"888": 8hrs, 8 Segments On An Aussie Dash 8 (pics)

palmjet · Sun Apr 10, 2011 1:02 pm

Hi Allrite. Thanks for your post. You've been quiet of late? Glad to see there is another report from you coming up!

Re security at BNE, I did not see any instructions to take out laptops at the domestic terminal, and did not see anyone being turned back to be re-screened. I did make special effort to see what the requirements were. Interesting that you had to take a laptop out for a turboprop flight out of BNE.

Happy flying ! P/jet

CrimsonNL · Sun Apr 10, 2011 1:46 pm

Hi Palmjet, thanks for this amazing report! Very unique set of flights!

Best regards,

Martijn

palmjet · Sun Apr 10, 2011 9:03 pm

CrimsonNL - thanks very much for your comments. Glad you enjoyed the report. Cheers P/jet

vsmike · Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:14 pm

Umm. Yeah. Wow!
Excellent report.

A lil' too much DashTrash for me.
Maybe SkyTrans will one day upgrade their reservations provider AND their aircraft?!
"Do Not Pull" - reminds me of the grubby fingers of novice flyers in India... Sometimes you just have to state the obvious.

VS(X)M

palmjet · Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:45 pm

VSMike - I know how much you love Dash 8s, esp if they are US Airways Express colours! I had no trouble booking online at all, and I did not even know I was using a certain online reservation platform. Your insights are as always, priceless !! Thanks for posting. P/jet

jrfspa320 · Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:32 pm

Very interesting, Thanks. Good to see the "Airports" of the bush. Love the relaxed style of flying.
I thought the Dash 8 100/200 held 37 people? Only 28 seats in yours. Any plans to replace them, if theres anything to replace them with!

palmjet · Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:56 pm

jrfspa320 - thanks for your comments. Yes, these are airports with a distinct atmosphere all of their own. Flying in this part of the country is very relaxing. Skytrans have different configurations on their Dash 8s - depending on how much cargo space they need. Our particular aircraft only had 28 seats and we needed the extra space at the back for all the foodstuffs we were carrying to stranded residents in Western Queensland. I haven't read anything about replacements for the Dash 8 at Skytrans. They seem to perform well enough in Queensland. Cheers P/jet

NZ107 · Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:28 am

Hi Palmjet,

Fantastic TR! This milk run is of interest to me.. I'd love to take in what Inner Queensland has to offer for myself one day. Amazing pictures showing the floodwaters and how saturated the state is. I'm in awe of what Mother Nature can do. Also picking up the Dash 8-100! QF have a few of these but other than that, they're pretty rare.

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):

The cost was not cheap – in the realm of A$300 one way

That's definitely not bad for the amount of flying time. I think I outdid that from my SYD-OOL-MEL-SYD circuit on ordinary airlines.. Haha. This is far more special though.

Service looks great.. I guess it couldn't really be done any other way though. Not providing any drinks for that run to ISA would be pretty horrible.. And Lauren wouldn't have much to do either!

Congratulations on a job well done, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Cheers,
Nicholas

palmjet · Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:54 pm

Nicholas

Thanks for your comments on this report. I had a lot of fun doing that flight.

Quote:
Also picking up the Dash 8-100! QF have a few of these but other than that, they're pretty rare.

Yep they certainly are becoming rare in Australia. In SYD, I saw a QFLink -200 in the refreshed QF colours and it looked very smart but that was the only one I saw in 3 days.

Quote:
That's definitely not bad for the amount of flying time. I think I outdid that from my SYD-OOL-MEL-SYD circuit on ordinary airlines.. Haha.

Actually, yes, I would agree - per sector, it was not that much. I am currently looking into doing some Dash 8 flights with Wideroe in Norway later this year (thanks to an idea hatched by FF76) and the price for those flights is considerably higher!

Quote:
Service looks great.. I guess it couldn't really be done any other way though.

