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                                                 An Eastern Canadian Holiday 5 - 21 September 2025 Dave Anderson

Having done the west coast of Canada recently, our plan this year was to do the east coast combining some driving and a cruise. The 10 day Princess cruise was booked from Quebec routing up through the St Lawrence river to a number of stops in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Portland in Maine and finishing up in Boston, Massachusetts, with hopefully a bit of spotting on the way. Best option on flights this time was British Airways from Newcastle to Dublin and then on to Toronto, both sectors with Aer Lingus, returning via Heathrow from Boston with BA. Seats up front were booked and fingers crossed that the Toronto sector which was scheduled as an A321LR would be one of new A321XLR’s, a sub type not yet flown on.

The logs shown below are selected only include new frames for me and don't include the long lists of regular airliners seen at Toronto and Boston, overall a good haul with 955 new ones inc 54 737 MAX's taking the total seen now to 925, about half of them in service so still a few more to get. As you would expect Toronto has lots of Air Canada but a good number of Porter Airlines, Air Transat and Westjet. Boston is heavy with JetBlue and Delta with most other US mainline carriers being present, Cape Air are in and out all day with Cessna 402 and Tecnam P212's with 35 different ones seen.

Day one – Our 9.30am flight from Newcastle EI-HDI ATR-72  was on time and landed in a very different Dublin since my last visit, the bizz jets now park in an area near to where the control tower is, where they used to park is now a remote parking area for airliners and the ATR’s park a bit further down near to the Aer Lingus Hangars. I’d checked the type on the flight over the past few weeks and it was mainly an LR, luckily today it was the last delivered (at the time)  A321-253(NY) XLR EI-XLV, a good result. Departing just about on time on the new northern runway, we headed off over the pond to Toronto, great service and a very enjoyable 6 1/2 hours, nice touch is you can blue tooth your wireless headphones to the in flight entertainment system and free wifi. Landing around 2.30pm in Toronto, entry was so quick and seamless it wasn’t long when we were in our pre booked runway view from the Sheraton Gateway in the terminal. Views are excellent for stuff moving in front of you with no movements missed and photo’s through the windows are ok though the sun is an issue in the morning being in your face. A brief pause in the spotting for a few beers and traditional chicken wings for supper.

Examples of photo's taken from the hotel Bedroom at Toronto

  

A6-EEP Airbus A380, in a recently painted Foundation scheme                                                       A selection at Terminal 3, looking over to a second bizz jet area outside the Westjet hangars

    

C-GOWG Boeing 737-800 of Westjet still in its Sunwing scheme                                                                  C-FJZD CRJ-900NG Jazz Air op for Air Canada Express

  

C-GBIN Airbus A319-114 Air Canada rouge                                                                                         C-GZQW Embraer E195-2 Porter Airlines

   

EI-XLV Airbus A321-253NY Aer Lingus heading back to Dublin after our flight                                     C-GEZO Airbus A321-211 Air Transat

Day two – Picked up the hire car we headed down to Niagara Falls, about 1hr 30 away, other than the falls and getting a soaking on the boat trip there’s not much else here to do. A planned visit to Hamilton International Airport was done a little earlier than planned, its on the way back to Toronto and has a great museum, home to C-GVRA the Lancaster that visited us a few years back, Cargo jet have a facility here and a few of their 757 / 767’s were about as well as a few old 727's. Canadian Warplane Heritage were doing pleasure flying using the Lancaster and DC-3.

Taken from the air museum

   

23651 Canadair CL-13B Sabre Mk.6 Canadian Warplane Heritage in Golden Hawks scheme       C-FGSR Noorduyn N.29 Norseman IV Canadian Warplane Heritage    

   

C-GCWM / HD372 / VO-F NA B-25J Mitchell Canadian Warplane Heritage                                           C-GRSB / FZ692 / Z2-R Douglas C-47A DC-3 Dakota Canadian Warplane Heritage

   

C-GVRA / KB726 / VR- A Avro Lancaser 10MR  Canadian Warplane Heritage                                   N389UP Boeing 767-300F d/d Apr 25, United Parcel Service Company

Heading back to Toronto, I had a drive around the main bizz area with around 10 hangars many closed up though a good number were parked out and easily seen and photographed, car parked at the hotel, we jumped on the train to down town Toronto for the afternoon and evening.

