Night time freighters

[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]

Originally Posted by 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

While 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

[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

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

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!