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"Your window to the world of aviation, maritime, and railroad"

Last update: Tuesday 9th February, 2010, 16:28 hrs pm AESuT

Happy Birthday Leisha Distefano!

Georges Hall, Sydney, NSW, Australia               

    

BANKSTOWN BASED FIRE HELICOPTERS - AND THEN, A REAL FIRE!

The Bell 214 we have featured several times on this site, N214BH, "Helitak 410", is today staring at the front form of a sister ship, to wit N214JL. So we thought we'd snap another few pics in the area.

"Helitak 410", N214BH is fully fitted up with 1200 litre belly tank and snorkel, ready to work out there on the life and property threatening blazes. I understand there is no Helitak number allocated yet to N214JL. It ius also not displaying any such RFS Aviation callsign marks.

Could we have that again in widescreen please?

Surely.....the nose of N214JL, the newer arrival to the "Helicopter Alley" apron.

Then all of a sudden we notice this, just to the south of the Bankstown Airport perimeter fence..... and it didn't look good, and we were hoping that it wasn't what we were thinking it may have been!

Thankfully, no aircraft had crashed. The fire was at a motor wrecker's yard in surrounding Revesby suburb. So, back to the helicopters we were ogling before!

And now we'll wander around to Hangar 650. A change of ownership and occupancy.....

Making it THREE hangars they occupy now at Bankstown, Heli-Aust, part of the Wieland Helicopter Company corporate entity. The old Hawker Pacific Helicopters hangar.

Enough of the hangar, back to the real good rotary stuff!

ATSB COMPLETES PRELIMARY REPORT - INTO CRASH OF BELL 206L LONGRANGER VH-MJO AT DORRIGO ("Firebird 260")

Greg Weir  

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has released its preliminary report into a fatal helicopter crash in the north of New South Wales. The aircraft involved was Bell 206L Longranger VH-MJO.

The early report points to poor visibility as the main cause of the crash which claimed the life of a NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service Ranger, Mr Aaron Harber, last December.

NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service Ranger Aaron Harber prior to the accident holding a mutton bird

Ranger Aaron Harber was a passenger on the helicopter which was mapping bushfires east of Glen Innes. Shortly after takeoff from the Dorrigo Rainforest Centre, on his second flight of the day, the pilot encountered reduced visibility due to low cloud.
He lost all visual reference to the ground and on trying to land the helicopter impacted with significant force. His passenger was killed on impact and the pilot was seriously injured.

The investigation is continuing and will look at issues including the impact sequence, and the chopper's maintenance history.

CRASHED ETHIOPIAN BOEING 737-800 FLIGHT RECORDERS NOW RECOVERED

Mike Road

Search teams retrieved the flight recorders belonging to an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed off the coast of Lebanon last month killing all 90 people on board, a Lebanese security official said on Sunday.

"Lebanese navy commandos recovered the black boxes and they are in the navy base. They will be given to the investigating committee," a security official said.

The Boeing 737-800, carrying mostly Lebanese and Ethiopian passengers, crashed minutes after taking off from Beirut in stormy weather, crashing in flames into the sea. It was bound for the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

The flight recorders should provide a clearer picture on why the pilot failed to respond to the control tower's request to change direction even though he acknowledged their commands.

The plane had apparently made a sharp turn before disappearing off the radar. Lebanese officials have said it was too early to draw any conclusion of pilot error.

Lebanese and international teams have been searching the Mediterranean along the southern Beirut coast for bodies and wreckage.

They have managed to retrieve the plane's rear wings and the cockpit in the last 24 hours.

Stormy weather has hampered their search several times in the last two weeks. At least 15 bodies have been recovered since the crash, mostly of Lebanese passengers.

The eight-year-old plane last had a maintenance check on December 25 and no technical problems were found.

A BLAST FROM MY QANTAS AIRLINE PAST!

Steve Core

This old print comes directly from the "Steve Core Vault of Dusty Archives of the Qantas Good Old Days"!

Yep, I was a Qantas Flight Attendant - and I am still Aircrew. But these days I fly with another international airline.
 
This old photograph folks, is the classic old "Mayfair Hotel" in London - the Qantas Crew Hotel from the seventies! I took this photo on a mild Winter's day on my first 11-day London trip back in late 1978! The Mayfair's rooms were notoriously small - but the crew loved its location. And in those days, there were no fridges in the rooms, or ironing boards, or many things that are now  considered standard in-room amenities these days.
 
Located just off Piccadilly in Stratton Street, close to Green Park Station - right in the heart of the city and London's very fashionable West End. And just two short blocks from Berkeley Square. Mayfair is an up-market, yet discreet location. Often referred to as 'London's luxury quarter', The Mayfair was only moments away from London's chicest shopping areas, Bond Street, and just a few minutes' walk from the equally famous Regent Street. Some of London's most beautiful green spaces are also on your doorstep, with Green Park a two minute walk from the hotel and Hyde Park, no more than a ten minute stroll.
 
