Night time freighters

[Maikha Ly]

Hi all

Being the tragic I am, I ducked by the airport on my way home from an evening shift, to indulge in some spotting of the more unseen freight traffic.

I always was hearing 'Tasman 2' and 'November Juliet Mike/Victor/Foxtrot' on the scanners, and was always intrigued what they were, so heading out there last night, I was delighted to see Tasman 2 was the DHL 727 and NJM/V/F (All three of them) were BAe 146s. Pardon my frivolous excitement over these sightings, though it's first time I'd seen any of those aircraft types in flight! :)

My main query, plainly for my own personal curiousity, was by the sounds of their activity I hear night after night, these movements are pretty much clockwork everynight in and out of the airport, and I was curious to know if anyone has any idea on what their nightly movements/runs would entail, like where they'd be stopping on their freight runs.


Also, apart from the 727 and 146s, are there any other local freight/mail runs that are clockwork in and out of the airport of an evening? I believe there are some Metros that do Mail runs, and I've yet to see one of them in flight as well.


Many thanks!

[Peter Agatsiotis]

Hi Maikha

In addition to those you saw there are also 2 Aust Air Express 737's as well as the Toll 737 which come in before midnight and then leave in the early hours.

These jets mainly do a milk run at night which usually means they will usually go to BNE, SYD, ADL & MEL.

The Metros don't show up on any systems so not sure where they go.

In addition there are some freighters that run out of Bankstown these being the Toll ATR42's and the Pionair Convairs.

HTH

[Jayden Laing]

Maikha,
Depending on what time you went past the airport last night, you would have also been able to see the TOLL 737 over at Qantas Freight as it came in about 2130.

[Nigel C]

VH-VEA, a Cessna 404 Titan, does the Canberra run at around 2400 on Monday to Thursday nights.

I think only 1 metro does a curfew flight now. There used to be 6 or 7 before the GFC.

The 146's do Monday to Thursday nights, except for public holiday Mondays.

No curfew freighters on Saturday or Sunday, and I think possibly only a metro operates during curfew on Friday night.

The only other curfew movements 7 days a week would be air ambos or, less frequently, corporate.

[Maikha Ly]

Thanks Gents for the responses!

Jayden, I got to the airport at 2230, after finishing work and leaving there at 2205. I'm impressed actually it didn't take me that long to get to the mound! Unfortunately I didn't get to sight the AAE 737.

Peter, as above I didn't get to see the AAE 737, or the Toll 737, as much as I'd like to have seen them. My ears popped up when you mentioned the ATR42 and the Convairs at Bankstown of a night, as I've seen the Convair parked there for ages during the day, and would really like to see that one getting airbourne. Any idea on what times one can expect to see such traffic at YSBK? Ditto goes for all the Toll Express Metros I see parked at the front there all the time.

Nigel, I do hear VEA alot on the scanners at around this time coming and going from Sydney, and wouldn't mind seeing that one night as well for something different.


I have a few evening shifts next week as well, so hopefully will make it out there for some of the things I missed last night

[Nigel C]

You won't see much of it at night except for bright wing tip strobes and a single belly mounted anti-collision red beacon. You will hear it though.

[Maikha Ly]

Good enough for me :D

[Peter Agatsiotis]

Maikha, on yesterday's SBS log the Convair left around 11:15pm and the ATR arr at around 11:30pm and would have left around an hour later. My log picks up 2 Atr's each day with another one at around 1:30 am.

No info on the Metros as they don't use Mode-S.

[lloyd fox]

The ATR 42 based in BNE departs at 2100 local to Bankstown then i assume onto ADL as the ADL based aircraft ends up in BNE in the early hours.

[Maikha Ly]

Thanks fellas, will hopefully make sometime one night to do some spotting at YSBK for the exotic stuff. Do they go under any particular callsigns over the radios?

I need to head over to Mascot after work tonight, and might make sometime for the mound. Being a Friday night, should I bother?