Yes, although I was surprised that we were offered something on every sector. Most passengers were on the aircraft for at least 2 sectors, but still, it was nice to be offered something, particularly in this day and age of BOB !

Thanks again.

robso2 · Tue Apr 12, 2011 3:03 pm

Super, super and again super report. As you said, great to see that these inner, isolated regions of the outback are served and I felt quite sad seeing the 738 as you arrived at Mt. Isa!

Thanks for sharing, look forward to the next one!

palmjet · Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:17 pm

robso2 - really glad you enjoyed the report - thanks for your post. This region is surprisingly well served, particularly as others have reminded me that it's quite rare in other parts of the world for a town of 60 people to have regular air service! Cheers P/jet

HorizonGirl · Wed Apr 13, 2011 8:53 pm

Wonderful trip report! As the classic Dash 8s are my all time favorite aircraft, I enjoyed every second.
And what beautiful scenery! I am certainly putting this trip on my bucket list.

Devon

NZ107 · Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:31 pm

Quoting Palmjet (Reply 58):
Actually, yes, I would agree - per sector, it was not that much. I am currently looking into doing some Dash 8 flights with Wideroe in Norway later this year (thanks to an idea hatched by FF76) and the price for those
flights is considerably higher!

Nice, looking forward to a TR from either/both of you on that one if it goes through!

Quoting Palmjet (Reply 58):
Yes, although I was surprised that we were offered something on every sector. Most passengers were on the aircraft for at least 2 sectors, but still, it was nice to be offered something, particularly in this day and age of BOB !

It's a nice touch. Although BOB might work in some cases, I cannot see how it would work for this flight simply because you'd either carry too much food/drinks or you'd take on fresh stuff which people won't buy meaning it goes to waste. So I think the way they do it is excellent.

palmjet · Thu Apr 14, 2011 8:14 pm

Hi Nicholas - I've now booked my Wideroe flights so yes, will def do a report on those flights.

Agreed, BOB would just not work for this flight. The portions were all appropriate given each of the sector flight times.

Thanks again! P/jet

noelg · Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:02 pm

Hi Palmjet

This is the third time I have read this trip report and it gets better and better each time!

What an amazing route to fly on a DHC-8, through some fascinating places. The photos are some of the best I have seen in a trip report, and the narrative made me feel like I was there!

Thank you so much for sharing and I'm looking forward to your next adventure

Cheers
Noel

palmjet · Thu Apr 28, 2011 9:16 pm

Horizongirl - thanks so much for your comments. If you like dash 8s this is a trip to do!!
Noelg - hi there. Thank you very much for your nice comments. I enjoyed that day so much. Am currently planning a similar trip with wideroe in northern Norway next month!!

Cheers P-jet

IwantaBBJ · Fri Apr 29, 2011 5:42 am

Very well done, thanks a lot for this report....

All the best

Mike Steffen

wn700driver · Fri Apr 29, 2011 8:41 am

Quoting NZ107 (Reply 57):
Also picking up the Dash 8-100! QF have a few of these but other than that, they're pretty rare.

Lol, I flew three of them on eight segments last week. Seems like I can't get away from those things. At least they're not terrible like the CR1,2,6s.

palmjet · Mon May 02, 2011 10:25 am

IwantaBBJ - thanks very much for your comments. Glad you enjoyed the report.

wn700driver - I totally agree with you. Give me a Dash 8 over a CRJ-200 any day! I was just in Madeira and it was great to see SATA Azores flying a couple of little Dash 8s on their inter-island runs.

airkas1 · Tue May 03, 2011 8:40 pm

Great report, I loved your photos, the story, the though of doing that trip.. Makes me want to complete such a thing aswell!

palmjet · Thu May 05, 2011 7:32 pm

airkas1 - thanks for your comments and hope you get down to Australia to do that flight one day. Good luck! Cheers P/jet

Gonzalo · Sun May 22, 2011 2:44 am

Amazing, truly amazing, I felt envy and also VERY nostalgic as my first flights as a little child inside Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and Chile, were made in turboprops and in and out of small airfields.
Thanks for sharing !!

