QF 747 in Longreach yet?

[18-Wheeler]

Heard it was there now, just wondering if there was any pics or vidoes to look at.

[apacau]

The landing has been shown on many of the night news services.

[18-Wheeler]

I forgot to mention I'm in Malaysia ... ;)

[Whiskery]

18 Wheeler. Are you staying in KL on that freight contract until the conclusion? I will be having a beer with Nicho in London tomorrow night and thought I might volunteer you for the Haj this year:D

I hear we are going back to Rose Village:eek: :(

[18-Wheeler]

I asked Crew Planning to leave in KL/MEL "for two years, I don't need holidays." Hope they do that, as I didn't do a great deal this year.
Yes, we're back off to sunny Jeddah.
I'm doing my best to avoid it though ... :)

[PRD]

http://members.iinet.net.au/~schwingini/public_html/

A few piccies and a rather amatuer video.

Caution the vid is 9.3Mb and pictures 800kb. To view the movie you will need Quicktime.

[18-Wheeler]

Ta for that, downloading now.

I saw a bit on it briefly here - I flew EBQ a couple of times with my last job, and the Captain on the Longreach trip also taught me the QF procedures for the last job. I think I recognise the FE as well, does anyone know the names of the crew?

[Torres]

I sent 16 pikkies to OzExpat. Hopefully he can include on his web site and post the link here.

Great weekend!!!!! I'm pleased to advise that XXXX transported 1,000 kms inland is just as good as it is in Brisbane. To make sure we didn't fluke a good one, we tested a number of samples - indeed the ones at 2.00 am Sunday tasted even better. Don't know what was wrong with Chimbu Chuckles - his face was kinda blurred when I went to bed.

Gaunty - you are a piker!!! :D

And to those other two gentlemen (who must remain nameless but I'm sure read PPRuNe daily), thanks for a great night!

:D :D :D :D :D

[OzExpat]

I've only just now received them Torres. Shall try to get them online tonight but can't guarantee that because of other commitments. Meanwhile, I see that Chuck has already stolen the limelight! :D

BTW Torres, I know ya said each pic would be about 100K, but I wasn't expecting so many of them. :eek:

[vee1-rotate]

18 Wheeler,

I'm 90% sure this was the crew for the Longreach trek:

Captain Mike Fitzgerald
Captain Mike WEston
Captain Peter Ellis
Captain Dick Hodder
F/E John Bower

[onya]

Well done John Bower. Only took 4 skippers to get it there and just one f/e. All the best for you're retirement. A well complimented crew but you were obviously the corner stone.

And a well deserved onya

Onya

[OzExpat]

I rearranged my schedule for tonight so that I could get the photos online for Torres. As I'm starting to run out of space on my FotoTime site (and don't feel like buying more space), I don't expect these photos to be online for more than about 6 months.

Anyway, have a look at the photos of VH-EBQ (http://www.fototime.com/inv/D83A20209CD1E41) now and I hope you enjoy them.

[Kaptin M]

Thanks OzE and Torres - looked like thirsty work!!

Are we going to see any of the night events, or "morning after" shots?

[Chimbu chuckles]

Aaaiii! Masta...mi no rascal steelyman...em i narapela tasol:D

And where is that 'party till dawn/drink us all under the table' sandgroper?:D

Torres...were those two guys drinking incognito...I couldn't imagine anyone giving a fook ;)

Oh Gaunt one...did one miss one's Perth connection:D;)

Don't remember too many piccies being taken during the great LRE rehydration...bit hard with a pot in each hand.

Much relieved Chuckles:D

[Jamair]

Question: How long can a Dash 8 wait?

Answer: As long as it takes........ (for those who were there:D )

Chuck - u da MAN:D :D seriously, thanks for a bonza weekend; got some good DVid of your TWB app too. The JPI is the ducks nuts, for sure. Alas; learnt today that the C55 is a dog, imported from PNG and reconstructed from about 5 different hulks........

Also Torres - hope you were not referring to moi as a 'gentleman' - I work for a living:)

Good to meet some of the PPrune legends...... just ask them, they'll tell ya......;)

Not so the PEANUT in the loaded C210 on Sunday morning :rolleyes:

Thanks all and look forward to the next opportunity.

Cheers.

[18-Wheeler]

Ta for that, guys.

[Torres]

Captions not necessary, OzExpat. But the picture LRE006 is Moi, Torres, contemplating starting another Queensland airline with twin wing, (rather than twin engine) aircraft! (The biplane is a fibre glass and plastic full size model.)

The weird looking green single is a Broussard - or some such name.

LRE004 is the B737 charter arriving from Sydney.

