Trip Report - Canberra Airport Open Day: 28/3/2010

[Maikha Ly]

Hi, and thanks for beginning to read my trip report to the Canberra Airport Open Day 2010. The last time I wrote one of these was the last time I went flying, that was July/August 2006 when I went to the US. So to fill you in on bits and pieces of my life story as a background.


My life story – In a nutshell!

My aviation interests has always been there like everyone else’s, but hardly ever explored, through lack of access for one of a better reason. Hardly had the funds or inclination to fly often, or even to be able to watch other things fly as the airport wasn’t overly accessible to me (At this point, having no car to head out). For the past three years, I’d been residing in Wagga Wagga in the state’s Riverina, studying and working in the media industry. Although with a car, there were hardly any planes, mainly out at Forest Hill getting all the SAABs and Dash-8s (Q300s), and going to a number of Temora Airshows, both of which I did whenever I could, rarely.
So now, I’m back in Sydney, working full-time in the Media business making good coin, living underneath the flightpath of planes and choppers at Bankstown (Nothing sounds better than a humble single-engine piston aircraft!), and made a New Years Resolution to fly more often and ditch other modes, such as the train.

Trip Report - Introduction

The Canberra Airport Open Day is the second Aviation event I’ve made it to, the other being Wings Over The Illawarra. This event however was going to be particularly good, as I decided to make a day of it and fly down and back, which made it my first commercial flight in almost four years, getting back some of the sensations of flying I missed!

So this particular day, accompanied by a mate, introducing Frederick, meeting up with two others on QF787 who’d flown in from Melbourne (Ironically, it was cheaper for them to fly from Melbourne to Canberra via Sydney), and meeting up with a 5th mate in Canberra, Todd, we’d all enjoy the day in company with each other, and apart from Todd who had to start work at the airport at 4:30pm, we were also booked on the QantasLink charity Flight, and Fred and I would be booked on a Virgin Blue flight home, which we came close to missing, but we invested in Murphy’s Law and got some good dividends!

Now onto the important bit, the flying!


Sydney to Melbourne (Part 1 of 4)
QF787 - Qantas
VH-OGQ: Boeing 767-300
Seat 34K

As the above seat was in exit row, Fred and I had to check in at the Service desk and get our boarding passes. Our intentions to get there at 0700 with some forward planning turned against us thanks to clear traffic and over-estimation, and we were there at 0605!

We got a Coffee, Fred got some toast, I got some Hungry Jacks (At 0700), and we waited at our Gate 5 for the remainder of the time, watching the procession of other QF planes passing outside, munching my hash browns, reading the paper, talking nonsense and being joined by my two other mates, Trent and Kaine.

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/1-qf787/IMG_4865.jpg

It was amusing to us, being enthusiasts of another form of transport, how easy it was to identify those on this flight who were also going down for the Open Day, with their SLR cameras and Qantas Hats and the like, at least 15 of us, some Message Board members, others not. Nonetheless, at about 0755, we began to board, and at this point, I became overly excited of getting aboard my first flight in oh so many years!

Fred and I were in row 34, with the other two in the row behind us. Our Flight Attendants were on hand to settle us in, and were certainly very professional and charismatic, particularly in briefing us over our responsibilities in Exit Row, which we all agreed to. This flight was quite empty, others can provide the figures for that.

We pushed back from the gate at 0813, and taxied out to runway 34R for departure. It was kind of odd going past The Mound, where I’ve spent so much spotting aircraft, and now I was the one on those aircraft! We made it to the runway and at 0827, the crew advanced full throttles, and away we went. For so long I hadn’t felt the sensation of being pushed into my seat on take-off, a feeling I missed a lot!

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/1-qf787/IMG_4905.jpg

The crew were definitely not mucking around, as we rotated pretty quickly for a Northern Departure, before banking over the Eastern Suburbs and tracking along the South Coast over Wollongong and Port Kembla for our flight to Canberra. Enroute, we were served a refreshment of Breakfast juice and a muffin, which we devoured quickly, and were kept entertained by an episode of Two and a Half Men.

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/1-qf787/IMG_4927.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/1-qf787/IMG_4915.jpg

I went to the back of the cabin to take some photos, at the same time as all the other enthusiasts onboard did so as well which turned into a little informal gathering, and it ended up being other members of this Message Board, so G’day to you all!

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/1-qf787/IMG_4921.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/1-qf787/IMG_4933.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/1-qf787/IMG_4944.jpg

We were only about 2 minutes into conversation when the seat-belt light came back on and we were told to prepare for landing. What?! We only just took off! It them came to my attention (Again, I haven’t flown for 4 years, and hardly ever flown domestic), that the 55min flight time on our tickets is really, 35-40 mins (If that) in the air from runway to runway, and seat-belt light is on for most of it! We all sat back down, and in hardly no time, we were descending through the clouds, across the big country town of Canberra, and touched down on runway 35 at 0905.

