Mark Grima
20th April 2012, 12:46 PM
Hi all,
See below. Sorry there are no photos, I wasn't really planning on writing this at the time of the flight and didn't want to use others photos in here. Although a quick search i airline photo websites will show you a few photos of VH-TAI...some taken by familiar names.
Trip Report CBR NCL CBR with FQ
Friday 30 March 2012
Canberra – Newcastle
Brindabella Airlines FQ105
British Aerospace Jetstream 4100 (J41)
VH-TAI
Scheduled Departure: 0945hours
Actual Departure: 1003hours
Scheduled Arrival: 1055hours
Actual Arrival: 1053hours
This trip was a milestone for me, for a number of reasons. It was my first flight out of Canberra Airport (CBR), my first flight on Brindabella Airlines (FQ) and my first commercial flight on a propeller driven aircraft.
As I had never flown out of CBR, the night before our flight I decided to sit down and read all the info on my itinerary provided to me by FQ. FQ are a ticketless airline, thus no ticket numbers are provided.
I was a little surprised to find out that, as I had a bag to check in I would need to ensure I had completed check in no later then 45 minutes prior to departure. I am glad I had read all the details as I was planning to get to the airport about 30 minutes before my flight. I also learnt that check in would be handled by QANTAS as FQ only have a counter at Sydney, again as FQ is a Canberra based airline I was a little surprised by this.
Arriving at CBR about 0830 hours I noticed the check in areas to be busy, however with the large number of self-check in terminals the crowd dispersed quickly. I looked over the QANTAS Special Check In line, which was rather long with what looked like a group of disabled sports persons checking in as a group. I was unsure if I could check in using the self-check in terminals, however as FQ are part of the QANTAS Frequent Flyer program I thought I would give it a try, however this was to no avail and I headed over to the line behind the group of sports people.
Again this line dispersed quicker then I expected, considering the group had many bulky items to check in, including some rather cool looking, and evidently very very light wheel chairs! I was handed my boarding pass and I was to be seated in seat 4C with my wife sitting behind me in 5C.
As this was my first time to CBR I had a good amount of time to look around…not that much time was needed. I found the airport to be functional, neat and tidy, with the services that were needed and nothing more. I grabbed a coffee and took my seat at gate 10.
At check in we were advised that boarding was to commence at 0930 hours. About 0925 I begin to clock watch, I see some QANTAS staff mingling around and notice that one of them is dressed differently and figure that she must be our flight attendant. Initially she appeared to be a little flustered and she was copping some grief from the ground crew over the radio, I’m not sure what the issue was but maybe a passenger had failed to check in.
The flight attendant then walked around to all the passengers at gate 10 and collected her portion of the boarding pass. She introduced her self as Lebo and ticked us off her passenger manifest. A short time later all passengers had been identified and we were requested to proceed through the gate, walk down the stairs and proceed to the bus as our aircraft was parked at a remote bay.
We quickly boarded the bus and were shuttled around to our waiting aircraft. I soon identified that our aircraft for today would be a Jetstream 41 registered VH-TAI. More about the aircraft later. Prior to disembarking the bus Lebo advised that any passengers with “larger” hand luggage would need to leave this with the ground crew who would place it in the luggage hold.
Soon after stepping off the bus, all 19 passengers were on board and strapped in. There were 10 vacant seats. First engine one slowly begun to spool, followed shortly after by engine two. We proceeded up the taxiway while taxiing Lebo provided the usually safety briefing and demonstrated the use of the seatbelt and oxygen mask, which was slightly different to most larger commercial aircraft. Lebo concluded her pre take off briefing by advising the passengers a snack would be provided shortly after take off.
We arrived at runway 35 our take off roll began immediately. By this stage I was rather excited, as my first flight on a propeller driven aircraft was about to begin. Both engines increased in power significantly, we began to creep forward and before long I felt the front of the aircraft rise into the sky. It was simply an amazing day for flying, not a cloud over the Canberra and no wind.