Thanks again for all the information posted

[Nigel C]

As previously posted, it'll be pretty quiet tonight during curfew. There may be a metro, and the odd air ambo, but expect long waits beteen any possible movements.

[Maikha Ly]

Hi Nigel

I ended up doing the right thing.... and going home :)

The scanners seemed quiet anyway when I drove past, just service vehicles closing runways.

[Nigel C]

Yep, Rwy 16R/34L was closed south of Twy Bravo-8 to facilitate crack sealing and also de-rubberising of the 34L touchdown zone. It was returned to the full length at 0533 this morning.

[Maikha Ly]

Hi all

Finished a late shift tonight and thought I'd duck by YSBK on the way home. Thankfully I didn't have to wait long before seeing the Convair (VH-PDW) taxi and depart from 29C. Tell you what, very enjoyable (And loud!) listening to them take-off over where I was parked with the sunroof open :)

Didn't bother waiting for the ATR, although I did notice them being leaded up waaay over at the TOLL Facility.

So I'd be correct in that the ATR and Convair are only ever airbourne of a night in general?


Thanks!

[Maikha Ly]

Watched 'Toll Express 1' join the circuit and land at YSBK tonight at about 2355 (Again, coming home from late shift!). Would this have been an ATR? Couldn't see that far in the darkness!

[lloyd fox]

Yes .

[Maikha Ly]

Hi all

Sorry to be such a pain and keep returning to this thread! :p

I note the Pionair Convairs (VH-PDW) sitting at YSBK during the day, so I assume their late night departures would have them returning to the airport eventually. Is there any particular time the Pionair Convairs are due back into Bankstown, and also, where do they normally fly off to?


Thanks! :)

[Peter Agatsiotis]

Hi Maikha

According to my log, the Convairs leave around 11pm and return between 3:30 and 4am.
Someone told me they do a return trip to Hobart but stand to be corrected.

[M Atkins]

Correct from MEL but Im fairly sure they go to LST not HBA.

[Mark M]

Hi all

Sorry to be such a pain and keep returning to this thread! :p

I note the Pionair Convairs (VH-PDW) sitting at YSBK during the day, so I assume their late night departures would have them returning to the airport eventually. Is there any particular time the Pionair Convairs are due back into Bankstown, and also, where do they normally fly off to?


Thanks! :)

Im glad you have Maikha, these night time freighters have always been something that interests me, especially when living at Sutherland, before moving to NZ and you could hear both Bankstown and Sydney on the scanner fairly well. Do the Toll caravans still fly out of Bankstown and if so where do they go ?? As they are in Toll livery I assume they use/used the Toll Express callsign as well.

Do the Convairs stop at MEL both ways to Launceston or just the one way?

Here in Chch we get a 737-300, used to get a 737-200 both for Airworx and the fokker as well. There are usaully some Convairs parked on the ramp during the day, I have no idea where either the Fokker flies to nor the convairs. The 737's would go AKL and WEL

-Mark

[Chris B.]

Once Jetcraft went into administration the Caravans were no longer used and Toll never picked them up.

[Mark M]

Thanks Chris, been a while since I ventured to Bankstown, so its now down to the Convairs, ATR's and if there is any left, Metro's to work the night time at Bankstown.

[lloyd fox]

VH-PDX Convair operated Bankstown-BNE-Bankstown in the early hours today.

[Maikha Ly]

Thanks Chris been a while since I ventured to Bankstown, so its now down to the Convairs, ATR's and if there is any left, Metro's to work the night time at BankstownWhile doing a preflight this morning at one of the schools on Tower Road, I noted a Metro coming in to land at about 0915, could definitely hear it all over the field! :)

This by the way, is my first sighting of a Metro with its engines running, still yet to see one airbourne!

