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ameya
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Joined: 09 May 2007
Posts: 3671
Location: Pune,Maharashtra
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 Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:23 pm Post subject: SpiceJetting to BLR on SG 227 (pics uploaded) |
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A few days ago, while commenting on Sumantra Sirs post, I had said that I intend to end the year with 2 flights and here is all about the first one. This time I have tried clicking some snaps and shall upload it very soon. Hopefully this year itself.
A month ago, I got an invitation in my mailbox to attend a church wedding in Bangalore on 29th Dec. While I was deep into work, an opportunity to fly is always welcome, more so after silently moving out of aviation a year ago. What a perfect timing, close the year with 2 additional flights this year. A quick check with wife confirmed that she would also be attending so a one day plan got converted into a two day plan, go on Saturday morning and come back on Sunday evening.
A quick check was done to see that the flight timings and players I know on the route have not changed, No it hasn’t, feeling proud of myself, I decided on the booking.
Outbound:
SG227 1234567 189738 PNQ0645 0815BLR
Saturday NOTAM at Pune ensured that you don’t fly out from 1100 to 1700 and there is some bunching of flights in the morning.
The first flight to BLR is 0555 dep by S2 followed by SG at 0645, both base departures. I had to opt for the later since 0555 was too early, besides the airport is in total mess at that time owing to a lot of departures
I have not flown SG since 2006 after a bad experience of aborting landing at a very low level at Pune and have discouraged everybody from flying SG owing to its pathetic rate of schedule changes. With IndiGo maintaining schedule integrity to such a great extent, and SG not being soo great in service that you over rule INdiGo, I have always advocated people to fly 6E
A booking was done on the website, since I have always believed that booking on airline website is easier to manage over OTAs, incase there is a change in plan at point of time, leading to easier management and lower losses
Knowing that we have to head out quickly from the airport, booked non veg breakfast option during the ticketing itself.
For the inbound the options were nothing after mid morning 9W flight, till 1640 G8 departure followed by 1710 6E departure. G8 being a little cheaper and also that earlier means one would not have to spend a lot of time after check out, I opted for the same.
This part covers the PNQ-BLR leg travelled yesterday.
Friday – 28th
Few calls were made to some friends to try and block the 1st row seats since we had to quickly travel to our hotel, dress up and go attend the wedding.
Tick : We were blocked for 1A, 1B. Quick login to the website and boarding card printed
Late evening, I log on to flightradar24 to check which aircraft is expected to operate the flight. Flights around HYD / MAA / BLR are now covered on FR24 and its always fun.
VT-SPF was performing CCU-HYD-BLR and would most likely end up in PNQ and operate SG227 the next day.
The NOTAMS for checked for departing and arriving airports and its alternates.
PNQ / BLR / MAA / COK and nothing worth mentioning was going on.
The Rotation:
SG was one of the first along with Jet airways to have based the aircraft in BLR, Traditionally it has been operating their base aircraft to BLR. Since PNQ is not an engineering base and its only one aircraft that they park here, the rotation operates as below.
| Code: | 227 PNQ BLR 6:45 8:20
528 BLR CCU 9:55 12:20
528 CCU GAU 12:50 14:05
529 GAU CCU 14:35 15:45
529 CCU BLR 16:45 19:10
529 BLR BOM 19:40 21:25
529 BOM AMD 22:00 23:00
501 DEL BLR 7:00 9:40
871 BLR HYD 10:10 11:10
871 HYD CCU 11:40 13:45
871 CCU IXA 14:15 15:10
872 IXA CCU 15:40 16:45
872 CCU HYD 17:20 19:25
872 HYD BLR 20:15 21:15
228 BLR PNQ 22:00 23:20 |
Day of departure:
Pune, though considered a city right next to metros have none of the major radio cab operators. There is one, Wings, which has goofed up enough number of times and hence we decided to order for the other one and the latest one – T cabs.
Unlike Mumbai, they did not call me an hour or so before the pick up and turned up right at time and thus we started around 0500hrs for PNQ airport.
On the way, I checked for the METARS to see if BLR is being fog affected today.
VOBL 290000Z VRB03KT 6000 SCT010 BKN080 20/10 NOSIG
VOBL 290100Z VRB03KT 5500 SCT010 BKN080 22/10 NOSIG
All the parameters looked normal.
We quickly reached the airport at 0530 hours and headed for the counters.
