Boeing 737 Visits Orange

Elton John's Yellow Brick Road Tour Concert at Bathurst on 22 January 2020 delighted many thousands of his fans in the Central West of the state.

It also provided aviation fans at Orange, the opportunity to witness the first landing of a Boeing 737-300 Classic at Orange Airport. Not only the first of type, but the largest aircraft to land there to date.

Around 2.30 pm on Monday 20 January, VH-XNU in the livery of Nauru Airlines, brought around 120 "roadies" and crew in from Brisbane, to help set up and run the concert at Bathurst. They were then bussed down to the Carrington Park venue in Bathurst.

Why not land at Bathurst? Apparently the runway there isn't long enough at 1705 metres, whereas Orange's, at 2213 metres is, thanks to the lengthening carried out about 5 years ago. Thanks Newcrest!

For those interested in statistics, here's a few gathered from the internet:

The Boeing 737-300 is a twin-engined short-to-medium-range narrowbody airliner with a capacity of maximum 149 passengers produced by the American manufacturer Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The Boeing 737-300 is together with the 737-400 and 737-500 member of the Classic-737-Family.
Crew 2
Passengers 128 / 134, max. 149
Propulsion 2 Turbofan Engines
Engine Model CFM Intl. CFM56-3B2
Engine Power (each) 97,9 kN 22000 lbf
Speed 933 km/h 504 kts
  580 mph
Mmo (max. Mach) Mach 0.82
Service Ceiling 11.278 m 37.000 ft
Range 5.463 km 2.950 NM
3.395 mi.
Empty Weight 32.900 kg 72.532 lbs
max. Takeoff Weight 63.277 kg 139.500 lbs
max. Landing Weight 52.527 kg 115.800 lbs
Wing Span 28,88 m 94 ft 9 in
Wing Area 105,4 m² 1135 ft²
Length 33,40 m 109 ft 7 in
Height 11,07 m 36 ft 4 in
First Flight 24.04.1984
Production Status out of production
Production Range 1984-1999
Total Production 1113
ICAO Code B733
IATA Code 733 73C 73Y
FAA TCDS A16WE
Data for (Version) Boeing 737-300