2004 in Aviation for You?

What were the best parts about 2004 (aviation wise) for you, and what stood out?

I’ll start with my Borneo trip back in May. 8 flights in 12 days, 4 new airlines and 5 new airports. All a spotter/photographer could dream for! Getting to fly on one of my favourite liveries (Australian Airlines) was excellent, as was Qantas’ long-haul product on our 747 flights to/from FRA. The best bits had to be our domestic flights in Borneo though, on Malaysia Airlines. Both flights were less than an hour each way, but the scenery and experience as a whole was absolutely superb, particularly flying the Fokker 50.

In June I was able to do my work experience in the STN control tower, a fantastic experience.

Then came Belfast in July, taking part in the Group Flight round-the-world charity event was certainly an experience, as were the other strange things that seemed to happen in Andrewm’s house during that time! *cough* hoover *ahem* . Also getting to meet Jeremy Spake!

4 days later was Lanzarote, and although it was my 8th trip to the island it was still as wonderful as ever, and spotting from the beach is one of my best spotting experience’s in Europe.

I then got to visit MAN in November, somewhere I’d been waiting to get to for ages. Shame about the weather, but it was just as good as I had always imagined it to be.

Then finally was the DUB trip, where I finally got to fly on a 732. The main purpose of my trip had been to fly on one, and so you can imagine how pleased I was when the Vodafone jet (EI-CNT) turned up at th egate 😀

A few pictures from each of my experiences:

1. Borneo. A view of Mt Kinabalu seen from our Malaysia Airlines 737, flying domestically across the island.

2. Up in the STN control tower.

3. Group Flight in Belfast. Jeremy Spake and the rest of the ‘pilots’.

3. Spotting down on the beaches of Lanzarote.

4. Up close in Manchester.

5. Finally getting to see the ‘buckets’ in action on our 732, arriving in DUB.