Adelaide Airport - Finals

Today was a day of finals for Adelaide Airport.

Firstly we had the final scheduled visit of a Qantas Boeing 747 before they are retired from service next year.  VH-OEH, "Hervey Bay" was here to take around 360 passengers on a sightseeing trip over Antarctica.  She will be retired next year after 17 years of service with Qantas.  Here she is lining up for take-off on Runway 05 this morning

The other finals came this afternoon when the last 3 PC-21's arrived on delivery to the RAAF.  After a week long flight from Switzerland, they will be handed over to the RAAF tomorrow at East Sale in Victoria.  The RAAF will then have it's full complement of 49 PC-21's used for pilot training, the RAAF aerobatic display team "The Roulettes" and for Forward Air Control.  They are delivered flying under Swiss civil registrations and wearing the Swiss flag as military aircraft would not be allowed to fly across many countries airspace.

Qantas Boeing 747

I made a quick visit to Adelaide Airport this evening to see the last Rolls Royce powered Qantas Boeing 747 bringing troops back from exercises in Queensland.  Qantas is in the process of retiring it's Boeing 747s and they will all be gone by the end of next year.

There will be at least one more opportunity to see a 747 in Adelaide as Qantas is operating an Antarctic sightseeing trip out of Adelaide in November.

While I was waiting, a Qatar Airbus 350 arrived on it's daily service from Doha and a Cobham RJ100 landed bringing mine workers home from Prominent Hill Mine near Coober Pedy

The number of plane spotters steadily increased as the arrival time got closer, and then the aptly nicknamed "Queen of the Skies" appeared over the trees and whooshed past.