zaphod
Flying Officer
Posts: 58
|
Post by zaphod on Feb 26, 2010 20:51:53 GMT 12
The Air NZ one I can remember arrived some time in the night and was parked by the international terminal when I got up. It was earlier than the United landing in 1991, as I was still at primary school at the time, which was up till 88.
|
|
|
|
Post by phil82 on Feb 26, 2010 21:22:50 GMT 12
Qantas was the one and only operator of the 747SP out of Wellington, and that wasn't for long because the SP itself didn't last long in service and the 767 was much cheaper to operate. QANTAS operated the 747SP for 21 years, 1981-2002 Not into Wellington! |
|
|
|
Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Feb 26, 2010 21:58:29 GMT 12
A 73 at Gizzy? Far out, has one ever been back? I can recall a number of occasions (back during the F.27 Friendship days) when Air NZ substituted a 737 for a Friendship when there were big passenger loadings in or out of Gisborne, such as sports teams and their supporters. They were flying 737s into and out of Gisborne before they ever operated them from Napier Airport. However, the 737s were never scheduled to operate from Gisborne, whereas they did run scheduled services into and out of Napier for a few years. |
|
|
|
Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 26, 2010 22:05:29 GMT 12
|
|
|
|
Post by mumbles on Feb 26, 2010 22:15:40 GMT 12
QANTAS operated the 747SP for 21 years, 1981-2002 Not into Wellington! What Phil means I suspect is that the SP didn't operate into Wellington for that long!  Here is the last in service of the original ANZ 747-200 buy at Wellington on 27 June 1999, shortly before heading to new owners.   Note the now also gone 737-200 trailing behind.  And the LOTR overflight in December 2003. Note the shadow on the water.  |
|
|
|
Post by phil82 on Feb 27, 2010 7:57:01 GMT 12
The length of service of the 747SP wasn't the issue: it's operation by Qantas into Wellington was, and that was for a realtively short period of three years or so, from 1981-84.
|
|
|
|
Post by vs on Feb 27, 2010 8:34:40 GMT 12
SP was a very expensive bit of kit to operate as it was designed for ultra long range, not trans Tasman. Those still operating in the last ten years were replaced by 777 200LR and A340 500. United used to fly them direct to Auckland from LA and I think the odd Pan Am one came in as well
|
|
|
|
Post by nzav8a on Feb 27, 2010 10:16:14 GMT 12
The length of service of the 747SP wasn't the issue: it's operation by Qantas into Wellington was, and that was for a realtively short period of three years or so, from 1981-84. True it didn't operate into WLG for long, I misunderstood the comment "the SP itself didn't last long in service" which it did just not on the WLG routes |
|
ron
Squadron Leader
Posts: 111
|
Post by ron on Feb 27, 2010 12:51:28 GMT 12
I seem to recall that Qantas purchased the 747SP primarily to serve WLG because with the retirement of the Air NZ DC-8s there was no other jet equipment that could serve WLG. I think it was only later that the aircraft was used on the Pacific route for which it was designed. Ironically, towards the end of the 747SP's service with Qantas, what was once the world's longest range airliner was being routinely used on Sydney/Brisbane/Sydney shuttles!
The following dates may be of interest. Please note that all are specific to Brisbane.
28MAY72 Last Electra BNE/WLG ZK-TEB
09FEB81 First B747SP WLG/BNE/AKL VH-EAA
13DEC81 Last DC-8 BNE/WLG ZK-NZE
31JUL85 First Qantas B767 BNE/WLG VH-EAK
06OCT85 First Air NZ B767 WLG/BNE/WLG ZK-NBA
This would seem to indicate that the B747SP served WLG well into 1985 when the first 767s arrived.
Regards
Ron
|
|
|
|
Post by nzav8a on Feb 27, 2010 17:41:13 GMT 12
|
|
|
|
Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 28, 2010 22:33:03 GMT 12
And old article from here (bottom of the page) www.wellington-airport.co.nz/html/business/news-archived.php747 wows a crowd Five thousand people were wowed when they took the opportunity to board an Air New Zealand Boeing 747-200 jumbo jet during the open day for Wellington's new airport terminal. The jet touched down at Wellington airport yesterday after doing a fly-by of Athletic Park. These 17-year old Air New Zealand 747 aircraft are rarely seen in Wellington, and soon they will not be seen in New Zealand at all as this one is the last of five Air New Zealand has sold to Virgin Atlantic. They are being replaced with three new Boeing 747-400s. Air New Zealand spokesman Alistair Carthew said the plane arrived in 1982 a year after their first one arrived. However it was another six years before a 747 landed at Wellington. "We are paying our own little tribute to Athletic Park with a plane that has given good service like Athletic Park has," Mr Carthew said. Article Last Modified: 27/06/1999 |
|
|
|
Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 28, 2010 22:34:53 GMT 12
|
|
|
|
Post by area51 on Mar 1, 2010 19:56:25 GMT 12
|
|
|
|
Post by andym on Mar 3, 2010 11:17:10 GMT 12
Stumbled on this so thought I might be able to add a bit as I was working there at the time.
I was there for the United 747-200 diversion. The Captain came into the office wanting to ring Denver to explain where he was. He was on the phone for quite some time.
Air NZ did indeed have a 747-400 come into Wellington. It was a Melbourne - Auckland flight that diverted due unforecast fog at Auckland. From memory it was ZKNBT. It arrived around midnight and positioned to Auckland in the morning.
QF also operated the 747SP for a couple of days in the early 90's. QF47/QF48 Sydney - Wellington - Sydney was a 767 ex maintenance and went through a period when it was always late. Twice in 1 week it was replaced with the SP.