PS : I wish a full and fast recovery to the affected by the flooding.

Rgds.

G.

palmjet · Mon May 23, 2011 2:47 pm

Hi Gonzalo

Quote:
I felt envy and also VERY nostalgic as my first flights as a little child inside Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and Chile, were made in turboprops and in and out of small airfields.

Thanks very much for your comments. My first flights were also on small aircraft - the F27 springs to mind! Glad you enjoyed the report.

Quote:
PS : I wish a full and fast recovery to the affected by the flooding.

Thank you! Much of the area is no longer flooded but even several months later, people are still re-building.

TR763 · Tue Jul 05, 2011 6:53 pm

This is definitely the best trip report I ever read!
What a wonderful schedule you've got, to some very unique destinations!
Wow, I'm still impressed about all the pictures, the flooding, the tiny airport terminals and about the service provided by Skytrans - being from Brazil, I had never heard of this airline before. Very good impression about them though.
Really, this was a great reading!
Congrats!!

Thank you for sharing!!

palmjet · Wed Jul 06, 2011 9:43 am

Hello TR763

Quote:
Wow, I'm still impressed about all the pictures, the flooding, the tiny airport terminals and about the service provided by Skytrans - being from Brazil, I had never heard of this airline before. Very good impression about them though.
Really, this was a great reading!

Thank you! Very pleased that you enjoyed the report and that it provided a little snapshot into aviation activity on the other side of the world from you in Brazil!

akhmad · Wed Jul 06, 2011 6:47 pm

Hi P/jet,

Finally I get around to reading this report of yours. It was a long but marvelous journey. Simply brilliant! What a great tribute to your childhood memories!

I am glad to hear that the Queensland government subsidizes the route. As it turns out, it does not only cater the people from the mining industry, but also us, A.netters! Look what you get to see during all the segments. Breathtaking scenery!

Though, I was quite saddened by the view of flooded areas.

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
Being the avia freak that I am, the fact that the service touches down 7 times between Brisbane to Mt Isa made me think: “Why not go all the way to Mt Isa?” “Am I completely crazy?” I think you know the answers already

Yes I do.

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
Quite a contrast to the scene back in 1986 when this terminal did not even exist when my father flew from the then small and old(er) Eagle Farm terminal on his Sunstate flight to Toowoomba.

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
Check in for Skytrans is located in the common user section in the middle of the terminal complex, which it shares with the likes of Jetstar, Tiger, Aeropelican, Strategic, Brindabella Airlines and Alliance Airlines. When this terminal first opened in 1988, this part of the airport remained closed for a number of years as there were no other airlines operating domestic services other than Ansett and Australian Airlines (who had their own dedicated sections of the terminal complex). Things are much different today, although to be frank, the Domestic Terminal could do with some updating.

Nevertheless, isn’t it amazing to see things changing?

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
was given a prepared hand written boarding pass.

What a nice collectible!

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
It was a pleasure to go through security here, as it was at all Australian airports I travelled through whilst I was visiting. None of the liquids, take your shoes off, take your belt off, take your watch off, give me your boarding pass, take your laptop out nonsense that has unfortunately become the norm in Europe.

Just like flying domestic in Indonesia. Love it!

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
Downsview or Brisbane?

Or Tromsø?

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
passengers have to walk across the tarmac, which is fine, as long as the weather is sunny, which is mostly the case in Queensland

Give me the walk many times than being bussed!

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
A cheery “Welcome onboard today” was followed by an offer of newspapers (The Queensland Courier Mail or The Australian) and a small bottle of water. A positive first impression.

Definitely. What a warm welcome!

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
A sole flight attendant has to work extra hard given that they have to do the demonstration and actions and hold the cabin PA phone all at once. Lauren had clearly done this many times and it was performed flawlessly.

