Thanks for that gearup

Yes, the 80's were great for the airline/aviation enthusiast. Alot more imagination and passion than there is now where everything is reduced to cost and therefore bland.

I hope the industry can evolve whereby some balance is acheived. Whereby cost isnt the only consideration and that the realisation that this industry is unique to any other. We are at a crossroad now. Decisions made now will definately impact us in a big way. Lets hope they are the right ones.

In the meantime, we can gaze back (maybe with rose coloured glasses) to those old aircraft and liveries from the good old days and forget all the crap swirling around us now.

Don't forget that Compass (Mark 1) operated A-300 - 600's in Australia in 1990 - '91. Then Compass Mark 11 operated MD-87's did they not?

One of the aircraft VH-TAE in it's various guises:.......

VH-TAE Airbus A300

VH-TAE Airbus A300

VH-TAE Airbus A300

Apparently, according to the CEO, the only profitable part of Qantas is the domestic division.

That's TAA by another name!

And another airline, A300B4-600R:

VH-YMK Airbus A300

Virgin Australia by another name!

The times they were a changin'

File:TAA A300B4 VH-TAD Eagle Farm 1988.JPG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

File:Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport at dawn 19th June 1987.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bedder believeit

Wrong on both counts. Compass 1 was A310 I believe. Compass 2 was MD 83,s.

Maui

Compass 1 had A300-600's and a single A310 no?

Burty is right. Compass definitely had a fleet of A300-600 a/c. What a stuff up that airline was...

http://www.aussieairliners.org/a300/.../0310.069l.jpg

With TBK in the background, What about TJL (the Coral Islander) ?

I've never been able to find any video of the advertisement that TAA did when they put the camera on the tail of TBK, anyone seen that video around ?

ST

Sorry Maui, you're wrong re Compass I. Have a look at the pic's that Al E. Vator submitted on VH-YMK. That's an A300-600 (it's written on the side of the fuselage if you doubt my knowledge). I was a controller in Oz (BNE) in those days and I remember them well. Had gone to the Middle East by the time Compass Mark II got off the ground. I was fairly circumspect in my post about the MD model number that Mark II used...was I not? The only A310 I remember in those days was Air New Guinea that used to fly between Moresby and Brissy. I do seem to recall that there was an A310 registered in Oz in the '90's that was owned by a leasing company (AWAS???). Don't know if it ever set foot in Aust. Maybe a rego buff would know.

Interesting photo of VH-YMK, with an Electra in the background, almost looks like it has an old ANSETT "candy-stripe" scheme rudder. It's a freighter by the look of it.

A bit more on this after some research:

TATARS (TAA):
VH-TAA A300-B4 reg 29/6/81 cnl 16/3/84 to Air NG and then back to TN in Oct '84
VH-TAB A300-B4 reg 15/8/81 cnl 26/3/84
VH-TAC A300-B4 reg 9/10/81 to QANTAS
VH-TAD A300-B4 reg 30/6/82 to QANTAS
VH-TAE A300-B4 Reg 1/12/83 to QANTAS

COMPASS I:
VH-YMA A300B4-605R reg 3/4/91 cnl 31/1/92
VH-YMB A300B4-605R reg 19/8/91 cnl 31/1/92
VH-YMJ A300B4-605R reg 28/11/90 cnl 30/1/92
VH-YMK A300B4-605R reg 14/11/90 cnl 29/1/92

By the look of it, COMPASS MK II had a mixture of MD-82's and MD-83's

BB

Compass MK1 did have an A310-300 as well - VH-YMI ex Wardair

VH-YMI Airbus A310

Air Niugini had 2 A310s - P2-ANA and P2-ANB. At one stage one of the TAA A300s also flew on lease with PX.

VH-TAA Airbus A300

I don't know how to put pic's into these pages, but the Electra in the background is a Norwegian outfit "Fred Olsen": 800px-Fred__Olsen_Lockheed_L-188A(F)_Electra

You are correct. The cells are dropping back into place. The Mk II fleet was initially 3 82's ex SAS and 2 83's from a leasing company in the states. Two more 83's were about to be delivered when it all went bad.

It appears that Mk I also had a mixed fleet. I stand corrected.

Maui :)

PX A300
 

B'Believeit,VH-TAA went to PX in 1984.I did my course on the A300 in March 1985 and it flew on there for at least another 3 years.Cheers,30/30.

I note that the Qantas livery photo link above has the no paint area on the tail in the middle of the leg. Wasn't that the reason Qantas gave for changing to the current logo when they got the A380? If so doesn't seem to look to bad to me.

Bedder

Compass did indeed operate an A310 in Australia. I was called up to Ops at Ansett ADL and handed a pair of binocs on a 45 degree day and advised to watch the main gear.

I did, the cleanskin A310 taxiied in to the parking spot outside their tin shed terminal and promptly sank to the axles.

The tarmac was not reinforced and nobody had bothered to tell Compass.

Personally I was not impressed. At an airport Airlines should back each other up in battles already won but that is just me.

I am far from perfect. After the night flight one night at DPO the AN crew had gone to bed and we had a beer with Nifty Nev after he put the F27 to bed.

Needed a wee and to check the lockup so went over to FNT and took a wizz on the port oleo. It was depresurised the next morning and we filled our aircraft with their passengers.

Damn good beer that!!!

Best all

EWL

sorry to butt it.....TJB it was.

TBK was the aircraft painted as the 'central australian'.
I am pretty certain that it was also the aircraft leased to Iran air for a period of time & also the same aircraft that swallowed a spoiler lock down the intake of #2 engine on a post maint test flight after landing.
FYI , TJB was a 727-100