Hope this helps
|
|
|
|
Post by aeromuzz on Mar 3, 2010 12:57:12 GMT 12
So, apart from the SP's does that make 4 times that a 747 has landed at Wellington?
I can clearly remember 3 of the occasions.
Firstly, I can remember the trials ANZ did to prove Wellington was viable. I took off from work early and spent a couple of hours watching it do circuits. From memory the circuit was Take off, touch and go and then land. It was a very impressive sight.
The second occasion would have been the diverted flight from Melbourne as it was mentioned in the news on the radio so I diverted my trip to work to go past the airport and to have a look.
The third time I can remember was when the United 747 diverted. I had moved to Auckland by then so didn't see it in person but I can remember an article on the evening news where the Captain was quoted as saying, "...what a cute little runway."
I don't remember anything about the other occasion and I don't remember it being on national news.
|
|
|
|
Post by douglasdow on Jan 4, 2014 7:32:06 GMT 12
I grew up overlooking Wellington airport from Melrose and can remember waking up one morning and seeing an Air NZ 747 parked at the international terminal. From what I can remember, it was a long haul flight aiming for Auckland, but both Auckland and Christchurch had been closed due to fog. It didn't have sufficient fuel for a safe trip to Oz, so the decision was made to land in Wellington. I can still clearly remember going to school (I think I was standard 3) and telling the teacher I had seen a 747, and her telling me not to make up stories! She did have the decency to apologise the next day when there had been photos in the Evening Post. I think this would have been somewhere around 1987. Does anyone have any more accurate records or photos? I can remember seeing an empty 747 landing at WLG as a trial on another occasion, but was this the only time a 747 with passengers landed in Wellington? I recall the trial landing braking heavily and pulling up very short on the runway - not far past the air force hangar. Does anyone have photos of either of these landings, or know of other 747 visits to Wellington? Lachlan Lachan - I do not have any photos, but I was on that flight and your details are largely correct. It was a flight from Melbourne to Auckland. We tried to land twice at Auckland but had to abort both times. You could not even see the wing tips. The pilot said we were diverting to Christchurch. We asked the flight attendant why we were not going to Wellington, and she told us the run way was too short in Wellington. Then, just as we were flying past Hamilton, the pilot announced that Christchurch was fogged in as well, and we were diverting to Wellington! We looked at the flight attendant, and she just gave us a slightly frightened look and shrugged. The pilot never formally told us that no 747 had ever landed at Auckland fully loaded before (we found that out from the newspapers the next morning), but he did come down extremely low over the bay and slammed the engines into reverse as soon as we touched down. We probably took 3/4 of the run way and there was a line of fire trucks already out waiting, but in the end it worked out well. |
|
gebbw
Pilot Officer
Posts: 50
|
Post by gebbw on Jan 4, 2014 8:24:30 GMT 12
Lachan - I do not have any photos, but I was on that flight and your details are largely correct. It was a flight from Melbourne to Auckland. We tried to land twice at Auckland but had to abort both times. You could not even see the wing tips. The pilot said we were diverting to Christchurch. We asked the flight attendant why we were not going to Wellington, and she told us the run way was too short in Wellington. Then, just as we were flying past Hamilton, the pilot announced that Christchurch was fogged in as well, and we were diverting to Wellington! We looked at the flight attendant, and she just gave us a slightly frightened look and shrugged. The pilot never formally told us that no 747 had ever landed at Auckland fully loaded before (we found that out from the newspapers the next morning), but he did come down extremely low over the bay and slammed the engines into reverse as soon as we touched down. We probably took 3/4 of the run way and there was a line of fire trucks already out waiting, but in the end it worked out well. Wow! That must have been quite a flight and would have been an exciting landing! To sum up, of 747s at WLG we have QF 747SPs early to mid 1980's UA 747-200 1991 NZ 747-200 1999 NZ 747-400 199? Does anyone know of any pictures of the UA aircraft at WLG? George Airliner Nut |
|
|
|
Post by jthomso1 on Jan 4, 2014 8:33:56 GMT 12
My family travelled on a Melbourne - Mangere 747 flight that was diverted into Wellington airport during 1988 or 1989 as no alternate airports were open. I recall it was an ANZ flight but equally it could have been Qantas. They overnighted in Wgtn and departed to Mangere the following morning. The aircraft carried only a light fuel load & passengers only, freight & luggage shipped to Mangere separately. I was surprised when my wife called me in Melbourne saying they were in Wgtn as I thought Wgtn airport was too short for a 747 landing. As she was sitting in an exit row opposite the air hostesses she confirmed they were a 'little' tense during the approach & landing.
Cheers Jim
|
|
|
|
Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 4, 2014 9:28:03 GMT 12
Great to have these eye witness accounts coming through, thanks for posting them Douglas and Jim.
|
|
|
|
Post by Barnsey on Jan 4, 2014 9:59:41 GMT 12
For interest value only, I ran the 747-400 numbers through the landing performance software.
To use WLG as a planned destination the landing weight needs to be 260T or less (RWY16, dry, 20ºC, Nil wind, Max Auto Brake, nil credit for reverse thrust, includes 15% safety margin).
If wet, then the planned landing weight needs to be 230T or less.
In reality and if using WLG as a unscheduled divert, the aircraft will stop about 900ft from the runway end at 260T, and using reverse thrust will help the stopping distance if brake energy limited.
A 777-300ER can plan to land at WLG at its Max Landing Weight of 251.2T using the same numbers above.
|
|
