Yes. I was MEL based F-27 then did F-50 line training with ANSW due to training constraints. Then the 50 out of MEL before leaving during the Year that Dare Not Speak Its Name. The 'Fifty' was 'Star Wars' compared to the old Friendship! I take my hat off to the ANSW pilots who flew multiple, short sectors. I found it hard work even in the new 50.

Second F50 (Alliance) on its way to Panama from ADL. One more to go whilst the other 2 will be scrapped for spare parts and sent to Panama.

A new F50 being ferried from Holland flew Darwin to Melbourne non-stop! It was about a six hour leg.

Looks good

Yep that's right

When was this?

I joined Ansett in 1986 . It was my life time dream, I wanted to be a Ansett pilot since I was 7.However I digress. I joined on the F27 in ANSW. When we did a DME arrival, we were not allowed to touch any of the steps, I spent hours with graph paper ( no computers in those days) working our decent profiles for each airport to put on the Route Data Cards.

Then I went home to the West on the F28….to find that they ha turned a beautiful well designed and thought out Jet Aircraft into a Space Shuttle to operate. If you were really keen.. every aircraft had its own descent planning profile!

It only took me a couple of months to work out how to do all the loadsheets for the whole day before leaving Sydney! Even then, one-armed paper hanger stuff. Hot, noisy, pressurisation/cabin temp a nightmare but loved the growl as the water meth kicked in.

SOPS, it'd be interesting to find out who came first with x300 DME arrivals (and other NPAs), the West or the East? And I believe the rocket scientists from the East pulled the AOA gauge on the F28 coz the Diesel didn't have one... :}

And they both wondered why they were forced to accept a centralized flight standards regime (from Melbourne)....

At least the F50s did find a nice niche with Skywest/VARA and the aircraft served WA and the communities from the mid 1990s right up to 2016.

There's probably still a need for them in Australia even though they don't fly in Australia anynore. Alliance, the last F50 operator, retired them in August 2022.

The F50 flew non-stop Darwin to Melbourne in 1988.

Was that with pax or empty? How long distance wise is that? Must of taken a while.

See post #23 (1700nm)

Thats a fair way

No.

Yes.

It was a new F50 ferry from Holland - my understanding was the crew comprised 3 pilots and 3 LAME's.