About five minutes after take off the seatbelt lights had been extinguished and Lebo quickly bounced up, walked through the cabin and took a tea and coffee order for all passengers. Her second trip through the cabin was to supply each passenger with a bottle of water, the third trip to offer everyone a muesli bar or cookie, the next trip everyone’s tea or coffee and finally a rubbish collection service. My conclusion, while the 19 passengers flew to Newcastle, Lebo walked! No one could fault her service, it was great! As I had a coffee at the airport I only had water and a muesli bar. I thought the service provided was excellent, it was more then I expected. I sense that many of the passengers on the flight were semi regular commuters on the route thus used to the service provided.
As I said, the weather was awesome, which allowed for some amazing views the whole way to Newcastle, most notably however the first few minutes of the flight provided amazing sights of Lake George which has much more water after last months rain. About twenty-five minutes into the flight we were over Warragamba Dam before heading East to the coast and then turn left to continue heading north. Its about now the we hear from our Pilots for the first time. They advise us that we have already begun our decent into Newcastle and we will be arriving slightly early.
At 1053 hours after a smooth decent we touched down on Newcastle’s runway 30. Looking out of my window towards RAAF Williamtown I notice three F/A-18 Hornets forming up and two Wedgetails off in the distance. I knew the Hornets would be taking off imminently, which they did before we could get to the terminal. The power of those aircraft could be felt and certainly heard through the thin fuselage of our J41!.
Disembarking the aircraft was very informal. Lebo waited until both engines had stopped completely before opening the door. She pointed the to terminal and allowed all passengers to walk the short distance to the unescorted.
Baggage collection was very quick and easy, but what would one expect with so few bags to unload!
Our aircraft today was VH-TAI a 1996 built Jetstream 4100 or J41 cn 41082. The aircraft first entered the Australian register on 6 March 2008 and has been flying for Brindabella ever since. The aircraft was previously registered N565HK when flying for Trans State Airlines and wore both Trans World Express and American Connection livery in that time.
This was my 128th flight, my first on a propeller driven aircraft. The 50 minute flight went extremely quickly and was very enjoyable.
Sunday 1 April 2012
Newcastle - Canberra
Brindabella Airlines FQ108
British Aerospace Jetstream 4100 (J41)
VH-TAI
Scheduled Departure: 1855hours
Actual Departure: 1849hours
Scheduled Arrival: 2005hours
Actual Arrival: 1953hours
The weekend had come to an end and it was time to head home. We arrived at Newcastle Airport shortly after 1700hrs. Check in was yet to open.
On our arrival into Newcastle I didn’t take too much notice of the facilities in the airport so I had a look around and was surprised to find such a variety. OK, maybe not a lot of variety, but any option at a small regional airport should be applauded to my way of thinking! We had a quick dinner before checking in.
Like in Canberra this process was very quick and very easy, despite the terminal bustling with people. Prior to our flight there was also a Jetstar A320 departure to Melbourne and a Rex arrival and departure to Sydney. This time my wife and I were seated next to each other in 5B and 5C.
After check in we immediately processed through security and took a seat at the café to watch the end of the footy, I was very pleased to see my beloved Rabbitohs come from behind to beat the Tigers!
Boarding was to commence at 1840hours, however it was opened early. Essentially as soon as the JQ A320 was taxiing we were called to board.
I was pleased to see that our flight attendant would again be Lebo. Boarding was much simpler at the smaller Newcastle Airport. We walked through gate 2 and directly to the aircraft. Again larger cabin bags were handed to ground staff. I do wonder why they just don’t ask people to check them in. I notice our aircraft will again be VH-TAI.
Boarding the aircraft I count 19 passengers in total. I note however that the configuration of passengers is different on this flight with rows 1 -3 empty, where as on our earlier flight seats A and C of all rows were utilised and seat B of all rows left empty.
Again Lebos safety demonstration was completed while we taxied to runway 30. I must admit I did not pay as much attention to it on this flight and I get a little startled when at the conclusion, I think I hear Lebo say she will offer an alcohol service shortly after take off. Surely I didn’t hear that!
