Rockhampton Movements 2011
 

I hope the MODs don't mind a fresh thread considering Talisman Sabre is around the corner - perhaps there will be a TS11 thread soon for all movements??

Anyway, Rockhampton has had some interesting Australian Mil movements through over the last couple of weeks - I believe there is a couple of smaller training exercises in the area before TS11 begins in mid-July.

Here's a summary...

RAAF Boeing C-17A A41-206 popped in 5-6 times at the start of June delivering eight Eurocopter Tiger (ARH) Helicopters - the serials of the Tigers were A38-006, -007, -008, -012, -013, -015, -018, -020.

On Monday 13/6, six Sikorsky S-70A Blackhawk helicopters arrived at Rocky - the serials of the blackhawks were A25-106, -112, -202, -205, -211, -224.

All these helicopters departed Rocky on Tuesday 14/6 for points North.

On Friday 17/6 United States Navy (USN) Lockheed C-130T Hercules with registration/serial number 165348 (tail code JW5348) arrived at Rocky Airport and overnighted.

On Saturday 18/6 four RAAF BAe Hawk 127 aircraft arrived at Rocky and then departed later in the day. I am told that these could be back this week and be based at the airport to fly sorties during the week. The serials of the Hawks were A27-14, -22, -29, -31.

If you are interested, there are plenty of photos on my CQ Plane Spotting Blog - courtesy of Ben O in Rocky! (http://cqplanespotting.blogspot.com/)

Enjoy! Cheers!
Damian

Evening all,

A couple of interesting days at Rockhampton Airport with 6 Kiowa, 8 Eurocopter Tiger, and 8 Sikorsky Blackhawk helicopters all parked around the airport. I believe that there has been a small ADF exercise in Shoalwater Bay prior to Talisman Sabre so suspect these helicopters have been participating in that during this last week.

Friday 24/6 saw RAAF C-17 A41-209 pop in for about 15 minutes - callsign "Stallion 34".

Saturday 25/6 saw RAAF C-130H A97-009 on the ground for a couple of hours before departing to Darwin as "Trojan 52".

Sunday 26/6 should see another C-17 and 2 C-130s, as well as an Air New Zealand B747-400 pay Rocky a visit, with more transports on Monday.

There are some photos from the past few days on the Blog: http://cqplanespotting.blogspot.com/

Cheers
Damian

Update from Rocky...

Sunday 26/6
RAAF C-17 A41-207 operated Amberley-Rocky-Townsville as "Stallion 74"
RAAF C-130H A97-009 operated Darwin-Rocky-Darwin as "Trojan 52"
Air New Zealand B747-400 ZK-NBW arrived as ANZ1964 from Adelaide and departed as ANZ6064 to Brisbane and Auckland
6 of the 8 blackhawks departed South
5 of the 6 Kiowas departed South
All 8 Eurocopter Tigers still on the ground
Commercials - Alliance F-100 VH-XWT, Virgin E-Jets VH-ZPG, VH-ZHF, Qlink Q300 VH-SBW, Q400 VH-QOW

Monday 27/6
RAAF C-17 A41-207 operated Townsville-Rocky-Richmond as "Stallion 74"
RAAF C-130H A97-009 operated Darwin-Rocky-Darwin as "Trojan 52"
Commercials - Alliance F-100 VH-XWM, Virgin E-Jets VH-ZPE, VH-ZPH, QLink Q400 VH-QOM, VH-QOE.
Others - Qld Gvt B1900 VH-PSK, Singapore Flying College VH-SQY ("Raffles 22"), GAM Aerocommander VH-UJS, Pel Air SAAB 340 Freighter VH-EKT.

Photos (as always) on the Blog! http://cqplanespotting.blogspot.com/

Cheers
Damian

While out on my walk today, I noticed a Qantas 737-800 taking off from Rockhampton airport. After some investigation, I managed to work out the flight information:

QF1355 Darwin - Rockhampton 15:25 15:25 Landed

QF6155 Rockhampton - Sydney 16:05 16:05

Dave

USS ESSEX
 

The USS ESSEX will be docking in Townsville next week. Here is a link to the story. http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au...3911_news.html

VH-VXP apparently.

Three movements TS11 related at Rockhampton Wednesday 6/7...

RAAF C-17 Globemaster A41-208 arrived and later departed to Nowra as "Stallion 13"
RAAF C-130H Hercules A97-006 arrived and departed five minutes later as "Trojan 08"
US Navy C-130T Hercules 165349 (RU349) (VR-55) arrived and departed as "Convoy 7901"

More to come this week...

Lastly, Careflight Bell 412 VH-XCO arrived at Rocky 'Med 1' from Williamson Airfied which is in Shoalwater Bay as "Careflight 911". Locals suggested this could be a permanent Medi-vac chopper for the duration of the exercise.

Pictures from today's action are on the CQ Plane Spotting Blog now! (http://cqplanespotting.blogspot.com/)

Cheers
Damian

MD-11, N277WA visited Rocky today. Not quite sure what time it came and went, it landed before I did and I'd gone home before it'd left.

Cheers

Mick

To update Mick's post - the MD11 hasn't gone yet - as at 9.30pm it was still parked on the apron all closed up for the night. On another note though Mick, you should have come and said Gday to us spotters - we park and watch the action from right next door to the RFDS hangar at Rocky!

Other movements at Rocky today included...

As mentioned... World Airways MD-11(ER) N277WA arrived as WOA8511 from Hickam.

US Navy C-40A (B737-7AF) - which is a Combi model - with serial 166694 (tail code 694) of the VR-59 Unit - it used Callsign "Convoy 7922" and departed North.

Australian Army Sikorsky Blackhawk A25-105 departed to the North (there are also 2 Blackhawks parked on the ground at Rocky too).

Australian Army Eurocopter Tiger A38-015 did a local flight with callsign "Marline 91" - made a very spectacular pitch and landing!

Late this evening 2 RAAF C-130 Hercs popped in - C-130H A97-009 was in again as "Trojan 08", while C-130J A97-441 was in as "Mambo 33". Both departed to the North.

There is a Talisman Sabre open day this Saturday as well...

As always, there are some pics on the CQ Plane Spotting Blog - http://cqplanespotting.blogspot.com/

Cheers
Damian

Report from Friday 8 July at Rocky Airport...

World Airways MD-11(ER) N277WA departed to HNL as WOA9612
USMC Gulfstream C-20G (Gulfstream IV) 165153 arrived as "Ghost 53"
RAAF C-130H Hercules A97-009 passed through as "Trojan 06"
Army Eurocopter EC665 Tiger Helicopters A38-007 and A38-008 departed together as "Marlin 11" (another left as well as "Marlin 13" but its id cant be confirmed)
RAN Westland Sea King Mk.50A N16-125 arrived as "Shark 10"

Lastly, throughout the afternoon around a dozen Australian Army Sikorsky S70A-9 Blackhawk helicopters arrived at Rockhampton Airport, with most staying for night, and some departing after taking on fuel. Serials I noted were...
A25-218 "Tester 04"
A25-213 "Blackhawk 213"
A25-206 "Warhorse 206"
A25-224 "Warhorse 224"
A25-203 "Blackhawk 203"
A25-212 "Blackhawk 212"
A25-205 "Blackhawk 205"
A25-112 "Blackhawk 112"
A25-114 "Warhorse 114"
A25-107 "Warhorse 107"

Some pictures as always are on the CQ Plane Spotting Blog - http://cqplanespotting.blogspot.com/

Cheers
Damian