Wellington NZ: Very steep take-off of NZ 777-300

[haydensydney]

As a born and bred Wellingtonian, I love seeing vid's of heavy bodies using WLG as the visits are extremely rare. When I was a kid, I use to take the bus to the airport from Upper Hutt and sit at the airport watching arriving and departing flights all day (I was a special child, lol). It used to be awesome being able to sit at the end of the runway on the rocks and have the aircraft come close overhead - unfortunately you can no longer do this <sad face>. Back then, in the '90s, NZ and QF still operated 767's from the airport and these were spectacular to have land basically directly on top of you...

Anyway, I found the below video whilst grazing Youtube. The takeoff of the NZ 777 looks very very steep, and it's amazing to see how quickly it gets up. Would love to be in the coughpit on this one!

[video=youtube_share;hBUErLBXphs]http://youtu.be/hBUErLBXphs[/video]

And here is a different angle of the same take-off:

[video=youtube_share;yTJgjs7zG4I]http://youtu.be/yTJgjs7zG4I[/video]

Whilst i'm at it, here is a vid of a Gulf Air A340 landing at WLG which is also quite spectacular [wind noise is horrible so turn down volume]

[video=youtube_share;pWipzOQDYKY]http://youtu.be/pWipzOQDYKY[/video]

 

[tuapekastar]

Nice vids. I take it these are still rare events and neither of these was a regularly scheduled flight?

 

[haydensydney]

I am assuming that the NZ 777 flight was a promo flight, and probably the reason for the steep ascent (impressing the cameras?).

The Gulf Air flight was carrying a middle east sports team to Wellington I believe - soccer?

 

[Must...Fly!]

The Gulf Air flight was carrying a middle east sports team to Wellington I believe - soccer?

Would have been the Bahraini's for the WCQ playoff in 2009.

Fantastic videos, thanks a lot

 

[MarkD]

Qantas used to send 747sps there in the 80s , now that would have been awesome to see

 

[yohy?!]

2 thumbs up

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[openseat]

Thanks Hayden. Almost unbelievable climb rate!

 

[haydensydney]

Qantas used to send 747sps there in the 80s , now that would have been awesome to see

Yes, i've been trying to find a video of that - but can't find anything. Maybe TVNZ or an archive facility might have something somewhere - but i'd love to see it. Also, a UA 747 made an emergency landing there once, but again - can't find any footage or pics of that one :evil:

 

[kamchatsky]

Great videos.

Sometimes I wonder why WLG doesn't extend the runway? Good little airport though.

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[Awesom Andy]

Almost unbelievable climb rate!

Looks like it's only carrying the 2 pilots and may be 20 mins worth of fuel.

(please don't take my comments too literally though).

 

[Must...Fly!]

Great videos.

Sometimes I wonder why WLG doesn't extend the runway? Good little airport though.

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Aside other things, I'd suggest money is a significant factor. The Wellington Council, 50% owner of the airport is in pretty deep trouble financially.

 

[Awesom Andy]

It's a catch 22, I suppose... do you spend the money on investment, hoping for everyone to come in, or wait till everyone giving their confirmation of coming in before you upgrade?

 

[Must...Fly!]

It's a catch 22, I suppose... do you spend the money on investment, hoping for everyone to come in, or wait till everyone giving their confirmation of coming in before you upgrade?

They have spent money upgrading the terminal building, the INTL departure lounge is quite nice, but also small. Would push to handle a 777/A340 service I think.

Thing is who is going to come. AKL is known widely as fairly central, only 40 mins flight from WLG and an international gateway. NZ is also a small country, and WLG has 2 x daily QF flights to both SYD and MEL.

 

[travellerqff]

Yes, i've been trying to find a video of that - but can't find anything. Maybe TVNZ or an archive facility might have something somewhere - but i'd love to see it. Also, a UA 747 made an emergency landing there once, but again - can't find any footage or pics of that one :evil:

Air New Zealand 777-300 ZK-OKM takes off at Wellington Airport - YouTube

amazing!

 

[rechoboam]

thanks for that, spectacular - even if it's not full, it's just awesome to consider the power and engineering behind these machines. It makes you proud of our species!

 

[Ewing]

When I was a kid, I use to take the bus to the airport from Upper Hutt and sit at the airport watching arriving and departing flights all day (I was a special child, lol). It used to be awesome being able to sit at the end of the runway on the rocks and have the aircraft come close overhead - unfortunately you can no longer do this <sad face>.

I still do that - I must be a special adult ;-)

Although these days I tend to find a cafe with a good view (decent espresso and coffee are a bonus). In WLG I quite like Maranui Surf Cafe after being introduced to it by a friend there, and in SYD I'll sometimes go across to Brighton and watch from across the bay.

Thanks for posting those videos as well. Quite impressive!