Toronto Pearson bizz jet area

  

C-FJCB Bombardier Global 7500, a few days later it was re registered to N680BA                           N335FG Bombardier Challenger 3500 its owner has the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham FC            

  

9H-MGM Citation 560 Excel of Air Charter Scotland had a month long trip to the Caribbean             C-FASR Citation 525A CJ2+ Airsprint     

Heading downtown for a very nice meal in the CN tower, that has great views of "Billy Bishop" downtown airport.Steady flow of Porter Dash 8's

Downtown Toronto airport from CN Tower

   

Day three – A bit of early spotting at Toronto before heading off towards Montreal in the car, first stop two hours away was RCAF base Trenton, National Air Force Museum, a great museum and over the road views of the based Hercs, A310’s and C17’s, most can be easily read off.

Trenton Air Museum

  

A very good museum, nicely laid out next to Trenton RCAF base                                                     7207 Avro Anso II  National Air Force Museum

  

10732 Canadair CL-28 Argus MK.2 National Air Force Museum                                                       116721 Canadair CF-116A Freedom Fighter National Air Force Museum

  

C-FETB Boeing 720-023B Pratt & Whitney saw at Stansted in 1985 as OD-AFQ wit MEA             NA337 / 2P-X Handley-Page Halifax AV.IIa National Air Force Museum

Alongside the road on our way to our night stop was Gatineau, a light aircraft field with a small terminal and a hangar operated by Vintage Wings, after logging some light stuff I found the Vintage Wings hangar where the owner was just about to lock up and leave, after a quick chat he unlocked the hangar and let us in for a look, some very nice airworthy vintage aircraft as well as the two recently ferried Canadian Air Force Grob G120’s that had passed over our area at home the week before but above the cloud and not seen.

Gatineau Vintage Wings Hangar

  

CF-ROA Canadian Car & Foundry T-6J Havard IV Vintage Wings of Canada                                   C-FTGF / 16709 Cessna L-19A Bird Dog  Vintage Wings of Canada

  

CF-TPM / P2961 / LE-A Hawker Hurricane XII Vintage Wings of Canada                                         CF-VPM / KH661 / Y2-C North American P-51D Mustang Vintage Wings of Canada 

  

CF-YPM de Havilland DH-83 Fox Moth Vintage Wings of Canada                                                      102202 / D-EZZH Grob CT-120B Astra II Royal Canadian Air Force 3 CFFTS

A few days later after some touristy stuff watching Bears, Elk, Moose and Wolves we headed off to Quebec, via Montreal Mirabel, not having long here a quick drive around which revealed some lovely Boeing 737-200’s of Nolinair as well as some freighters, Airbus manufacture the A220 here and only a couple were dotted around, no where as busy like a normal Airbus factory.

Monteal Mirabel Airport

  

C-FJCV Boeing 737-2M2 Nolinair still in old TAAG Angola scheme                                                 C-FTAP Convair 580 Nolnair

Montreal Mirabel log

C-GNLK Boeing 737 2K2C Nolinor
C-FCJV Boeing 737 2M2 Nolinor
C-GFCN Boeing 737 2M2C Nolinor
C-GNLW Boeing 737 2R4C Nolinor
C-FTWW Boeing 737 2T4 Nolinor
C-GNLQ Boeing 737 33AQC Nolinor
C-FKAJ Boeing 757 23A(PCF) CargoJet Airways
N281FE Boeing 767 300F Federal Express
N351UP Boeing 767 34AF United Parcel Service Company
C-FOYB Bombardier CS-300 A220-300 Airbus Canada Limited Partnership
C-GHWK Cessna 172 L Private
C-FTAP Convair 580 Nolinor

We had a few days in Quebec, a lovely city but more French than France!!! The airport gets some nice movements all arrivals could be seen from our city centre hotel, so a nice log over the few days.