Sorry guys, forgot to take pikkies of the LRE Proon Bash. Hard to do with chopsticks in one hand an a XXXX in the other! Hell, it was thirsty work Kaptin - the temp was close to 40 C and over 20 C at night.

The Bash was originally scheduled for the RSL, but they had a power failure so we ended up at Hoo Flung Dung's Chinese Restaurant (or some name like that. Maybe.) then the Welcome Home Hotel, possibly because the hotel was opposite the restaurant and no one was game to drive. Chuck, I found the Prado next morning, over the road. Not sure how it got there.........

[Torres]

Gaunty: Missing In Action (MIA)

Gaunty's absence from these forums is noted with some concern.

Is there any truth in the rumour he was last seen trying to hitch a lift on the Warrego Highway!

Should we call out the Boy Scouts to start a search of all Pubs, Longreach to Perth?

:confused:

[Going Boeing]

18 Wheeler

Was EBQ on lease to Air Pacific while you were there - would obviously make this event of special interest to you (as it is for moi). GB

[18-Wheeler]

We flew it occasionally when either DQ-FJE or DQ-FJI was in for a big check. I had a quick look in my log book, and I flew it on 11-9-98, and I remember it was about the third landing in the 747, the first at night and I thumped it onto the ground so hard I dropped some oxy masks down the back!! I was SOOO embarrased!! First & last time I've ever done that.
I then flew it about a week later, and from memory landed it a lot better than time .... :D

[OzExpat]

I knew that was you Torres - I'd know YOU anywhere mate! :eek: I just wasn't sure if you wanted everyone else to recognise you as readily! :D The comments you've provided are now duly incorporated anyway.

I'm more than a little concerned at the silence from gaunty tho. This is most unlike him! Is there anyone out there who has seen him since Sunday? :confused:

[Torres]

The Longreach Boy Scouts have checked all gutters, under bar stools and the Lock-Up. No sign of Gaunty anywhere!

The world's greatest aviation journalist is also strangely quiet after Qantas managed to get him a room last Saturday night.

I wonder......... :confused:

[Jamair]

Rumour has it that the 'sprint to the line' on Sunday morning after the 'liesurely' Oasis breakfast has left Gaunty in need of a few quiet days of recovery......:D :D

As for the 'sleuth' - wasn't sighted after the landing..........last seen taking pix of a Brousard (that's french for big ugly green radial engine thing with two tails)

[CitizenXX]

I noted the crew for the Longreach flight on the previous page.

No doubt the four Captains?? are experts in CRM and interpersonal relations!! More likely they are self centred, greedy, egotistical types who felt that no FO could do the job as well as they. Probably management as well.

I wonder if these people ever give a thought to the difference they can create in morale by giving this unusual flying to line pilots. I'm sure they do it better than CC's and mangement purely because they do a lot more of it. Silly of me to suppose that they might give it a thought though.

It seems that this is one thing that doesn't change in airline managements. Whenever something different comes up, it's grabbed by the arrogant Captains who feel that nobody could do it as well as themselves, or is it simply that they want to record the happy event in their log books. Whichever, it is most likely a case of gross immaturity that causes them to behave in such a manner.

Did they fly round the world before landing in LRE? Must have with four captains on board, and if they could have legally done so, they probably would have ditched the FE and had another Captain up there. The best person in the RH seat is an FO - he spends all his time there!

Did you hear the one about the three most dangerous things in aviation? A doctor flying a bonanza; two check captains flying together; and a hostie with a chipped tooth! Well, the two CCs flying together is definitely true.

Very poor form exists in QF as well it seems.

[Capt Fathom]

This thread was going well up until that last post.

[Hot_Section]

CitizenXX

You'll find one of the positions on this flight was an observer.

The position was auctioned with all proceeds going to charity.

Do you have a problem with that ?

[Dexter]

Dipstick, CitzenXX. Your coments are totaly uncalled fore in this case! :mad: and a apoligy is in order fore the Gentlemen concurned.

[CitizenXX]

Hot Section,

Thanks for the info. So only THREE captains were required to get the ship to LRE, and they still found the place.

Nobody has commented on whether they were CCs/Management or otherwise. I'd appreciate that info when convenient.

And you all missed the point, and the point is, again for those who didn't get it, the best person in the RH seat is an FO!! so why would greedy, egotistical captains feel they should displace the FO just so they could make the trip.

This is a demonstration of absolutely zero CRM skills. CRM is described as something that 'doesn't finish at the flight deck door, but should become a culture within the company'.