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/1-qf787/IMG_4948.jpg

Disembarking from the aircraft in Canberra was another forgotten sensation that was disembarking from a 767 by a set of stairs onto the tarmac, in hot and sunny Canberra. This deadest reminded me of years ago as a child, getting off a Vietnam Airlines flight at Tanh Son Nhat Airport, Ho Chi Minh City, same deal, off a 767 down a set of stairs onto the tarmac, and into an archaic looking air terminal. Canberra felt like another world away getting off the plane, that I would have adjusted my watch to local time!

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/1-qf787/IMG_4958.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/1-qf787/IMG_4969.jpg


Onto the Open Day….

[Maikha Ly]

Canberra Airport Open Day – Part 2 of 4

Meeting up with local enthusiast and friend, Todd Milton, and his buddy and Message Board goer, Zac, Fred and I, accompanied in tow with Zac and also Dan Hammond, made our way quickly over to the Open Day, through the security check to go onto the tarmac, and over to the QantasLink Q400 to get our tickets for the Charity Joyflight. Fred and I decided in the morning to gamble on getting this joyflight, even though the margin between getting back to Canberra, to get onto our Virgin Blue flight home was abit tight, we did the online check-in and everything and thought, “Why not?”.

Zac and Dan got their tickets, and finally, I managed to secure four tickets for this joyflight, also for Trent and Kaine who were sorting their bags out. I think the Salvos were pleased for me to handover a few yellow notes, and throw some others in their donation tin.

Having sorted that out, and Todd and the other two to catch up to us, we decided to make our way along the tarmac, starting at the Q400 and working our way along to end up at the 767. We weren’t overly keen to queue up for ages to take a look in aircraft, considering we were due to fly on the Q400 that afternoon, I’d been inside the Catalina, DC-3 and Connie at Wings Over The Illawarra, and we’d flown in on the 767 that morning. We were more interested in getting close-up photos of aircraft we would otherwise be locked up in jail for had we tried elsewhere!

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_4974.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_4977.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_4980.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5015.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5022.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5026.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5029.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5035.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5062.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5065.jpg

[Maikha Ly]

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5070.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5233.jpg

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5078.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5080.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5081.jpg

The only aircraft we did decide to take a look in was the Virgin Blue 737, because none of us had ever been in one. After queue of however long it was, we finally made it onboard, and was greeted by a cheery male flight attendant, who encouraged us all to congo line down the aisle to speed up the process. That would have been fun!

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5128.jpg

I tried out the Premium Economy, and was surprised that the MapQuest display of the aircraft on the inflight entertainment systems displayed the town of Tumut as “Tamut”. Moving along, we took a look at the cockpit and had a friendly chat with the captain, who was very inspirational and encouraging towards those seeking an aviation career.

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5146.jpg

Moving along to the 767, we got our exterior photographs of that before going back to the carpark to get lunch and sit down in the shade for abit. I started queueing for the Hot Air Balloon ride (My 4th Aeronautical ride in a day?), but was told by the RAAF bloke the queue was too long we weren’t guaranteed a ride, so hence we returned back to the tarmac for our 1pm Tarmac Tour of Canberra Airport.

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5174.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5157.jpg

Having been screened through security, we got onto bus Bravo (Although we weren’t impressed by one mature aged individual who physically pushed his way through the queue, and pushed us out of the way to get onto the bus first. Very poor form!), became the backseat bandits like we were back in High School, and settled in for the very intriguing and interesting ride around the airport, getting up close to sights at the airport, once again, you’d get arrested for otherwise being close to!

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/2-airport/IMG_5271.jpg

We got off the bus half an hour later, by then, things were winding down as all the queues for aircraft had disappeared, and the aircraft were all being prepped either for their departures or to, as a boss would yell, get back to work. The four of us on the other hand were bound for a more pleasurable experience, the Charity Joyflight on the QantasLink Q400.

[Maikha Ly]

Canberra to Mystery Flight (Part 3 of 4)
QantasLink Charity Flight for the Salvation Army
QF2294 - QantasLink
VH-QOS: Bombardier Dash-8 Q400
Seat 2A

We got to the Terminal, got directed by Todd upstairs to the gate. Through security, I got stopped for a detected ‘suspicious object’ in my bag, which turned out to be a stappler (I carry one around as I regularly staple documents at work and the like). I was allowed to keep it, and with Todd minding our bags at Gate 14, we went back downstairs to check in.

