.com/Aircraft-Images/displayimage.php?image=B-6139 D300-20151212-261.jpg

[Terence W]

Great photos all - thanks for sharing. You guys are lucky to get up so close!