As for the auction process, I don't have a problem with that at all. A former AN friend told me some years ago that crews for the Olympic flame flying would be drawn from a hat. And they were! The problem was that only names put in the hat were those of the chief pilot, his deputy, Airbus fleet manager, a suck FO, and a few other sycophantic slugs. If the 767 from Athens had crashed, the entire management of AN would have gone down with it!

[Boeing Belly]

Citizen XX.......One of the CCs on the Athens flight was selected because he had carried the torch on a leg of the relay for the 1956 Olympics. It was felt that it would make an interesting story for the media if he had an involvement in the 2000 torch relay. I personally thought that it was a good idea.

[Dexter]

Thier was no FO asigned becaus it was a charity flight you idiot and the crew positons were aucktioned off. You dont now the facts. Crawl back in yore hole citizen dipstick :mad:

[Kaptin M]

"And you all missed the point, and the point is, again for those who didn't get it, the best person in the RH seat is an FO!!

That's a rather all encompassing statement, isn't it, CitizenXX?!

Your dogged determination in condemning the QF crew on this flight, on the basis of CRM, would appear to indicate that you consider yourself well qualified to offer advice on the subject, whilst apparently being completely unaware of the crews' qualifications and background.
"Shooting blind" is an expression that comes to mind - and apparently because rather than backing off, and apologising for coming in, guns blazing, you have decided to stand your ground IN SPITE of the facts offered.

I wonder how YOUR CRM was when you were with Ansett!!?
By the standard displayed in your couple of posts here, CitizenXX, "doubtful", would be my evaluation.
But then of course YOU will disagree with that! :rolleyes:

[OzExpat]

Thank you soooooooooo much CitizenXX for you're many attempts to derail this thread. What's the matter with you anyway? Is there so much angst in your life that you feel the need to share it around? Or is it merely jealousy?

Or maybe you just don't like good stories eh? :mad:

Nobody has commented on whether they were CCs/Management or otherwise. I'd appreciate that info when convenient.
Why or earth would ANYONE want or even need to know about such an irrelevance?

You are most welcome to refrain from further comment on this thread. :mad:

[Torres]

Is it really important who flew the Classic? It got there and now looks great gracing Longreach airport!

But where is Gaunty, Missing In Action for over a week!

Maybe he boarded the wrong aircraft? Someone should check the Classic, VH-EBQ. He may still be at the First Class Bar waiting for a Departure announcement!

[gaunty]

Eeerm hello chaps.

This is a contrite gaunty:p whose been playing serious catch up in his business after his "big kids adventure " in LRE.

First, great to meet y'all and heaps of apologies for not being able to spend more time with youse.

I was nobbing but it was all included, at great expense the oysters and fresh prawns were great, the beer cold, the wine even colder and the meals that night was tres excellent.

Sticking burning bamboo spikes under my fingernails will never make me reveal the lengths to which I had to go, to protect a damsels honour in the face of a young FO's disdain.:cool: another reason why I was waylaid.:D

The Stockmans Hall of Fame had me absolutely enthralled for several hours and I mean to go back there, to spend a day or two.

Citizen XXXXXX pull your head in, I supped and drank with the crew and the Capt who tendered against his mates and paid a fair heap of money, that goes to the museum, for the 'jump' seat.
He is now a 744 Capt and gained his B747 command on the 200.
As for to rest, there are some very very sound reasons why they were who they were.

There were some serious reservations at regulatory, insurance and other levels as the landing operation was outside the certification and regulatory parameters with a higher but not dangerous level of risk than was normal. That's what management gets paid for.

The 'remarkable' thing, was that the landing was 'unremarkable' and in all matters 'routine' as one should expect given the 'culture' of Qantas.

The most interesting part of the day was the Qantas Founders Outback Museum and the speeches and remarks form the crew, Margaret Jackson, Andrew Stainton and EBQ's delivery Capt from Seattle, some 92000hrs and 23 odd years ago.

Sitting there in the starlight eating, drinking and generally having a good time, with the Broussard Apollo replica and the B742 lit up in the backround was a magical experience and worth crossing the continent for.

The silence from the crowd overwhelmed the silence when the engines were shut down for the last time.

What more can I say.

Thanks to Capt John for shutting down the LH engine of the Dash8 to allow me to board.
Why was I late, well Chuckles and I were doing the 'there I was at 40,000ft with nothing on the clock but the makers name .....' routine over a leisurely breakfast.
Strolling across the road to the airport 'e says "'oi isn't that a Dash 8 spinning up", I says "sh!t that's mine" as I proceed to accelerate my bulk (not a pretty sight) towards said aircraft, motivated mightily by the thought of spending 4 hours in Chuckles A36 with my eyes screwed shut and clenching the seat. It was the blue upholstery that would have finally done me in.;)

I was not surprised to know around half of the pax on the Dash 8, and more than a few of those that came up on the B738, which looked a treat.