Quebec Airport log

C-FRED Aerospatiale AS.332 L Super Puma Hellicarrier Inc
C-GSBR Airbus Helicopters EC.130 T2 Wendake Helicopters
C-FTYZ Beech 100 King Air Exact Air
C-GGGA Beech 1900 D Propair
C-GZGA Beech 1900 D Panorama Aviation
C-GOCF Beech B100 King Air Corporate
C-FBYG Beech B200 Super King Air Max Aviation
C-GOSL Beech V35 B Bonanza Private
C-GCGP Bell Helicopters 412 EP Canadian Coast Guard
C-GIDG Bell Helicopters 429 Corporate
C-GSPW Boeing 737 275C Air Inuit
C-FFAL Boeing 737 2R8C Xstrata Nickel
C-GGWF Boeing 737 4K5 Nolinor
C-GGWV Boeing 737 4Y0 Nolinor
C-GQBQ Bombardier 601 3A Challenger Government of Canada
N504GB Bombardier Global 6500 BD-700-1A10 Corporate
N616DC Bombardier Global Express BD-700-1A10 XRS Corporate
C-GQBC Canadair CL-415 6B11 Government of Canada
C-GJZT Canadair Regional-Jet 900NG Air Canada Express
N549NN Canadair Regional-Jet 900NG PSA Airlines
C-FUWO Cessna 172 R Private
N350GM Cessna 414A Chancellor Corporate
N42AL Cessna 525 Citation M2 Corporate
C-FAII Cessna TU.206 D Turbo Super Skywagon Private
C-FCLS de Havilland Canada DHC-8 102A Air Creebec
C-GIAB de Havilland Canada DHC-8 311A Air Inuit
C-FRHQ de Havilland Canada DHC-8 314 Hydro-Quebec
C-GQBT de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q-202 Government of Canada
C-GURM de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q-315 Government of Canada
C-GHQL de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q-402 Hydro-Quebec
C-GJZR de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q-402 Jazz Air
C-GLQJ de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q-402 Porter Airlines
C-GPFI de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q-402 PAL Airlines
C-GPIX de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q-402 PAL Airlines
C-GPNV de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q-402 PAL Airlines
C-GPOJ de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q-402 PAL Airlines
C-GYYR de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q-402 PAL Airlines
C-GJZY de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q-402NG Air Canada Express
C-FMIS Diamond DA 20 -C1 Katana Private
N727YX Embraer Emb-175 200LL Republic Airlines
N117HQ Embraer Emb-175 200LR Republic Airlines
N433YX Embraer Emb-175 200LR Republic Airlines
N748YX Embraer Emb-175 200LR Republic Airlines
N772YX Embraer Emb-175 200LR Republic Airlines
N773YX Embraer Emb-175 200LR Republic Airlines
N776YX Embraer Emb-175 200LR Republic Airlines
N781YX Embraer Emb-175 200LR Republic Airlines
N669MB Embraer ERJ-145 LR Piedmont Airlines
C-FGFL Pilatus PC-12 -45 Airsprint
C-GHPF Pilatus PC-12 -45 Corporate
C-GICR Pilatus PC-12 -45 Corporate
C-FKGE Pilatus PC-12 -47 Corporate
C-GDTL Pilatus PC-12 -47 Corporate
C-GKUC Pilatus PC-12 -47 Corporate
C-GODE Pilatus PC-12 -47 Corporate
C-GYBX Pilatus PC-12 -47E Corporate
N556AF Pilatus PC-24 NG Corporate
C-GJDD Piper PA-31-310 Turbo Navajo B Corporate
C-FLNZ Piper PA-31-325 Navajo C/R Corporate
C-GNVJ Piper PA-31-325 Navajo C/R Corporate
C-GELE Robinson R66 Private
C-FKSL SAAB 340 B Pascan Aviation
C-GANR SAAB 340 B Pascan Aviation
N910BD Socata TBM910 Corporate

The ship sailed up through the Fjords to Sagueany, though the port was at La Baie luckily about 6 miles on the approach to RCAF Bagotville home of F18 Hornets, there is a small airport on the opposite side of the base and a small museum, I hadn’t planned a visit here as we had tourist stuff to do, but pleasantly surprised when the hop on hop off bus stopped at the air museum at Bagotville, our first hop off !! Top Aces who operate like Draken for the RCAF had a number of Alpha Jets and a Learjet operating from here. The main road passes the end of the runway and reasonable views onto one of the ramps with 12 F18's parked out.