Pune Airport & Boarding
I have written about this in my last TR, but this time I visited the other section which has SG and G8 and a lot of space amongst them since they have just 1 flight togeather, rest all is at different timings.
So the standard, show me your ticket, show me your ID, let me see your face, you look older now, ohh you are balder day by day was done and we headed in.
SG had 4 counters, 2 each for DEL and BLR. The MAA-PNQ-DEL flight has now been shifted from 0630/0700 to 0650 / 0720, which I assume is because of 9Ws flight being routes as MAA –PNQ-DEL at a better hour on MAA – PNQ route
The staff directed us towards an empty counter which was for Delhi. The agent quickly checked our bags and its weight since we said its cabin baggage. All within limits, boarding cards issued, we headed for security where the queue was long but moving quickly. As my turn came, the typical jamboree of idiots were ahead of me, standing in the line, without boarding card, only to realize when the reach the frisking point and then do the whole tamasha is going back and seeing where their bag is inside the xray machine and get the boarding card from there. None the less, we cleared security, had a quick coffe air side and found a nice tarmac facing set of chairs.
At 0540 and 0542, the 6E aircraft were pushed back and took off from runway 10 to MAA & NAG respectively. The MAA aircraft returns to PNQ later in the day, as it operated PNQ MAA CCU AMD PNQ NAG DEL. VT-IEX was one of the birds, couldn’t notice the other.
Boarding was caked at 0610 and we were the first ones to board and take our seats 1A and 1B in the cramped B738 cabin. Soon VT-AXQ (Jantarmantar & qutub Minar ) arrived from DXB operated IX 212 at 0515hrs. With Sumantra Sirs permission can I call it the protest plane ? Because early in the morning the sad news of the victims death was all over on the news and protestors were gathering at Jantar Mantar.
As people from VT-AXQ deplaned, saw some 15-20 windows occupied which I assume is the onward traffic to BOM.
Soon boarding was over and the pilot announced doors closure at 0631 and we were chocks off at 0635, 10 mins before schedule. The FA were discussing the load and it was 179, not sure if it was Total on Board or just the seats occupied, since there were atleast 6-7 infants around.
The Flight
The demo was done quickly, and we taxied to rwy 28, which again was surprising akin to my last experience, where 6E and SG had used two different directions for take off, within a very small time frame.
We were airborne at 0641 and took a sharp left to join airway – W27 to BLR. No sooner had we taken off, the FA’s started using the oven for heating the food and the aromas increased the hunger. This is where the 1st row helps, I think I can let go of legroom for food for morning flights. Quickly the trays were filled and there came the trolley.
Mr.Ameya said the FA, and before she could say anything else, I said, yes, 2 non veg hot meals pre ordered, which ended up embarrassing my wife. The FA smiled and we got our meals.
- Chicken Seekh, Fruits, Croissant, Baked Beans, French Toast, Butter, Jam, Blueberry yogurt and a beverage of choice ( COffe, Tea, Cold Drink, Juice, Lemonade).
I opted for lemonade and wife opted for coffee. The breakfast was 250rs if pre booked and 300 if ordered there and was genuinely one of the best food available in Indian skies and the best in LCC
The 1st row was very uncomfortable for food though, since the tray was very very small and doing a balancing act was a challenge.
Another achievement, I noted the name of the pilot. Today, Capt. Vaibhav Sharma was in command and was assisted by FO Sidharth. I am quickly picking up good things from other TRs !
Around 0735, the captain came on PA again to announce that descend had started and we expect to be in BLR at 0800hrs. The FA’s cleared up the trash and prepared the cabin for arrival and we arrived on rwy 09, at 0755hrs docking at a remote bay.
Giving us company were G-BNLL at its usual bay, a B744 bound for LHR, VT-ESJ and another A320 of AI. B738 of S2 which had arrived from PNQ and was bound to CCU and VT-WAG which had arrived from BOM and was bound for DEL.
We quickly deplaned and headed out for a long ride, a U turn and the gate.
The new green Vayu Vajra took us to MG road in an hours time.
Flight Details
Aircraft: B737-800 with winglet
VT-SPF is a 06 yr old plane, which I think is in SGs fleet since 2010 and its showing its age. While the industry is setting up benchmarks by sending back planes more than 06 yr old, here we have a airline taking in more of older planes.
ETD: 0645
ATD: 0635
ETA : 0820
ATA : 0800
Food: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Will I travel by SG again ? No, unless I don’t have another option
Why? : Because of their poor operations and OTP and frequent changes.