To my dismay at check-in, ALL our names were spelt incorrectly. I was overly surprised as I was particularly clear with the spelling of our names when we booked the tickets but nonetheless, they weren’t concerned with this so we carried on up to Gate 14 to wait out the boarding of our flight.
The boarding was delayed for a while. In that time, we kept ourselves amused with talking nonsense and watching all the Open Day aircraft take off, those fighter jets, the warbirds, and the Connie, all spectacular departures indeed! At this point, Fred and I were beginning to become slightly anxious that we were going to return to Canberra late and miss our Virgin Blue flight back to Sydney.

Boarding finally commenced at about 1440, and the four of us made it through the gate, and once again, out on the apron to walk over to our aircraft, VH-QOS. All the passengers on this flight were in good spirits, my group in particular in that good of spirits, we walked along the apron to the aircraft loudly singing Frank Sinatra's "Come Fly With Me". You might find that embarrassing, but hey, we were most certainly having fun!

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/3-q400/IMG_5376.jpg

Many taking the rare opportunity for them being able to walk out onto the apron to take photos of the 767 and other aircraft there, before finally getting on QOS and settling aboard, as we did, in the front rows of the aircraft. It was amusing to us, having previously got off a 767, we underestimated how small this aircraft was, my mate Trent bumped his head on the window, and I, bumped my head on the overhead luggage door! I’m guessing my sarcastic remarks to the passengers around me about “This is like sitting aboard a bus”, went over their heads!

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/3-q400/IMG_5384.jpg

With everyone quickly onboard, the flight attendant did the announcement to the good spirits of the passengers, and in no time at all, the props were spinning and off we were to runway 35 again for our departure. Our crew weren’t mucking around either when they advanced the throttles and off we went, and up in the air in no time!

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/3-q400/IMG_5394.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/3-q400/IMG_5404.jpg

This was the first time I’d been on a brand new and shiny Q400, and I must admit, having a soft spot for Turboprops, I was extremely impressed with the comfort of this plane and the ride quality. Very nice aircraft, and in future, I will be finding various excuses to travel to places where I can ride one. We took off over Canberra, banked over to the Northern side of town and flew over Bungendore and on our way to the South Coast, reaching Moruya, and then banking South down to Merimbula before heading back to Canberra. Moruya is such a long drive away from Canberra and Goulburn, yet took only minutes by Q400, and flying at 10000ft, although a hazy day, we were presented with some great views of the South Coast. Really, our $50 for this joyflight provided plenty of value, as well as with all of it going to the Salvos.

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/3-q400/IMG_5435.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/3-q400/IMG_5441.jpg
Salvation Army volunteers who organised this flight

It was great being aboard the flight, where even though we were late, everyone was in great spirits and in a great mood, especially after being served more Multi-V juice and macadamias coated in chocolate. A lot of people got up to move around this small cabin to take photos and socialise, g’day to a number of Message Board members I met on this one flight.
At this point, Fred and I didn’t care whether we’d miss our flight back to Sydney, as we could always get following flights and pay for them, we were having that great of a time we would be willing to give another $50 to the salvos if they could keep flying for another half hour… of course, that can remain in fantasy!

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/3-q400/IMG_5447.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/3-q400/IMG_5457.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/3-q400/IMG_5459.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/3-q400/IMG_5463.jpg

As soon as we banked West bank to go back to Canberra, the seat-belt light came back on and we sat back down. We descended through some clouds again to make our approach into Canberra, and just like the entire flight, it was all nice and smooth and comfortable. In no time at all, we touched back down in Canberra at 1600 and taxied back to the gate we came out of. By then, being in the front row, Fred and I thought, there was a chance we could still make our Virgin Blue flight upon rumours that they were all delayed.

[Maikha Ly]

Canberra to Sydney
DJ657 – Virgin Blue
VH-ZPB: Embraer E-190
Seat 7F

Being one of the first off the aircraft, Fred and I began running for the terminal, and then through it. Passing Todd, now in his work uniform, he told us the flight was indeed delayed, and to head straight to Virgin Blue service desk, and upon doing so, we were presented with the news that yes, it was late.

Very delighted to hear, and that we didn’t end up losing any more money in missing flights or even changing them. To the amusement of some passengers, we celebrated by giving each other hi-10s while jumping in mid-air, and I guess that would have looked impressive as well!

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/4-vb/IMG_5476.jpg

So, we went through security, and this time, it wasn’t my staple that caught me out, but my two metal forks I had in my bag (Which I bring with me for my meal breaks at work). Upon presenting these to them, we were let through and made our way to Gate 5. And as we were told, the flight hadn’t even boarded yet, so to actually celebrate not missing our flight, and for having such a great time, we made our way to the waiting lounge and I went to the bar to get us some beer.