Slow clap as I enter the cabin, received grateful thanks from a very nice FA and 3.O hrs later I'm at Southbank in BNE enjoying a very delicious Lebbo meal and Beer with elder daughter.

A 24 hours or so of life to treasure forever.

[gaunty]

Maybe this'll get it to the top

[Kaptin M]

Good to see you back again, Gaunty.
Some unkind soul suggested that Longreach had run out of red, and that Gaunty had taken the Outback Track in search of more supplies.

Sounds as thought you had a fantastic experience - from both the personal and epicural aspects.
Half your luck.....and good on ya!!

Thanks for sharing some of it with US.

[Torres]

Welcome back Gaunty! At least some Prooners were worried about your absence. I think! :D

"Sitting there in the starlight eating, drinking and generally having a good time....."

God, you plebs did it tough at the airport!

The Proon p!ss-up down the road in Who Flung Dung's Chinese Restaurant and the bar of the Welcome Home Pub - Chuck, Jamair, Torres, a hand full of hangers-on, sundry locals hanging off Chucks every word and - oh, yeah, a couple of good Mermaids - was definately "A 24 hours or so of life to treasure forever."

You're obviously lucky I've got some good mates, Gaunty, otherwise you'd still be there with the roos and emus and mayhem left behind by Chuck! :)

I drove back via Barcy, Blackall, Augathella and Charleville. During daytime the emus were horrific; the roos at dusk even worse. I estimate up to 1,000 roos per kilometer on the Auguthella to Charleville section, one big ba$tard launching a Kamikazi attack into the side of the Prado, which had to be repaired at Charleville next day. :(

[Chimbu chuckles]

:D

"Hey that sounds like a Dash starting up"

"Nah that'll be 'the RPT"

"What RPT:confused:...what's your departure time?"

"5 to 9"

Chuckles looks at watch and notes 6 to 9...Gaunty looks at watch and starts to jog:eek:

As soon as he appears airside No1 goes into feather and shuts down.

Slow clap!!! I'd have thrown food at you.... Mind you it was a QF Regional so perhaps not:D

Great weekend!

Chuckles.

PS And what exactly is wrong with blue upholstery? It was the height of fashion in 1970...presumably...and I merely got what was there re-upholstered...and...well I'll be getting sheepskins soon so ya won't be put off.

Bet if we'd been 5 minutes later you'd have had a different attitude:D:p

[gaunty]

Chuckles

Heavens to Murgatroyd?:rolleyes

Farbeit for me to suggest the colour was the problem.;)

It was the blue upholstery that would have finally done me in.

refers to a little, how can I put this delicately, "problem", and I am not talking 'airsick' here, that I can only attribute to the XXXX, :eek: it couldn't have been the prawns, oysters or the quantity, as they were superbly fresh.

Let's just say that a Dash 8 loo is designed for midgets and when the light has failed becomes reminiscent of that famous hole in Calcutta and in any event better than that installed in your esteemed A36. It's use for the purpose of joining the mile high club would have to accrue huge respect for effort, give me the B747 loos down the back any day.:D
Suffice it to say that it was a par 3 hole.:rolleyes: and as I was sitting down the back the trim wheel would have been working overtime.:p

Another aviation acronym was developed for the Torch carried in Johns' cockpit which will presumably be promulgated by ICAO as ELT (Dash8) = Emergency Loo Torch.

Bet if we'd been 5 minutes later you'd have had a different attitude too true.
But in the light of subsequent events, I bet you'd have had a different one too.:eek: 4 landings between LRE and Roma would have busted your sector limit for the day.:)
Overall a good result for all.

[Torres]

Gaunty:

What bloody scam is this you tried to pull? Some pseudo chivalrous deal to gain nefarious favours with some poor damsel in distress at the Hob Nob's do?

“…..lengths to which I had to go, to protect a damsels honour in the face of a young FO's disdain.

You can either come clean or well extract the information from some other rich and famous hob knob who attended the gala p!ss up – like my mate, Sleuth – and by the time he embellishes it you’ll never be able to visit this state again.

A busted light in the heads, you say? From what I heard from a very reliable Dash 8 Captain of my acquaintance, you were so blind you couldn’t tell whether the light was on or off, then spend the entire trip chatting with ‘Erbert on the big ivory phone!

:D :D :D :D

[OzExpat]

Welcome back gaunty! I would've LOVED to have seen the "gaunt one" having to swallow his pride to travel in a Beechcraft tho! :D