Having never been to Canada beforeI decided it was time to try and clear those large gapsin my Canadian domestic fleets. Air Transat A330 C-GKTS was my ridefor the 8 hour 20 minutes flight to Toronto,and after a five-minute grilling at the immigrationdesk as to why I wanted to visit Torontodidn’t mention anything about spotting,I just claimed to be on vacation, but sheobviously didn’t believe me!), I found myway to the Sheraton Gateway hotel. I hade-mailed the hotel to request a room ona high floor and was duly allocated a roomon the 7th Floor – and what a view! The roomshave internet access (C$18 per day), or youcan upgrade to an executive room on the 8thFloor which have free internet access and breakfastfor an extra C$50 per day. The airport layout is basically an “H” shape,with the hotel overlooking the ramps that areused by Westjet and most of the US airlines,and the taxiway and runway that connects theend runways. The runways at either end of theterminal can be monitored, but anything arrivingor departing is difficult to read off, so it’sbest to make sure you try and log everything asit taxies. Airband radio and SBS are both usefulfor picking off the numerous biz jet movementsas well as the FedEx cargo movements. Amongst those noted between 16.00-20.00 were the following:
Having never been to Canada before
I decided it was time to try and clear those large gaps
in my Canadian domestic fleets.
Air Transat A330 C-GKTS was my ride
for the 8 hour 20 minutes flight to Toronto,
and after a five-minute grilling at the immigration
desk as to why I wanted to visit Toronto
didn’t mention anything about spotting,
I just claimed to be on vacation, but she
obviously didn’t believe me!), I found my
way to the Sheraton Gateway hotel. I had
e-mailed the hotel to request a room on
a high floor and was duly allocated a room
on the 7th Floor – and what a view! The rooms
have internet access (C$18 per day), or you
can upgrade to an executive room on the 8th
Floor which have free internet access and breakfast
for an extra C$50 per day.
The airport layout is basically an “H” shape,
with the hotel overlooking the ramps that are
used by Westjet and most of the US airlines,
and the taxiway and runway that connects the
end runways. The runways at either end of the
terminal can be monitored, but anything arriving
or departing is difficult to read off, so it’s
best to make sure you try and log everything as
it taxies. Airband radio and SBS are both useful
for picking off the numerous biz jet movements
as well as the FedEx cargo movements.
Amongst those noted between 16.00-20.00 were the following:
N819AY CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 8019 Northwest Airlink C-FFYT EMBRAER EMB190 19000018 Air Canada C-FWRS CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 7112 Air Canada Jazz C-FEWJ BOEING 737NG 32769 WestJet C-GWJG BOEING 737NG 35504 WestJet C-FWRT CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 7118 Air Canada Jazz C-FLWK EMBRAER EMB190 19000096 Air Canada C-FDCH BOEING 737 26700 CanJet Airlines N501UW BOEING 737 23231 US Airways C-GNJA CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 8004 Air Canada Jazz C-GTSF AIRBUS A310 472 Air Transat N867QS HS/BAE/RAYTHEON 125 258576 NetJets C-FWAQ BOEING 737NG 32748 WestJet C-GWBL BOEING 737NG 34154 WestJet N14153 EMBRAER EMB145 145761 Continental Express C-GWBJ BOEING 737NG 32754 WestJet C-FNJZ CANADAIR CRJ-900 15046 Air Canada Jazz C-GJSV DHC-8 085 Air Canada Jazz N565AA DOUGLAS DC- 9 49347 American Airlines N821SK CANADAIR CRJ-900 15109 Delta Connection N14601 BOEING 737 27314 Continental Airlines N414ZW CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 7586 US Airways Express C-FWJB CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 