The bar wasn’t open! A sign presented itself “Back in 15 minutes”, and half an hour later, no one was still there. This was disappointing, as it would have been great to down a beer while waiting for a late flight, as you can probably tell, Fred and I were in that great of spirits, unlike the rest of the punters waiting to get on the plane, we wouldn’t have cared if a storm came and delayed flights… at least we wouldn’t have missed our flight! As I like to say, why fly when you’re not having fun? :D

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/4-vb/IMG_5483.jpg

Finally at 4:35pm we began boarding, and awaiting us was also a nice shiny new Embraer. All the aircraft I’d ever flown on, or flown, were either American or French, that was it, but we categorically chose to fly back to Sydney on Virgin Blue to roadtest these new (Well, new to us!) Brazillian planes, and by we were most impressed not only by the aircraft, but the cabin crew and their friendliness. Very clean cabin, very comfortable leather seats, was pretty good.


Meanwhile in the Canberra Suburb of Kingston, our two friends, being railway employees, decided to take the train back to Sydney, and were waiting for their delayed train to depart.



http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/4-vb/IMG_5485.jpg

Back to the aircraft, Fred and I, very pleased, made ourselves comfortable, door closed, and we pushed back at 1645, and by 1653, we were taking off from runway 35 again (Third time today I’ve been on it!) and off we were. By the looks of it, we were tracking West-ish or so towards Gunning or Yass, then went Northbound over Goulburn. As we were over Goulburn, the seat belt light went off and the flight attendant began taking orders. Finally, Fred and I were able to toast what had been an awesome day for us, with two Crown Lagers and a pack of Pringles.


http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/4-vb/IMG_5497.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/4-vb/IMG_5493.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/4-vb/IMG_5488.jpg

These came in no time, and in no time at all, we were downing them well. However, I hadn’t finished it half way yet when the seat-belt light came back on and Cabin Crew were preparing for landing. WHAT? We only just took off! (Echoing the same remarks as this morning!). We downed them quickly, and having the empty bottles collected by the attendants, we began our descent, by the looks of it, over Picton and then North East towards Engadine, Royal National Park, and then over the coast.

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/4-vb/IMG_5504.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/4-vb/IMG_5527.jpg
http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/4-vb/IMG_5536.jpg

At this point, with the sun where it was, provided some nice views of the Illawarra and South Coast, as we banked Northbound towards Kurnell, and then our final bank for our approach onto 34L (Paralleling a VB 737 in the process landing on 34R) and touching down at 1726, somewhat only 33mins since we left the ground in Canberra!

http://www.theintercityplatform.com/20100328-yssy/4-vb/IMG_5556.jpg

We taxiied around, and once again, was a change watching all the cars spotting us from the Mound, rather than being one of the spotters, and finally at 1635, we finally made it to gate 39 of the T2 Domestic Terminal, successfully completing our exciting day of travels! Fred and I got abit of a feed in the terminal (And it was abit packed at that hour, unlike the morning in the Qantas Terminal, or the afternoon in Canberra) and then made our way home.


Meanwhile, our two friends aboard the train were just arriving into Bungendore as we were munching on our fries!


We achieved our goal that we set out for this day, have a day full of aviation, fly on three different aircraft, with three different airlines (If you want to consider QantasLink charity flight operated by Sunstate Airlines Pty. Ltd), but best of all, we had an awesome day out with many great photos and most importantly, plenty of laughs.



The main uplifting thing I found from the Open Day, was in the world of security threats, public liability and all that other hogwash, the Canberra Airport Open day allowed aviation to open up its doors and show the rest of the public and society what its about, allow them to get upclose and personal with big and little aircraft they’d otherwise not be able to do, but most important of all, provide inspiration to the younger crowd, whether it’d be aviation careers or just an interest in aviation, I wish more of these events could happen and continue on into the future.

Thanks for reading, I hope you’ve enjoyed the account of a plane buff like myself getting back into what is a fascinating and enjoyable interest :)

[Ray P.]

A most excellent trip report I must say. Seems like you had a great time. Thanks for posting. :)

[Kieran Wells]

I tried out the Premium Economy, and was surprised that the MapQuest display of the aircraft on the inflight entertainment systems displayed the town of Tumut as “Tamut”. Moving along, we took a look at the cockpit and had a friendly chat with the captain, who was very inspirational and encouraging towards those seeking an aviation career.


I noticed this as well. I had to have a laugh when i saw it! The captain was awesome to have a chat to, and i think i sat there for about 15mins having a chat. Indeed a great day!

[Dan Hammond]

Great trip report mate, meeting you all was great and had a great time through out the day

[Lee G]

Maihka,

Made me feel like I was along for the journey - excellent trip report. Great photos too.

[Ryan Hothersall]

Nice report. Looked like a great day out.

You think a Dash 8 is small, try something like a Metro.

[Maikha Ly]

Gentlemen, many thanks for the replies and feedback to this trip report and photos. Hope future travels and reports can be kept up to the same standards as this one.