This really amazes me. No pre-recorded instructing voice needed.

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
EK is expected to be the first.

Surprise! Surprise!

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
Cabin service on this short 30 min sector consisted of drinks – and a refreshing icy cold apple juice felt just right.

Very nice. It reminds me of icy cold orange juice I got on board of Skywest.

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
It’s only after you leave that you tend to appreciate where you grew up much more.

I can echo that. My appreciation of Indonesia was getting stronger after I moved to Netherlands.

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
Back to the flight….. on this sector, further drinks and morning tea service was provided

Wow, were the snacks and beverages for the whole segments loaded in Brisbane?

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
Charleville maintains a significant historical connection with Qantas as the following pictures illustrate -

Very good to know.

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
Baggage reclaim, Charleville style

Charming.

Quoting Palmjet (Thread starter):
Not like the mean and nasty Easyjet employee at Tenerife South in February who yelled something like “security reason - no photos” in garbled English at me!

Really annoying! I got told off on board by Sara, a Vueling flight attendant, for the very same reason.

Quoting Palmjet (Reply 1):
we started to get some amazing views of the incredible power of nature, and the floodwaters, which were just outside the town.

Don’t mess with Mother Nature!

Quoting Palmjet (Reply 1):
before being refuelled again (by the captain!)

Beauty! It is like watching someone refueling his own four…no, three wheel drives.

Last but not least, I just have to say Lauren is a gem of flight attendant. I am amazed by her actions:

Quoting Palmjet (Reply 1):
Part of that was due to Lauren who went to a great amount of trouble to ensure the passenger and her child were as comfortable as possible, even nursing him (the baby that is) during some of the earlier stopovers whilst we were on the ground. Another example of the outstanding customer service observed on this flight.

Quoting Palmjet (Reply 1):
She then told me that she would organise a visit to the cockpit and chat with the crew up front once we got to Mt Isa - without me having to even ask.

Quoting Palmjet (Reply 1):
When Lauren found out that this passenger (and me) were on the Qantas flight from ISA, she asked the cockpit crew to radio ahead to Mt Isa to tell Qantas there were two passengers on their service to Brisbane that evening. She later came back and told us that there was no problem, and Qantas said we’d have no problem making the flight. How’s that for going the extra mile?

Quoting Palmjet (Reply 2):
Lauren offered to take a couple of photos for me, including with the cockpit crew, and then escorted me to the terminal building.

I hope you do not mind my lengthy comment. It has been more than three years since I went Down Under. You definitely whet my appetite!

Thank you so much for sharing.

Cheers,
Suryo

[Edited 2011-07-06 12:37:03]

MSS658 · Thu Jul 07, 2011 8:43 am

Nice report, like the scenery pics.

palmjet · Thu Jul 07, 2011 9:41 pm

Hi Suryo

Thank you for so many comments. Glad you managed to get through to the end!

Quote:
I hope you do not mind my lengthy comment. It has been more than three years since I went Down Under. You definitely whet my appetite!

Not at all. It is great to hear from you. I hope you manage to get down to Australia again soon. After all, it's only a little bit further from Indonesia!

I was interested to hear that you flew with Skywest. Hope you enjoyed your flight? I have never flown with them before.

Lauren was indeed amazing. I was lucky to have such a great experience that day.

Thanks again P/jet

MSS658 - hi there. Glad you enjoyed the report too. Thanks for your comment.

akhmad · Thu Jul 07, 2011 11:11 pm

Quoting Palmjet (Reply 77):
I was interested to hear that you flew with Skywest. Hope you enjoyed your flight? I have never flown with them before.

Herman and I flew with their Fokker 100 from Perth to Broome v.v. in 2004. It was a great flight with most hospitable crew members we ever encountered. We had complimentary hot meal and masses of legroom (34 inch).

[Edited 2011-07-07 16:18:06]

"888": 8hrs, 8 Segments On An Aussie Dash 8 (pics)

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