Shortly after take off, which was six minutes early the aircraft flew through a small amount of moderate turbulence. There are a number of occasions during this flight when Lebo has to sit down through one of her walks through the cabin. Yet despite three interruptions for turbulence Lebo still manages to complete the full service offerings, including the alcohol service along with everything else mentioned on the earlier flight.
During the periods of turbulence I wonder to my self, how would these bumps have felt on a larger aircraft? Would they be noticeable, would the seat belt sign come on? I observe that most people on the flight don’t think twice about the bumps, although there was two ladies travelling together that appeared a little uncomfortable. I would call my self an experienced flyer (for some one who holds no form of pilots licence), having been on some 130 commercial flights, however having experienced just one full flight on a smaller aircraft I can imagine how these bumps would of caused some to be anxious. I really enjoyed the sensations and the knowledge that a more “simple” aircraft to what I am used to flying handled the forces of nature relatively comfortably.
About 20 minutes prior to our scheduled arrival the captain introduces himself and apologies for the bumpy flight, but also offers a warning of “there is more of that to come.” He also advised the passengers that the flight time will be slightly extended as we will need to go the long way around to the runway. I immediately took this to mean we would be landing on runway 35 instead of having a more direct approach on to runway 17, however the captain promised to still have us in nice and early.
The captains two promises came true. Firstly the remaining 20 minutes of our flight was pretty bumpy and we still got in early, however at 1 hour and 4 minutes our return flight was 14 minutes longer.
I certainly enjoyed my two flights with Brindabella, I will fly then again. I have two say that flying in a propeller driven aircraft was a completely different sensation to any flying I have done in the past, a truly enjoyable experience. My next flights will be in Europe in October and after these flights I have now booked my flights based on the aircraft that I will be flying on. After over 20 flights on 737 variants and a similar number on A320s who needs more of them.
Sorry about the lack of photos and the huge amount of words. I wasn’t really planning a trip report and I can get carried way when I write.
None the less, I hope you enjoy it.
Cheers
M
See below. Sorry there are no photos, I wasn't really planning on writing this at the time of the flight and didn't want to use others photos in here. Although a quick search i airline photo websites will show you a few photos of VH-TAI...some taken by familiar names.
Trip Report CBR NCL CBR with FQ
Friday 30 March 2012
Canberra – Newcastle
Brindabella Airlines FQ105
British Aerospace Jetstream 4100 (J41)
VH-TAI
Scheduled Departure: 0945hours
Actual Departure: 1003hours
Scheduled Arrival: 1055hours
Actual Arrival: 1053hours
This trip was a milestone for me, for a number of reasons. It was my first flight out of Canberra Airport (CBR), my first flight on Brindabella Airlines (FQ) and my first commercial flight on a propeller driven aircraft.
As I had never flown out of CBR, the night before our flight I decided to sit down and read all the info on my itinerary provided to me by FQ. FQ are a ticketless airline, thus no ticket numbers are provided.
I was a little surprised to find out that, as I had a bag to check in I would need to ensure I had completed check in no later then 45 minutes prior to departure. I am glad I had read all the details as I was planning to get to the airport about 30 minutes before my flight. I also learnt that check in would be handled by QANTAS as FQ only have a counter at Sydney, again as FQ is a Canberra based airline I was a little surprised by this.
Arriving at CBR about 0830 hours I noticed the check in areas to be busy, however with the large number of self-check in terminals the crowd dispersed quickly. I looked over the QANTAS Special Check In line, which was rather long with what looked like a group of disabled sports persons checking in as a group. I was unsure if I could check in using the self-check in terminals, however as FQ are part of the QANTAS Frequent Flyer program I thought I would give it a try, however this was to no avail and I headed over to the line behind the group of sports people.
Again this line dispersed quicker then I expected, considering the group had many bulky items to check in, including some rather cool looking, and evidently very very light wheel chairs! I was handed my boarding pass and I was to be seated in seat 4C with my wife sitting behind me in 5C.