Bagotville Air Museum

   

01+03 / 19454 / AQ-454 (ex GAF) Canadair CL-13B Sabre Mk.6 Museum of Defense                                    101027 McDonnell CF-101 B Voodoo   Museum of Defense   

   

118106 Bell CH-118 Iroquois Museum of Defense                                                                               118720 McDonnell-Douglas CF-118A Hornet Museum of Defense

    

4857 Mig-23 ML Flogger (ex Czech AF) Museum of Defense                                                           A view from the viewing tower inc 9642 Piasecki CH-21C Shawnee Museum of Defense

100472 Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck Mk.5 Musee de la Defense Aerienne
118106 Bell Helicopters CH-118 Iroquois Musee de la Defense Aerienne
116733 Canadair CF-116 A Freedom Fighter Musee de la Defense Aerienne
01+03 Canadair CL-13B Sabre Mk.6 Musee de la Defense Aerienne
133333 Canadair CT-133 AN Silver Star Mk.3 Musee de la Defense Aerienne
Unmarked Link Trainer Musee de la Defense Aerienne
101027 McDonnell CF-101 B Voodoo Musee de la Defense Aerienne
188720 McDonnell-Douglas CF-188 A Hornet Musee de la Defense Aerienne
4857 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 ML Musee de la Defense Aerienne
9642 Piasecki CH-21 C Shawnee Musee de la Defense Aerienne
C-GQYY Schweizer SGS-2-33A Musee de la Defense Aerienne
C-GNTA Dassault-Breguet-Dornier Alpha Jet A Top Aces
C-GQTA Dassault-Breguet-Dornier Alpha Jet A Top Aces
C-GUTO Dassault-Breguet-Dornier Alpha Jet A Top Aces
C-GVNY Dassault-Breguet-Dornier Alpha Jet A Top Aces
C-GYTO Dassault-Breguet-Dornier Alpha Jet A Top Aces
C-GTXE Learjet 35A Top Aces

The ship stopped at Charlottetown, Sydney and Halifax, about 15 logged from the ship at Charlottetown, 4 at Sydney and 1 RCAF CH148 from nearby Shearwater in Halifax. The airport at Halifax is about 40km away from the town so nothing seen here. Last stop in Canada was St John’s which had another small regional airport, about 10 logged from the ship, there is a constant flow of overflights in this part of the world, many originate from Europe, so not a lot of time spent looking at them

Our first stop in USA was Portland,ME the airport is just out of town and the approach flown in a kind of loop that ended up with most arrivals coming directly over the ship on a three mile final. A good mixture from airliners, bizz jets and light aircraft were steady in and out all day, we were out doing tourist stuff most of the day, log is from morning and late afternoon.