For that great "there's no doubt you're in jolly ol' England feel" - I used to love arriving (it was an early AM arrival into Heathrow from Bahrain) and go up to my room, then get changed, and then go for a stroll across the street through Green Park and over to Buckingham Palace.
 
Along The Mall and through St James Park up to Westminster. Past Number 10 Downing Street (in those days you could get right up to the front door). Back up along Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, then back to Piccadilly Circus. How's that for some Monopoly board travel?
 
The standard Qantas crew tip for the porters was two packets of cigarettes. I loved every minute of every London trip I ever did, and I have some fantastic memories of those "Good Old Days".
 
Since the days that I stayed there, the Mayfair has been renovated several times. These days, the Hotel Mayfair is a very exclusive, up-market 5-star hotel. And with airlines cutting budgets - I seriously doubt airline crews will ever get the opportunity to stay somewhere like that again.
 
(THANKS TO STEVE CORE FOR THIS GREAT BIT OF NOSTALGIA! STEVE IS STILL IN THE INDUSTRY BUT WITH ANOTHER LEADING INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE)
 

MAN'S BODYFOUND IN AIRLINER LANDING GEAR

Greg Weir

Japanese authorities have found the body of a man in the landing-gear bay of a commercial airliner arriving in Tokyo from New York.

A mechanic at Tokyo's Narita Airport found the man's body in one of the wheel bays of the Delta Boeing 777.

The man was dressed in blue jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, and was not carrying a passport or any personal belongings.

It is unclear if the man was a stowaway or if his death was an accident, but doctors say he probably froze to death or suffered a lack of oxygen from altitudes of more than 10,000 metres.

Japanese authorities have appealed to US police to help identify the man.

 

Rides on Thomas & his Friends,

Helicopter Joyflights on Sunday

and the Luddenham Show

This Weekend 13th and 14th February is a great weekend to come and visit Thomas the Tank Engine at The Train Shed.

We are open as usual 10am - 4pm on both Saturday and Sunday for rides on Thomas, Toby, James, Percy and Mavis.

Just up the road from the Trainshed,  Luddenham Show is on BOTH Saturday and Sunday.  

It's an old fashioned "real country show" with lots to see and do for all ages, including Dog Trials, Motorcross Displays, Bull Riding, Elvis Impersonator, Yank-A-Ute competition, Fireworks,  "Digeriedoo& Vaccum Cleaner Performance"  Kid's Shows, Decorated Cardboard Box Car Race,  Ice Cream Eating competition,  Dog Fancy Dress,  Whip Cracking,  Reptile Show,  Antique Sulky Race  and more.

This is the link to the Show's Website - see the "Timetable" and "Events" pages for all the details and times

http://www.luddenhamshow.com.au/

Call in for a Ride at The Train Shed on your way to the Show! 

On Sunday 14th the Craft Fair will be on,  with Helicopter Joyflights from about 11am.

The Joyflight is $50 for adults and $40 for children - can take 2 passengers at a time.

The general reaction from those who have been on the Joyflight is  "That was great - best thing I've ever done"   "It was wonderful", and it's also fun to watch the helicopter take-off and land in the paddocks behind the Train Shed.

Helicopter Flights are "weather permitting" so please phone us on 4739 0199 to confirm on the morning, if you are coming specifically for the Joyflights.

Click here to Forward this message to a friend who might  like to know about the Helicopter Joyflights and Luddenham Show. 

The Train Shed.

Ph 4739 0199     www.thetrainshed.com.au

 

 
See the Navigation bar above and click on "Aerial Firefighting" for.....

CURRENT NSW BUSHFIRES     Click on link below

www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/dsp_content.cfm?cat_id=683 

LIST OF UPCOMING AVIATION EVENTS

Feb 10 Essendon, VIC, Airways Museum speaker: 'A Look Back at DCA News'
Feb 10-24 New Zealand, NZ, International Comanche Society NZ Safari
Feb 13 Cooma, NSW, Spot landing practice
Feb 13 Yarrawonga, VIC, Chat n Chew
Feb 13 YEDE, VIC, Henley on Lake Wallace
Feb 18 Schofields Flying Club Bankstown Airport, NSW, The Mary O'Brien Annual Dine with the Aviators
Feb 20 Dunwich, North Stradbroke Island, QLD, Straddie Breakfast Fly-In
Feb 27-28 Watts Bridge, QLD, AAC QLD Practice in the Box Weekend
Feb 27-28 Denmark, WA, SAAA WA Regional Fly-in
Feb 27-28 Ravensthorpe, WA, Wings & Wheels Festival
Feb 27-Mar 1 Denmark, WA, SAAA Chapter 13 Denmark Fly-In
Feb 28 Wollongong, NSW, Wings Over Illawarra 2010
Mar 6 Luskintyre, NSW, LAFM Lunch with the Tiger Moths
Mar 6 Wagga Wagga, NSW, BBQ Lunch

Jamie Campbell www.Aeroclub.com.au