QAM - Antonov An-12 Cockpit Door

Antonov An-12 Cockpit Door


Outside	Inside

This door was donated to QAM by Pacific Air Express who operated a number of leased Antonov An-12 freighters out of Brisbane from 1999 to 2005. The aircraft were used mainly to carry tuna from South Pacific nations to Brisbane for transhipment to Japan. The door and two An-12 wheels are the only tangible reminders of this fascinating period in Queensland aviation history which saw as many as seven of these "aerial tramp steamers" leaving their characteristic exhaust trails in the skies of south-east Queensland at various times.

Unfortunately, it is not known which particular aeroplane the door came from so if any reader recognises the colours and can match them with a registration we will be pleased to hear from you.
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(All images are linked to larger versions)

An-12BP ER-ADT of the Air Bridge Group of Moldova.
Photo: Tim Dwyer

An-12BP ER-ADT of the Air Bridge Group of Moldova.
Photo: Peter Gates

An-12TB ER-AXA of the Air Bridge Group of Moldova.
Photo: Peter Gates

An-12BP LZ-SFL of Air Sofia, Bulgaria.
Photo: Peter Gates

An-12BP LZ-SFL with fictitious markings for a movie.
Photo: Peter Gates

An-12BP UR-LTG of Volare Airlines, Ukraine.
Photo: Peter Gates

Antonov An-12 Based in Brisbane (aka Sharjah South!)

Registration	Arrived	Departed
LZ-SFL	31OCT99	XXFEB01?
ER-ADT	06FEB01	16OCT01 (W/O)
LZ-SFA	21OCT01	21MAY02
ER-AXA	02APR02	08MAY03
ER-AXE	01MAY03	XXJUL04?
ER-AXA	30JUN04	28NOV04 (WFS)
?	28NOV04	20FEB05
UR-LTG	20FEB05	16DEC05

Regn.	C/N	Type	Remarks
LZ-SFL	4342101	An-12BP	31OCT99	Arrived Brisbane on lease to PAE from Air Sofia of Bulgaria while B727 H4-PAE was in the USA for hushkit mods. (Note: 2)
			MAR01	Painted with fictitious markings as EZ-8FL of Spooky Air for an appearance in the Scooby-Doo movie. Soon after, the aircraft departed Australia on return to Air Sofia.
ER-ADT	2340605	An-12BP	06FEB01	Arrived Brisbane on lease to PAE from Air Bridge Group (Aerocom) of Moldova.
			16OCT01	Written off in a landing accident at Honiara, Solomon Islands and subsequently broken up.
LZ-SFA	2348007	An-12BP	21OCT01	Arrived Brisbane on lease to PAE from Air Sofia as a temporary replacement for ER-ADT.
			21MAY02	Departed Brisbane at end of PAE lease.
LZ-SFS	5344308	An-12BP	04NOV01	Air Sofia arrived Brisbane.
			?	Departed Brisbane. Did this aircraft enter service with PAE? It has been speculated that LZ-SFS may have been used to recover parts salvaged from ER-ADT. For this reason it is not shown in the above table as PAE flights were otherwise covered. By MAR02 the aircraft was operating charters for the ADF.
ER-AXA	1347907	An-12TB	02APR02	Arrived Brisbane on lease to PAE from Air Bridge Group (Aerocom) of Moldova.
			04APR02	Entered service with PAE Brisbane-Honiara.
			08MAY03	Departed Brisbane on return to Moldova.
			30JUN04	Returned to Brisbane.
			28NOV04	Lease to PAE ended but the aircraft was stored in the open at Brisbane. During this period, ownership passed to Aeromost of Kharkiv, Ukraine but the aircraft remained in storage at Brisbane.
			09JUN07	Departed Brisbane for Laos as RDPL-34153.
ER-AXE	7345201	An-12BK	01MAY03	Arrived Brisbane on lease to PAE from Air Bridge Group (Aerocom) of Moldova.
			07MAY03	Entered service with PAE Brisbane-Honiara.
			JUL04?	Departed Brisbane. By 04MAR05 the aircraft was noted at Sharjah, UAE in UN markings.
UR-LTG	347201	An-12BP	20FEB05	Noted at Brisbane on lease to PAE from Volare Airlines of the Ukraine. Did it arrive earlier to cover the withdrawal of ER-AXA?
			16DEC05	Departed Brisbane on return to Volare.

Notes

This table lists An-12s which are known to have been based in Brisbane. It does include itinerant aircraft.

LZ-SFL was an occasional visitor to Brisbane during 1997 when it was leased to Cargo Air NZ for trans-Tasman horse charters. It is believed that LZ-SFL was delivered to Cargo Air in Hamilton, NZ on 09JUL97. The aircraft departed Hamilton on 05DEC97 for Brisbane and presumably subsequent return to its owner. Boeing 727-281F H4-PAE returned to Brisbane as N214F on 22AUG00 but never returned to service with Pacific Air Express. The aircraft was ferried to Melbourne on 23DEC00 for Air Cargo Australia.

Compiled by Ron Cuskelly

Issue	Date	Remarks
6	19NOV20	Added an explanation of the fictitious Spooky Air markings applied to LZ-SFL thanks to Peter Gates.
5	11NOV20	Added images of ER-ADT, EZ-8FL and LZ-SFL thanks to Peter Gates.
4	05APR09	Added an image of ER-ADT thanks to Tim Dwyer.
3	02APR09	Major revision of the table of aircraft.
2	29MAR09	Added sightings of LZ-SFA and LZ-SFS.
1	19MAR09	Original issue.