As this was my first time to CBR I had a good amount of time to look around…not that much time was needed. I found the airport to be functional, neat and tidy, with the services that were needed and nothing more. I grabbed a coffee and took my seat at gate 10.
At check in we were advised that boarding was to commence at 0930 hours. About 0925 I begin to clock watch, I see some QANTAS staff mingling around and notice that one of them is dressed differently and figure that she must be our flight attendant. Initially she appeared to be a little flustered and she was copping some grief from the ground crew over the radio, I’m not sure what the issue was but maybe a passenger had failed to check in.
The flight attendant then walked around to all the passengers at gate 10 and collected her portion of the boarding pass. She introduced her self as Lebo and ticked us off her passenger manifest. A short time later all passengers had been identified and we were requested to proceed through the gate, walk down the stairs and proceed to the bus as our aircraft was parked at a remote bay.
We quickly boarded the bus and were shuttled around to our waiting aircraft. I soon identified that our aircraft for today would be a Jetstream 41 registered VH-TAI. More about the aircraft later. Prior to disembarking the bus Lebo advised that any passengers with “larger” hand luggage would need to leave this with the ground crew who would place it in the luggage hold.
Soon after stepping off the bus, all 19 passengers were on board and strapped in. There were 10 vacant seats. First engine one slowly begun to spool, followed shortly after by engine two. We proceeded up the taxiway while taxiing Lebo provided the usually safety briefing and demonstrated the use of the seatbelt and oxygen mask, which was slightly different to most larger commercial aircraft. Lebo concluded her pre take off briefing by advising the passengers a snack would be provided shortly after take off.
We arrived at runway 35 our take off roll began immediately. By this stage I was rather excited, as my first flight on a propeller driven aircraft was about to begin. Both engines increased in power significantly, we began to creep forward and before long I felt the front of the aircraft rise into the sky. It was simply an amazing day for flying, not a cloud over the Canberra and no wind.
About five minutes after take off the seatbelt lights had been extinguished and Lebo quickly bounced up, walked through the cabin and took a tea and coffee order for all passengers. Her second trip through the cabin was to supply each passenger with a bottle of water, the third trip to offer everyone a muesli bar or cookie, the next trip everyone’s tea or coffee and finally a rubbish collection service. My conclusion, while the 19 passengers flew to Newcastle, Lebo walked! No one could fault her service, it was great! As I had a coffee at the airport I only had water and a muesli bar. I thought the service provided was excellent, it was more then I expected. I sense that many of the passengers on the flight were semi regular commuters on the route thus used to the service provided.
As I said, the weather was awesome, which allowed for some amazing views the whole way to Newcastle, most notably however the first few minutes of the flight provided amazing sights of Lake George which has much more water after last months rain. About twenty-five minutes into the flight we were over Warragamba Dam before heading East to the coast and then turn left to continue heading north. Its about now the we hear from our Pilots for the first time. They advise us that we have already begun our decent into Newcastle and we will be arriving slightly early.
At 1053 hours after a smooth decent we touched down on Newcastle’s runway 30. Looking out of my window towards RAAF Williamtown I notice three F/A-18 Hornets forming up and two Wedgetails off in the distance. I knew the Hornets would be taking off imminently, which they did before we could get to the terminal. The power of those aircraft could be felt and certainly heard through the thin fuselage of our J41!.
Disembarking the aircraft was very informal. Lebo waited until both engines had stopped completely before opening the door. She pointed the to terminal and allowed all passengers to walk the short distance to the unescorted.
Baggage collection was very quick and easy, but what would one expect with so few bags to unload!
Our aircraft today was VH-TAI a 1996 built Jetstream 4100 or J41 cn 41082. The aircraft first entered the Australian register on 6 March 2008 and has been flying for Brindabella ever since. The aircraft was previously registered N565HK when flying for Trans State Airlines and wore both Trans World Express and American Connection livery in that time.
This was my 128th flight, my first on a propeller driven aircraft. The 50 minute flight went extremely quickly and was very enjoyable.