Anyhow, is this Metro a regular movement of a morning in Bankstown? If so, I'll book my next few lessons an hour later so I can do some plane nerding with the camera before a lesson :D

[Maikha Ly]

Hi all

I was hoping to revisit this thread with pretty much the same queries as I made in March/April, with the intention of hopefully seeing some movements that would otherwise arrive/depart under the cover of darkness! Pretty much:

*Do the Pionair Convairs still operate Mon-Thurs from 2300 out of YSBK?
*Do the Toll ATRs still come and go at night into YSBK around the 0000 mark?
*Do any regular Fairchild Metroliners still operate freight/bank runs in/out of YSBK of an evening (I.e. between 1730-1930)? I've sighted them on the odd occasion months ago when I was abit more active with flight training and finishing of an afternoon. Not overly sure how regular they are.
*Are there any freight/mail/bank movements out of YSSY of a night time that would be out of the ordinary? Metros, Cessna Caravans, etc? Or are they generally now run of the mill Toll/AAE 737's, AAE BAe146's, etc.


Have a few days off in the coming week, so wanting to spend some quality time by the fence at either airport. Greatly appreciate any input towards my queries!

Thanks! :)

[lloyd fox]

The convair went out of Bankstown around 2130 -2200 hrs to MEL last night.

[Nigel C]

YSSY stuff is just 737's, 757 (DHL) and 146's plus the Canberra-bound Titan.
Although with the resheet coming up, there may be supplementary flights put on if the remaining curfew runway length isn't favourable for the 146's. I understand there was recently a 4th 146 added for a few nights when the runway was at its shortest curfew length for a week straight. 16R/34L was closed north of Twy Bravo-10.

[Russell D]

Maikha

I get one of the Toll ATR 42-300s flying low over my house at Erskine Park around 10:45PM...although it sometimes runs a little late coming in between 11:00-11:30PM. As far as I have observed, this particular flight comes in faithfully every night of the week...not that I'm complaining:D

After flying over my house, they generally seem to track direct to YSBK, before arriving (usually RWY29C) via the south (left traffic at YSBK). I think they usually use 29C for noise abatement due to the houses on the Western edge of the field. i.e. if they were to fly in for a 11C approach, they would be very low on short final right over houses at 11PM. Hence, by doing a 29C approach, the short final sections are over the industrial warehouses on the Eastern perimeter of the field.

If you have a look at WebTrack Sydney http://www331.webtrak-lochard.com/webtrak/syd3 and set the time to play around the 10:45PM mark and let it run, you will see the Toll ATR (as TFX11) coming in over my house.

Plus, WebTrack also shows up a lot of the other freighters you were inquiring about...e.g. the BAe146, the Convair 580 heading south to Melbourne (look for a General aviation target of aircraft type CVLT), and the Fairchild Metros of PelAir etc.

Cheers and happy flying

[Maikha Ly]

Thanks Russel, Nigel and Lloyd!

Russell, I can definitely relate to the Toll ATRs arrival at night, which also faithfully fly above my place at pretty much the same time Mon-Thurs night usually around the 2300 mark, without fail!

Spent the afternoon out by the fence at Bankstown today for some quiet time and catching up (And it's a shame the viewing area on Tower Road is all but literally rubble now!). And just as I left, I heard the approach of Toll Express 1 on the scanner, so drove back and delightfully got my first shot of an airbourne Metro! Coming in to land on 11C at about 1915 tonight :D

Unfortunately my webhost has exceeded its bandwidth, so can't upload photos, but photos are fourthcoming!

[Maikha Ly]

Russel, all

Just going onto that WebTrak link in your post above, I just noticed an aircraft (Tagged AM4) from Canberra which is classed as a General Avation aircraft just come in to land on Runway 07. Couldn't hear the registration clearly on the live ATC, although it sounded like VH-NGX which is a Metro.

Sorry for the mundane questions, still trying to learn how all these things work, though would this have been one of the Metro freighters into Sydney of a night?


Thanks all!