7087 Air Canada Jazz N659CA CANADAIR CRJ-700 10153 Delta Connection N712AE EMBRAER EMB135 145247 American Eagle Airlines C-FHJT EMBRAER EMB190 19000043 Air Canada C-FBXL CESSNA CITATION EXCEL 560-5298 Airsprint Inc N981HA DHC-8 378 US Airways Express C-FFAN BOEING 757 28674 Skyservice Airlines C-FTDW BOEING 737NG 34704 Sunwing Airlines N16112 EMBRAER EMB145 145660 Continental Express C-FWCC BOEING 737NG 32752 WestJet C-GONW DHC-8 112 Air Canada Jazz N868CA CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 7427 Delta Connection N924UA BOEING 737 26645 United Airlines N8604C CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 7604 Northwest Airlink C-GBIM AIRBUS A319 0840 Air Canada C-FZQS AIRBUS A320 2145 Air Canada C-GWCQ BOEING 737NG 35111 WestJet N946AN BOEING 737NG 30600 American Airlines C-GRPF CANADAIR CHALLENGER 601 5168 Skyservice Aviation Inc C-GTOR HS/BAE/RAYTHEON 125 257029 Partner Jet Inc C-FTJR AIRBUS A320 0248 Air Canada N95CC CESSNA CITATION EXCEL 560-5278 Cessna Aircraft Co C-FJXZ DHC-8 264 Air Canada Jazz C-FKWS BOEING 737NG 30134 WestJet C-FSKM CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 7071 Air Canada Jazz N890BB DASSAULT FALCON 900DX 611 New Heights LLC C-GMJA CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 8003 Air Canada Jazz C-GEIV GULFSTREAM 4 1224 Skyservice Aviation Inc C-GITY AIRBUS A321 1611 Air Canada C-FWSV BOEING 737NG 32760 WestJet C-GWSL BOEING 737NG 34633 WestJet CS-TGV AIRBUS A310 651 SATA International C-FHKS EMBRAER EMB190 19000064 Air Canada N705BB HS/BAE/RAYTHEON 125 258015 Co-Mo LLC N900CH DASSAULT FALCON 2000EX 001 Cardal Inc C-FEJC EMBRAER EMB175 17000089 Air Canada N634RW EMBRAER EMB170 17000055 United Express C-FHKP EMBRAER EMB190 19000055 Air Canada C-FEIQ EMBRAER EMB175 17000083 Air Canada C-FHNV EMBRAER EMB190 19000075 Air Canada C-FNNS CANADAIR CHALLENGER 601 5068 Skyservice Aviation C-GWSE BOEING 737NG 33379 WestJet N927AN BOEING 737NG 30077 American Airlines C-FJJZ CANADAIR CRJ-900 15043 Air Canada Jazz N24715 BOEING 737NG 28786 Continental Airlines N723AE EMBRAER EMB135 145288 American Eagle Airlines C-FMWJ BOEING 737NG 32771 WestJet C-GCTC DHC-8 65 Air Canada Jazz N912CA CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 7011 Delta Connection N999VK CANADAIR CHALLENGER 604 5499 VKRM Aviation LLC C-GKER CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 7368 Air Canada Jazz C-FWTF AIRBUS A319 1963 Air Canada N393FE DOUGLAS DC-10 46627 FedEx Express C-GCCU HS/BAE/RAYTHEON 125 258105 Sunwest Aviation Ltd C-FJWS BOEING 737NG 28651 WestJet N100EG DASSAULT FALCON 50 105 Greenfield Aviation LLC C-GONN DHC-8 101 Air Canada Jazz C-GWSI BOEING 737NG 34286 WestJet C-GORF BEECHCRAFT 1900 UE-330 Air Georgian N702AE EMBRAER EMB135 145164 American Eagle Airlines N829AW AIRBUS A319 1563 America West Airlines C-GPAW CESSNA CITATION EXCEL 560-5681 Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp C-GDJZ CANADAIR CRJ-900 15049 Air Canada Jazz N447AA DOUGLAS DC- 9 49473 American Airlines N612MX AIRBUS A319 1612 Mexicana N784TW DOUGLAS DC- 9 47014 Ameristar Charters C-GWAZ BOEING 737NG 32763 WestJet N963CA CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 7127 Delta Connection N465AW CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 7893 US Airways Express N16502 EMBRAER EMB135 145166 Continental Express C-FWAD BOEING 737NG 32753 WestJet C-GWBT BOEING 737NG 32755 WestJet N377NW AIRBUS A320 2082 Northwest Airlines Then it was off to the bar for food and several cold beers! The usual jet lag has kicked in and I am typing this at 4am waiting for day
to break and what is planned a marathon spotting stint until tiredness/hunger
for beer kicks in. Report part 2 to follow later. Cheers Andy. Franks