The Kiwi operated, and closely monitored by the Mil Design Bureau in Moscow, Russian designed Mi-8 helicopter will be based Archerfield for most of this week

These heavy-lift helicopters are used for projects around the globe with the current job and reason for the Archerfield visit is to replace some of the ageing transmission towers on Mt Cootha just to the west of AF

The world's largest aircraft, a An-225 Mriya, has taken to the air again in the Ukraine after undergoing years of refurbishment

The Mriya with its 290 foot wingspan is exceeded only by the 320 foot wing of the now museum attraction Hughes HK-1, better known as the Spruce Goose which remains unchallenged as the greatest of any aircraft ever built

A State Government instigated report has Caboolture airport overtaking Archerfield - as in the number of aircraft on-field - within the next 20 years

The report also suggested that a plan be established to redevelop Caboolture after 2018 when the lease - now owned by the Caboolture Aero Club - expires

Heard by the News Desk mid-morning on Sunday May 13 on Queensland's Gold Coast, four Curtiss-Wright Cyclone 18 cylinder turbo-compound supercharged piston engines in rhythmic harmony at about 1000ft heading southbound just off the coast



Moments later an aircraft with a distinctive tail section appeared from behind the Surfers Paradise high-rise instantly recognizable as the "Super Connie" sailing past in all its majestic splendour