Portland,ME log

N712US Airbus A319 112 American Airlines
N740UW Airbus A319 112 American Airlines
N815AW Airbus A319 132 American Airlines
N816AW Airbus A319 132 American Airlines
N326DN Airbus A321 211(SL) Delta Air Lines
N917UY Airbus A321 231 American Airlines
N25B Beech 76 Duchess Private
N225BH Beech C.99 Ameriflight
N624C Beech G36 Bonanza 36 Private
N48MH Beech V35 B Bonanza Private
N991AT Boeing 717 23S Delta Air Lines
N8965Q Boeing 737 8MAX Southwest Airlines
N901DN Boeing 737 900ER Delta Air Lines
N785FD Boeing 757 222(SF) Federal Express
N321WA Bombardier Global 5000 BD-700-1A11 Corporate
N44WG Bombardier Global Express BD-700-1A10 Corporate
N711WS Canadair Regional-Jet 100SE Corporate
N541EA Canadair Regional-Jet 700 PSA Airlines
N146PQ Canadair Regional-Jet 900 Endeavor Air
N581NN Canadair Regional-Jet 900NG PSA Airlines
N607NN Canadair Regional-Jet 900NG PSA Airlines
N19629 Cessna 172 L Private
N5334H Cessna 172 M Private
N2081S Cessna 172 S Private
N991FX Cessna 208 B Caravan Federal Express
N324L Cessna 500/501 Citation I SP Corporate
N525RE Cessna 525B Citation Jet 3 Corporate
N796MA Cessna 550/551 Citation Bravo Corporate
N123FF Cessna 550S Citation S/II Corporate
N328RP Cessna 560 Citation Excel S Corporate
N529TS Cessna 560 Citation Ultra Corporate
N814QS Cessna C700 Citation Longitude NetJets
N216DK Cirrus Design SR-20 Private
N289KM Cirrus Design SR-20 Private
N71JB Cirrus Design SR-22T Private
N740YX Embraer Emb-175 200LL Republic Airlines
N206JQ Embraer Emb-175 200LR Republic Airlines
N417YX Embraer Emb-175 200LR Republic Airlines
N771YX Embraer Emb-175 200LR Republic Airlines
N469QS Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 NetJets
N1848U Embraer EMB-545 Legacy 450 Corporate
08-72043 Eurocopter UH-72 A Lakota United States Army
N868WU Hawker-Siddeley 125 1000B Corporate
N544PA Learjet 35A Phoenix Air Group
N326V Pilatus PC-12 -47 Corporate
N38195 Piper PA-28 161 Warrior II Private
N2758Q Piper PA-32 R-300 Lance Private
08-20133 Sikorsky HH-60 M Black Hawk United States Army
91-00511 Swearingen C-26 B Metro United States Air Force

Our final stop and the end of an excellent cruise was Boston Massachusetts where we stayed for a few nights, somewhere we had been 15 years earlier.As the ship docked I was rudely awoken by a Fedex 777 at 6am, coming over the top around 400ft just before touchdown into Boston Logan International. Our room faced out to the approach but from the opposite side on deck you could see and photograph aircraft taxying to the runway for departure or aircraft landing overhead, the sun was an issue so more spotting than photo’s from the ship.  After disembarkation it was a quick taxi ride over to the Hyatt Regency Boston Harbour hotel where our airport view room on the top floor was ready. The views from here are excellent, looking down over the holding point of runway 14 and directly in front are the parallel main runways 4R & 4L that were in use during our two night stay, both terminal A & B movements are easily seen as well as the Fedex ramp, all of the international and bizz parking can’t be seen but all movements in and out passed in front. There is a water taxi and infrequent ferry that takes you across to the city from the rear of the hotel, though for ease we just used an Uber for around £20 that was quick and easy. Boston Logan is a very busy airport with something always on the approach, JetBlue and Delta are prominent but most other US carriers are regular and a few Europeans as well as a steady flow of bizz jets. Our evening flight to Heathrow was on A380 G-XLEI taking just over 5 3/4 hours meaning we had a good few hours before our flight to Newcastle.

Boston Logan Airport from the ship

  

Boston Logan Airport from the hotel bedroom

N804SY Boeing 737-800 Sun Country Airlines, taken from the ship into the sun                              N706JB Airbus A320-232 jetBlue Airways special scheme taken from the ship into the sun

  

From the room an American A/L 737 taxying down rwy 14 - not used for landing during our stay    A6-BLT Boeing 787-9 Etihad and N4076J Airbus A321-271NX jetBlue from the room

  

Parallel landings were common G-VEII Airbus A330-941 and N3023J BCS3 JetBlue                      N347QS EMB-505 Phenom Netjets in the lead fom N62883 Boeing 737-924ER United

  

N579UW Airbus A321-231 American A/L in retro Allegheny Heritage scheme                                    N589DT Airbus A321-271NX Delta Air Lines in 100 years scheme

  

