Australian Defence Forces Airshow – Sat 4 & Sun 5 Oct 2008 – RAAF Base Amberley

The Bear says:

The venue of the Australian Defence Forces Air Show rotates from year to year, and in 2008 it was RAAF Base Amberley's turn once again. This was our second of these shows together, the first being in 2004, and we'd been looking forward to its return to Queensland since the dates were announced around a year ago! Seeing as we enjoyed it so much last time around, we decided to go both days this time - and very glad we are of it too. There was definitely enough to see to make both days worthwhile; and the differences in the flying displays made us very glad not to have missed either of the day's displays. This was a massive event, with tens of thousands of people milling about and sunny, cloudless skies that were perfect for the flying displays but merciless to the spectators.

The displays fell into three categories: the modern, the aerobatic, and the vintage (and I group the 40-year-old F-111s in with the "modern").






Modern combat aircraft are inherently impressive: they're large, they're fast, and they're so loud that they make the ground shake. Therefore, the flying displays by the F-111s, the Hawk, and the group and solo performances by the F/A-18s were real show-stealers, especially with the F-111s putting on their famous "dump and burn". This will be a nostalgic event, as it was the last time the F-111s will be performing at an Amberley airshow before their retirement in 2010. But for me, the real star was the solo F/A-18 being put through its paces as the finale to the show. It was a real shame that so many people left after the F-111 display and didn't see some truly incredible flying. Unfortunately, the two USAF F-15s and the Singapore Air Force F-16 stayed on the ground as static displays and we didn't get to see them in their natural element.






The aerobatics included truly breathtaking, "no way!" flying by Pip Borman (Zivko Edge 540), Paul Bennet (Pitts Special), and Matt Hall (Giles G-202), as well as the RAAF's own Roulettes team with a brand-new display.







My own personal favourite displays, however, were the vintage warbirds. These included a CAC Mustang, Lockheed Hudson, de Havilland Vampire, Gloster Meteor, and English Electric Canberra. It was really magical to see these machines in the air. My greatest regret of the weekend was missing the Canberra's display and formation flight with an F-111. While this was happening on Saturday, we were otherwise occupied with getting lunch, and I was thinking "don't worry, I'll catch it tomorrow". Well, unfortunately, the Canberra didn't fly on Sunday, so the brief glimpses I got while standing in the fast food line were all I saw of it in the air. We must make a pilgrimage to its home at Temora one of these days!

Tips for future shows:

• Don't assume that there will be a chance to see it "tomorrow" (or "today" for that matter - those who only came on Saturday didn't get to see the C-17 in the air).
  
• Don't underestimate how much water, sunscreen, and batteries you will need
• Don't underestimate how much the food could possibly cost!

All in all, a weekend close to my idea of heaven; shared with a lovely wife who not only supports my strangely obsessive fascination with flying machines, but actually came all day both days to share the event with me!