The church wedding went on well and evening we got caught in the BLR rains.
The return report and pics for this, tomorrow.
[/code]
Last edited by ameya on Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:45 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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sumantra
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Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi
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| Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 11:25 pm Post subject: Re: SpiceJetting to BLR on SG 227 |
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| ameya wrote: | | I had said that I intend to end the year with 2 flights and here is all about the first one. |
Thanks, Sir for yet another superb report! We are waiting for the return trip, and...
| ameya wrote: | | This time I have tried clicking some snaps and shall upload it very soon. |
...of course, the pictures, to confirm the mental images we have already formed, from the heady vivid descriptions.
Schedule checks, NOTAM checks, FR24 checks, aircraft rotation histories, METARS checks -
Ameya Sir, it is always a pleasure to correspond with such a meticulous person as you, whenever I embark on any trip. Of course, my barrage of SMSs often must leave you quite exasperated, but believe me, I value your gems of technical information and advice in your replies. I am lucky to have all this information from you whenever I embark on any of my trips. It makes it all the more fun to travel.
| ameya wrote: | | I have not flown SG since 2006 after a bad experience of aborting landing at a very low level at Pune and have discouraged everybody from flying SG owing to its pathetic rate of schedule changes. |
...you surely don't mean that the last-minute low-level landing abort was due to the now-familiar SG last-minute schedule non-finalisation 
Sorry, Sir - just having some fun 
- By the way, I have always found VT-SPF a funny registration, the Marans' Sun group having a `Sun Protection Factor' aircraft
- The change of runway direction at PNQ within a short period of time - I have seen this, too!
- Your report of the SG food confirms what my brother and father told me - SG has one of the best servings in the sky right now. I hope it stays that way! For one who loves flying and eating, having two of them at the same time is perfect bliss!
- Good that SG also announces the name of the First officer! I wish Air India did so regularly. AI usually announces only the name of the Captain, and the lead cabin crew member, which I feel is quite unfair.
- I wonder what the new green Vayu Vajras represent: CNG buses is the obvious guess, but can someone in the know please confirm? I had a nice ride in one a few days back (25 Dec, 2012) from the HAL airport to the Devananhalli one, and yes, the power ports worked 
Cheers, Sumantra. |
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ameya
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| Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2012 11:49 am Post subject: |
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Thanks.
Another thing which I forgot to mention was the usual A v/s B debate.
A320s are way more roomier than the Boeings
Besides for SG, the area in front of 1st row is a complete covered fixed area, unlike the 6E and G8 A320s which have a transparent partition. |
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Nimish
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| Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:25 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for posting Ameya - and glad you had a good trip to BLR. I too always find the 737s cramped compared to the 320, but operationally both are fine aircraft...
Hmm - interesting to hear that SG's meal is good - I've last tried 6E's and it's pretty lame on the whole. That being said, Rs. 300 is quite expensive for a breakfast!
Sumantra - BMTC has decided to standardize all BIAL bound buses in the green color - and reserve that color only for the BIAL fleet. This provides for product consistency and an easy way to identify the buses. I think it's a good move, as earlier we had multi-colored Vayu Vajras, and was tough to make out from afar, while now it's very obvious.
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sumantra
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| Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2012 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Nimish wrote: | | Sumantra - BMTC has decided to standardize all BIAL bound buses in the green color - and reserve that color only for the BIAL fleet. This provides for product consistency and an easy way to identify the buses. I think it's a good move, as earlier we had multi-colored Vayu Vajras, and was tough to make out from afar, while now it's very obvious. |
Thanks a lot, Nimish - that clears up the air. I have stared longingly at a few Vajras, only to find the plane sticker missing on the body. Are they also CNG-operated?
Thanks, Sumantra. |
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Nimish
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Location: Bangalore, India
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| Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2012 5:52 pm Post subject: |
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| sumantra wrote: | Thanks a lot, Nimish - that clears up the air. I have stared longingly at a few Vajras, only to find the plane sticker missing on the body. Are they also CNG-operated?
Thanks, Sumantra. |
No buses in BLR are CNG - it's HSD only... Only DEL's blessed with CNG . BLR has LPG - but that's for the autos and a few personal cars. With Auto-LPG prices at Rs. 55/liter, and with it being a low-energy-density fuel, it's not really useful any more - it was great when LPG was at Rs 20-30/liter a few years ago!