Sunday 1 April 2012
Newcastle - Canberra
Brindabella Airlines FQ108
British Aerospace Jetstream 4100 (J41)
VH-TAI
Scheduled Departure: 1855hours
Actual Departure: 1849hours
Scheduled Arrival: 2005hours
Actual Arrival: 1953hours
The weekend had come to an end and it was time to head home. We arrived at Newcastle Airport shortly after 1700hrs. Check in was yet to open.
On our arrival into Newcastle I didn’t take too much notice of the facilities in the airport so I had a look around and was surprised to find such a variety. OK, maybe not a lot of variety, but any option at a small regional airport should be applauded to my way of thinking! We had a quick dinner before checking in.
Like in Canberra this process was very quick and very easy, despite the terminal bustling with people. Prior to our flight there was also a Jetstar A320 departure to Melbourne and a Rex arrival and departure to Sydney. This time my wife and I were seated next to each other in 5B and 5C.
After check in we immediately processed through security and took a seat at the café to watch the end of the footy, I was very pleased to see my beloved Rabbitohs come from behind to beat the Tigers!
Boarding was to commence at 1840hours, however it was opened early. Essentially as soon as the JQ A320 was taxiing we were called to board.
I was pleased to see that our flight attendant would again be Lebo. Boarding was much simpler at the smaller Newcastle Airport. We walked through gate 2 and directly to the aircraft. Again larger cabin bags were handed to ground staff. I do wonder why they just don’t ask people to check them in. I notice our aircraft will again be VH-TAI.
Boarding the aircraft I count 19 passengers in total. I note however that the configuration of passengers is different on this flight with rows 1 -3 empty, where as on our earlier flight seats A and C of all rows were utilised and seat B of all rows left empty.
Again Lebos safety demonstration was completed while we taxied to runway 30. I must admit I did not pay as much attention to it on this flight and I get a little startled when at the conclusion, I think I hear Lebo say she will offer an alcohol service shortly after take off. Surely I didn’t hear that!
Shortly after take off, which was six minutes early the aircraft flew through a small amount of moderate turbulence. There are a number of occasions during this flight when Lebo has to sit down through one of her walks through the cabin. Yet despite three interruptions for turbulence Lebo still manages to complete the full service offerings, including the alcohol service along with everything else mentioned on the earlier flight.
During the periods of turbulence I wonder to my self, how would these bumps have felt on a larger aircraft? Would they be noticeable, would the seat belt sign come on? I observe that most people on the flight don’t think twice about the bumps, although there was two ladies travelling together that appeared a little uncomfortable. I would call my self an experienced flyer (for some one who holds no form of pilots licence), having been on some 130 commercial flights, however having experienced just one full flight on a smaller aircraft I can imagine how these bumps would of caused some to be anxious. I really enjoyed the sensations and the knowledge that a more “simple” aircraft to what I am used to flying handled the forces of nature relatively comfortably.
About 20 minutes prior to our scheduled arrival the captain introduces himself and apologies for the bumpy flight, but also offers a warning of “there is more of that to come.” He also advised the passengers that the flight time will be slightly extended as we will need to go the long way around to the runway. I immediately took this to mean we would be landing on runway 35 instead of having a more direct approach on to runway 17, however the captain promised to still have us in nice and early.
The captains two promises came true. Firstly the remaining 20 minutes of our flight was pretty bumpy and we still got in early, however at 1 hour and 4 minutes our return flight was 14 minutes longer.
I certainly enjoyed my two flights with Brindabella, I will fly then again. I have two say that flying in a propeller driven aircraft was a completely different sensation to any flying I have done in the past, a truly enjoyable experience. My next flights will be in Europe in October and after these flights I have now booked my flights based on the aircraft that I will be flying on. After over 20 flights on 737 variants and a similar number on A320s who needs more of them.
Sorry about the lack of photos and the huge amount of words. I wasn’t really planning a trip report and I can get carried way when I write.
None the less, I hope you enjoy it.
Cheers
M