Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield
By Chris Smith
Four members of the Friends of Durham Tees Valley Airport travelled down to our sister airport Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield to meet our counterparts at Friends of Doncaster Sheffield Airport. Below is a report from a spotting perspective, to read the FoDTVA report on the visit, click here.
I was joined by Paul Watterson, Matt Falcus and Paul Tasker on the evening of Tuesday 3rd February at DTVA, meeting at the St. George Hotel quite late at 9pm due to work commitments and Paul T then drove us down to RHADS where we were very generously provided with free accommodation in the Ramada Encore airport hotel.
Just the two aircraft noted upon our arrival at 2305, frustratingly the Antonov was the one that visited us back in 2008, always nice to see an Antonov though.
Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield
03/02/15
| REG | A/C TYPE | OPERATOR | NOTES |
| G-FDZX | Boeing 737-8K5/W | Thomson Airways | sporting new split-scimitar winglets |
| UR-82027 | Antonov An-124-100M Ruslan | Antonov Airlines | Collecting ebola relief aid |
Noted on the way down:
OTT
03/02/15
| REG | A/C TYPE | OPERATOR | NOTES |
| AP-BHX * | Boeing 777-240ER | Pakistan International Airlines | ex-Manchester |
We met up with FODSA at 1030 and were joined by RHADS Head of Airport Services Lorraine Daffern and we chatted for an hour or so mainly about our respective airports. After this we began a tour of the airport, we visited FODSAs very well equipped office with a superb view over the GA ramps and hangars, we then called in to see Weston, before going to the Airport Operations room, which controls both RHADS and DTVA, it's a very impressive setup. After this we went over to the fire section where we were given a warm welcome, hot drinks and tour of their premises and fire tenders. Next we walked over to ATC where we went straight up to the tower and had a chat with the controllers and observed one of the T2 Aviation 727s bashing the circuit. The 727 landed and returned to stand where it was positioned next to the other one for a photoshoot, having just been delivered that day, so we took full advantage and made our way over. Final stop of the tour was Hangar 3, which houses BAe Systems, Lufthansa Technik, Directions, and of course the Vulcan To The Sky Trust. Sadly the three Hawks have gone to Humberside as BAe have had a new facility purpose-built there, but the ex-Iberia 727 forward fuselage remains along with the Vulcan and the Links Air Jetstream that is still undergoing repair following the landing gear collapse last year. Incidentally Links Air are due to relocate their entire operation here from Humberside soon. Tucked away in the back of the hangar was Tiger Moth G-AXAN which was undergoing restoration and is for sale. We went to Wetherspoons inside the terminal for some dinner (a Busman's holiday for me!) before attending a FODSA meeting on the evening, where I was guest speaker.
Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield
04/02/15
| REG | A/C TYPE | OPERATOR | NOTES |
| CS-DXO * | Cessna 560XL Citation XLS | NetJets Europe | |
| CS-PHD * | Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 | NetJets Europe | |
| D-CAAL * | Dornier Do-228-202K | Arcus Air | Appeared impounded |
| EC-DDX | Boeing 727-256/Adv | Directions | ex-Iberia |
| G-AXAN * | De Havilland DH82A Tiger Moth | Private | For sale, marked EM-720 |
| G-BDBU | Reims Cessna F150M | Private | |
| G-BMBB | Reims Cessna F150L | Private | |
| G-BNTD | Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior II | Private | |
| G-CMTO * | Cessna 525 CitationJet M2 | Golconda Aircraft Leasing LLP | |
| G-GAVA # | British Aerospace Jetstream 31 | AC Aviation Wales | Links Air colours, under repair following landing gear collapse |
| G-IMEA | Beech B200 Super King Air | 2 Excel Aviation | |
| G-JDBC | Piper PA-34-200T Seneca II | JD Aviation | |
| G-LBSB * | Hawker Beechcraft B350CER Super King Air | Gama Aviation | Operating for Royal Air Force |
| G-OSRA * | Boeing 727-2S2F/Adv(RE) | T2 Aviation | |
| G-OSRB * | Boeing 727-2S2F/Adv(RE) | T2 Aviation | Delivered today from Air Livery at Manchester |
| G-VLCN | Avro 698 Vulcan B2 | Vulcan To The Sky Trust | Marked XH558 |
| HA-LPR * | Airbus A320-232 | Wizz Air | |
| HA-LWF | Airbus A320-232 | Wizz Air | |
| LY-VJB * | Cessna 510 Citation Mustang | Corporate | |
| N550LD * | Cessna 550 Citation II | Corporate | |
| N717MK * | Bombardier BD-700-1A11 Global 5000 | Michael Kors Aviation LLC | |
| N750GF | Cessna 750 Citation X | S'Porter Air Inc | |
| N80364 | Cessna 500 Citation I | Unknown | WFU / stored, not airworthy |
| ZA612/074 | Panavia PA-200 Tornado GR4 | Royal Air Force (Marham Wing) | Overshoot - heard but not seen |
| ZG998 * | Britten-Norman BN-2T-4S Defender AL1 | Army Air Corps (5 Regiment / 651 Squadron) | Training |
OTT
04/02/15
| REG | A/C TYPE | OPERATOR | NOTES |
| A6-ETO * | Boeing 777-3FXER | Etihad Airways | |
| EI-DLJ | Boeing 737-8AS/W | Ryanair | |
| EI-EKM | Boeing 737-8AS/W | Ryanair | |
| G-BODB | Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior II | Sherburn Aero Club | |
| N647UA * | Boeing 767-322ER | United Airlines | |
| N78009 | Boeing 777-224ER | United Airlines | |
| PH-MCU * | McDonnell Douglas MD-11F | Martinair Cargo |
All in all a superb couple of days out, thanks to the two Paul's and Matt for joining me, especially Paul Tasker for driving, a huge thanks to FODSA in particular Vice-Chairman Paul Maddison for hosting such a great visit, and a special thanks to RHADS Commercial Manager Ian Smith for providing the free accommodation.
Click here for Chris Smiths photos and here for a video from Matt Falcus.