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Spiderguy252
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| Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2012 9:45 pm Post subject: |
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Good report, has a few similarities with my SG experience back in July. And yes, I agree that the A320 > B737.
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Yeah. |
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The_Goat
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 1:00 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for yet another nice TR, ameya. Man I have to admire the patience in writing all that up.
| ameya wrote: | | VT-SPF is a 06 yr old plane, which I think is in SGs fleet since 2010 and its showing its age. While the industry is setting up benchmarks by sending back planes more than 06 yr old, here we have a airline taking in more of older planes. |
There is nothing wrong with a 6 or even a 10 year old plane as long as it is well maintained.
and I don't think returning planes more than 6 years old is 'Industry Standard' by any measure. Most well run , sane airlines with a good maintenance setup buy new planes and use them well till the end of their service life.
If a 6 year old aircraft is "already showing its age " with SG, it only says a lot about SG's maintenance staff and engineers.
P.S Sorry ameya, I gave the credit to sumantra by accident
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I don't know which is the more pampered bunch : AI's widebodies (the aunties) or Jet's widebodies (the planes).
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Last edited by The_Goat on Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:57 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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ameya
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ameya
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Regular doubt. Not able to get the photo here, but only the link. Can somebody help plz |
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ameya
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:19 pm Post subject: |
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ANother thing which I missed was that a B777 of SQ was parked at a remote bay on Saturday morning. Looks like it was grounded the previous night.
I am not sure if they have T7F and/or they operate to BLR, but it did not look a "F" since I saw a windows ! |
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ameya
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:25 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Nimish for the help
Last edited by ameya on Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:42 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Nimish
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:32 pm Post subject: |
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| ameya wrote: | | Regular doubt. Not able to get the photo here, but only the link. Can somebody help plz |
flickr-bbcode by nimish_blr, on Flickr
There - hope that helps
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ameya
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ameya
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The_Goat
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:59 pm Post subject: |
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| ameya wrote: | Not sure what was the name of this plane. Looks like engg has taken the better of it !
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I think it is "Coriander". The "ander" is still visible
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I don't know which is the more pampered bunch : AI's widebodies (the aunties) or Jet's widebodies (the planes).
-Jasepl |
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ameya
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 1:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Ahh.. Thanks ! |
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sumantra
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Nimish wrote: | | No buses in BLR are CNG - it's HSD only... Only DEL's blessed with CNG . BLR has LPG - but that's for the autos and a few personal cars. With Auto-LPG prices at Rs. 55/liter, and with it being a low-energy-density fuel, it's not really useful any more - it was great when LPG was at Rs 20-30/liter a few years ago! |
Thanks, Nimish - that was very informative! Bangalore was where I first saw Diesel auto-rickshaws, in 1998.
Cheers, Sumantra. |
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sumantra
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 5:55 pm Post subject: |
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| The_Goat wrote: | | ...I gave the credit to sumantra by accident |
I am honoured, Sir! |
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sumantra
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 5:58 pm Post subject: |
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| The_Goat wrote: | | I think it is "Coriander". The "ander" is still visible |
Not just the Engg, could be the plane itself. Coriander lends a wonderful taste to a dish, and SG's offerings are quite good. Do you not see the 738's satisfied smile?
Cheers, Sumantra. |
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avbuff
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 1:35 am Post subject: |
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| Enjoyed your TR ameya ... thanks for sharing those pics as well! |
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ameya
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 12:05 pm Post subject: |
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| The_Goat wrote: | Thanks for yet another nice TR, ameya. Man I have to admire the patience in writing all that up.
| ameya wrote: | | VT-SPF is a 06 yr old plane, which I think is in SGs fleet since 2010 and its showing its age. While the industry is setting up benchmarks by sending back planes more than 06 yr old, here we have a airline taking in more of older planes. |
There is nothing wrong with a 6 or even a 10 year old plane as long as it is well maintained.
and I don't think returning planes more than 6 years old is 'Industry Standard' by any measure. Most well run , sane airlines with a good maintenance setup buy new planes and use them well till the end of their service life.
If a 6 year old aircraft is "already showing its age " with SG, it only says a lot about SG's maintenance staff and engineers.
P.S Sorry ameya, I gave the credit to sumantra by accident |
No problem Sir.
As for the age of the aircraft, yes. And for the 6 year old thing, you cant go to the market and says, all new planes. Not sure how big an impact it has on the travelling population |
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abhigopal
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 2:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Nice report. |
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