[Russell D]

I'm going to make a guess...AM4 could me Aeromedical 4???? Possible a PelAir chartered aeromedical flight? But then again, they would probably still use the callsign "PelAir #XXX", so it's just a wild guess i suppose.

Also, last night I was listening to liveATC (YSSY Tower/App) for a flight CX139 with a relative onboard, and around the same time (9:00pm local), I heard a callsign "Tasman 1", a B757-200 that was inbound from Auckland.

Was this a RNZAF 752??? It also appears on WebTrack if you set the time to 9pm local (around the time CX139 lands on 16R) overflies the airport and lands RWY07.

Also, there was a B733 callsign "TFR21" inbound from Brisbane which landed on 07 immediately following the Tasman 1 B752. I couldn't quite make out the callsign on liveATC due to static, and at first I thought it was a Toll Express freighter, but Toll usually use the code "TFX" not "TFR".

Cheers

[Nigel C]

AM4 I suspect would be "Ambulance 4", an Air Ambulance Kingair. However, refering to Maikha's post, there is a Learjet which often gets used for medical flights which is parked in the GA, VH-JCX. There's also a Hawker 850XP VH-TNX is the GA too, but I can't recall hearing this as a medical flight.

Pelair mostly use either the rego (eg Kilo November Romeo) or a military designation, depending on the mission.

Tasman 1 is the DHL B757.

TFR21 is "Toll Freight 21", most likely the NZ registered B733F.

[Russell D]

Thanks Nigel. That clears everything up. :)

Is the Learjet VH-JCX often used for transport donor organs from city to city for organ transplants)? Or is it fitted out with life-support equipment similar to the Air Ambulances (both fixed wing and rotary) and RFDS aircraft?

I remember seeing various GA jets featuring on shows such as Medical Emergency, The Gift, and RPA where a jet was used to transport a donor organ from say Melbourne to Sydney quick-smart since time was critical (since many organs especially kidneys and stuff don't last very long outside the body in spite of the ice packed around them).

Cheers

[Nigel C]

I don't know what role it plays or how it's fitted out, but I do hear the "Med-1" tag used with it.

[Jayden Laing]

AM4 I suspect would be "Ambulance 4", an Air Ambulance Kingair.

Referring to the above comment from Nigel, I think you might find guys that "Ambulance 4" is the Super Kingair B200C which has the rego VH-MVX. However most of the time it uses it rego as the callsign but its in the Royal Flying Doctors colour scheme & i have often seen it sitting at Bankstown in amongst the Metro's etc.

Cheers.

[Nigel C]

Someone more in the know can correct me on this (Mick F?), but my understanding is that the flight number for the Air Ambos (and RFDS?) is actually assigned to the individual pilot, not the aircraft.

[phil.l]

Nigel i believe your right, i know of a pilot with the RFDS and he has his own call sign.

[Mark M]

The convair went out of Bankstown around 2130 -2200 hrs to MEL last night.

Are there one or two convairs based at Bankstown? and is it an around trip to LST or does it go BNK-MEL-LST and then the other convair operates LST-MEL-BNK Monday through Thursday and then to other destinations as needed per charter etc. Thanks

[Rob R]

Can also confirm that the Air Ambulance flight numbers /callsigns are assigned to the pilot. Mate of mine was Ambulance 21 or 22.

[Adam P.]

That'd have been Tony, Rob?? :)

Believe he's on 777s with V Aus now.

[Oliver A]

The website for Learjet VH-JCX: http://www.jetcityrescue.com/

[Maikha Ly]

Spent the afternoon out by the fence at Bankstown today for some quiet time and catching up (And it's a shame the viewing area on Tower Road is all but literally rubble now!). And just as I left, I heard the approach of Toll Express 1 on the scanner, so drove back and delightfully got my first shot of an airbourne Metro! Coming in to land on 11C at about 1915 tonight :DHere is the shot I promised!

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20101028-ysbk/_MG_7660.jpg

[David Ramsay]

JCX was at NZAA last night. Departed for YSSY just before midnight local.