N595JB Airbus A320-232 jetBlue in Boston Celtics scheme                                                               N605JB Airbus A320-232 jetBlue in Boston Red Sox scheme

  

N633JB Airbus A320-232 JetBlue in Brooklyn New York scheme                                                     N3275J Bombardier CS-300 A220-300 jetBlue

   

N78KN Gulfstream G500 from the departure lounge - was due Teesside shortly after but canx.       Our ship te Majestic Princess heading back out to Quebec

Boston Logan log, non US carriers

N938AV Airbus A320 251N(SL) Avianca
CS-TXC Airbus A321 251NX(SL) TAP Air Portugal
CS-TXH Airbus A321 251NX(SL) TAP Air Portugal
CS-TSF Airbus A321 253N(SL) Azores Airlines
EC-OIL Airbus A321 253NY(SL) Iberia
EC-OLE Airbus A321 253NY(SL) Iberia
EC-ONR Airbus A321 253NY(SL) Iberia
EC-OHY Airbus A330 243 Level
LN-RKM Airbus A330 343X SAS Scandinavian Airlines
EI-HJR Airbus A330 941N ITA Airways
TC-LHB Airbus A350 941 THY Turkish Airlines
N820UP Beech 350i King Air Gama Aviation LLC
N485CT Beech 400XP Beechjet Delta Private Jets
N491TM Beech 400XP Beechjet Wheels Up Private Jets
N901LM Beech B200 Super King Air Corporate
HL7202 Boeing 777 300ER Korean Air
JA866J Boeing 787 9 Japan Airlines
JA867J Boeing 787 9 Japan Airlines
N614WD Bombardier Challenger 350 BD-100-1A10 Executive Jet Management
N781QS Bombardier Challenger 350 BD-100-1A10 NetJets
OE-LHC Bombardier Global 6000 BD-700-1A10 Corporate
N5X Bombardier Global 6500 BD-700-1A10 Corporate
N469RB Cessna 525A Citation Jet 2 Corporate
N735XL Cessna 560 Citation Excel S Corporate
N626QS Cessna 680 A Citation Latitude NetJets
N629QS Cessna 680 A Citation Latitude NetJets
N921QS Cessna 680 A Citation Latitude NetJets
N733FL Cessna 750 Citation X Corporate
N841QS Cessna C700 Citation Longitude NetJets
N323SE Dassault Falcon 2000LX Corporate
N812RX Dassault Falcon 2000LXS Corporate
C-GLQL de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q-402 Porter Airlines
C-GLQV de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q-402 Porter Airlines
C-GKQB de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q-402NG Porter Airlines
C-GKQI de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q-402NG Porter Airlines
N43AG Embraer EMB-500 Phenom 100 Corporate
N300QS Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 NetJets
N347QS Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 NetJets
N348QS Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 NetJets
N352QS Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 NetJets
N399FX Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 Flexjet LLC
N631AD Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 Corporate
N688AE Embraer ERJ-145 LR Piedmont Airlines
N925AE Embraer ERJ-145 LR Piedmont Airlines
N618KG Gulfstream G500 Executive Jet Management
N78KN Gulfstream G500 Corporate
N822MK Gulfstream G650 ER Corporate
N444CX Hawker-Siddeley 125 850XP Corporate
N927AG IAI Gulfstream 150 Corporate
C-GLNL Learjet 35A Latitude Air Ambulance
N508AB Learjet 60 Corporate
N95GE Pilatus PC-12 -47 Boutique Air
N270AF Pilatus PC-12 -47E NGX Cobalt Air
N893AP Quest Aircraft Co. Kodiak 100 Private
N91HW Robinson R44 Raven I Private
07-20037 Sikorsky HH-60 M Black Hawk United States Army

We had a few hours at Heathrow before our flight to Newcastle so used the BA lounge T5 North, gives excellent views over the airport and with blue skies and sun behind made for some good photo's, the first few hours they were landing 27R later changing to 07L

BA T5 Lounge North

  

  

  

 

A brilliant holiday, with a few planes dotted here and there as always a huge thanks to Mrs A for help logging while we were out and about.

 


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A