AN225 heading to Perth

[Ben W]

Apologies if this has been posted somewhere else. I did a quick search and couldn't find anything else reported about it.

Anyway, Perth spotters should get ready. I believe it will be there in a day or two.

Is this it's first visit to Australia?

[MarkR]

Schedule posted here http://yssyforum.net/board/showthread.php?t=11044

Although subject to change, her flight into India was with some of the undercarriage unretracted.

http://oi63.tinypic.com/juiy5z.jpg

Photo credit : https://m.facebook.com/contrailspotting/posts/1235260349825410

[Bob C]

Hi Ben, it's the biggest thing in Perth since the America's Cup win in 1983.

Local W A boards have been plastered with information for weeks and a crowd of 40/50,000 is expected to see its arrival. Perth Airport has provided a temporary fenced enclosure for the masses and there will be food vans, port-a-loos etc provided for this special event.

Some diehards are expected to camp outside the Dunreath Drive Viewing Area overnight as once its 400 capacity is reached, that area will be closed.

I for one will NOT be going near the airport as I expect there will be chaos and I pity anyone trying to catch a flight on Sunday morning.

I have a few off airport sites in mind and now we're hearing that it might be a 03 arrival due a changed weather forecast.

Cheers

Bob

[Nigel C]

C'mon folks.....where's the photos????

[Grahame Hutchison]

I didn't get over Perth, however this is the best video I have seen of the Antonov AN225 arrival.

https://t.co/K2c8r9V8cH

[Ryan N]

I was driving back to Perth from Cervantes and detoured towards the airport. All roads leading to the airport were jammed up. Many people were lining the freeway in all directions, hoping to get a glimpse of the plane. They would've had to wait a long time as the plane was about 2 hours late into Perth. The overcast and occasional showers didn't make photo opportunities any good. I didn't join crowded and headed away from the airports as soon as I saw the traffic jams.

I also arrived at the airport half an hour after the plane departed yesterday (tuesday) morning. Sky News showed live coverage of the plane taking off and repeated it throughout the morning.

[Bob C]

Hi Nigel

Unfortunately, I rolled the 03 dice and lost.

The winds were all over the place on Sunday morning and 03 was the active runway when I left home 90 minutes before ETA. Like so many others I had a great spot in Kewdale and I thought I was being very clever until the runway changed to 21 at 1120, about 30 mins before ETA.

Then I lost the second race of the day in the scramble to get to the other end of the airport. I've never seen such a traffic jam around the airport and thousands would have been disappointed expecting a 03 arrival. But at least I saw it flash past my windscreen !

There are many great photos on various W A enthusiasts' sites of both the arrival and early morning departure yesterday so hopefully some will appear here.

Cheers

Bob

[Bob C]

Hi again Nigel

Many of the 613 members of the West Australian Airport Spotters Facebook page took great shots of the AN225. I've asked that if any are members of this Board that they share some of their photos. Failing that, hopefully some will appear on airliners.net etc.

Cheers

Bob

[Ryan Hothersall]

Give me a few days and I'll have some uploaded to flickr.

[Stefan Perkas]

Evening all,

A couple of my photos from Perth of the AN225. What a beast of an aircraft she is...

Arriving on Rwy.21...

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7590/26484980374_d8f25c2f60_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/GmorWE)
UR-82060 (https://flic.kr/p/GmorWE) by Stefan Perkas (https://www.flickr.com/photos/53284949@N05/)

Being unloaded...

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7093/27090367405_0df5c715e0_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/HgTdq6)
UR-82060 (https://flic.kr/p/HgTdq6) by Stefan Perkas (https://www.flickr.com/photos/53284949@N05/)

[Nigel C]

Cheers Bob and Stefan. She's a beast that we're highly unlikely to ever see here.

[Rowan McKeever]

Oh wow!!!! That unloading photo, Stefan!!!! :O

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

[Bob C]

Hi Stefan

Thanks for your great shots and I look forward to seeing yours on this Board Ryan - BTW sorry to hear about your car problem !!

It truly was a once in a lifetime event for aviation enthusiasts and I know that many from all over Australia and overseas came to Perth. Lots of familiar names have been mentioned and I'm very disappointed not to have caught up with the many at Hyne Road. But as I said, I rolled the 03 dice and lost. Oh well, let's hope there's a next time.

Cheers

Bob

[RichardK]

Hi all
Here are a couple of my images of the white whale at Perth Airport.
It was an amazing site, and the powerful rotating sound during take-off will remain with me for a long time.

[RichardK]

Second Image