It's the first airshow Australia's had in ten years - after two cancellations in 1996 and 2001, it's finally here. It takes place on the 2nd and 3rd of October, each day having the same show. I went yesterday, and it was great. Between me and my brother, we took about 100 shots. I only took five on my digital, so I could get a video (soundless, unfortunately) of the F-111 Dump And Burn - we're the only country in the world that does it! 
There were all kinds of aircraft, and the flying part of the show went like this:
12pm: Army Red Berets parachute from Navy Seahawk.
12:07: Six Roulette aircraft doing their aerobatics display. This was great, they must've flown three metres from each other.
12:30: Hawk 127 handling. This is the lead-in fighter of the RAAF, used to bridge training pilots from the PC-9 to the F-111 or F/A-18.
12:41: DH-4 Caribou handling display, plus it demonstrates an air drop of supplies and Short Take-Off and Landing.
12:52: AP-3C Orion handling. This is the RAAF's recon aircraft, similar to an AWACs, but without the radar. It did a torpedo drop on a dummy submarine, starting a grass fire. This gave the RAAF firefighters a good chance to show off how they work in the field.
1:05: RAN Squirrel Dance. This was really good, it was a synchronised 'dance' between two Navy Squirrel helicopters. Excellent aerobatics.
1:20: F/A-18A Hornet handling. These were excellent, they did all kinds of manouvres, plus flare dumps.
1:32: Three Roulette PC-9s were led by a P-51 Mustang in an aerobatics display.
1:49: Here a Navy Seahawk airlifted a car over the centre of the airfield, and then dropped it 200 feet. On the way out of the base later in the afternoon, I saw the wreckage; the car was compacted and stood about three feet high.
1:56: F-111 handling, plus Dump And Burn. These are Australia's strike bombing aircraft, and the Amberley RAAF base's native aircraft, and twice as powerful, fast, and loud than the Hornets.
2:12: Classic Warbird mass departure. A few WWII fighters here, including Mustangs and one that I regretfully don't know, a bomber with a flat nose.
2:30: This was the best part, is was a simulated air-to-ground battle, demonstrating what the forces would do in a real-life situation.
Before the battle, all the aircraft took off - first the two Hornets, side-by-side, which was awesomely loud, then the two Hawks side-by-sound, also loud, then two F-111s, one at a time. Then the Orion, Caribou, and Hercules. Once they were all in position, they started the battle. The radio channels were broadcasted over the sound system, so we got to hear how it all goes down in real life.
Before anything started, there was about fifteen minutes of radio chatter between the commander (in the Orion) and the other units, positioning them and so on.
In the battle, first, two Army Kiowas reconned the area, before moving away so the Hawks could airstrike the enemy position, which was on the other side of the runway in the middle of the field. Pyrotechnics were set up there to simulate the ordanance explosions.
The Kiowas went in again and reported that there were still live hostiles, so the two Hornets came in - one firing two air-to-ground missile, and the other strafing with its cannon.
After this, two Army Blackhawk approached from the north, and troops rapelled from them and set up a position on the ground. Two soldiers were 'shot', so medevac had to be called, which was two UH1 Iroquois, with manned 7.62mm machine guns on either side. The first flew around the area to cover the second, which landed and had the two wounded troops loaded onto it. Then it took off and they both left the area.
After this, two F-111s flew over and bombed the enemy. Then a Hercules came in, landed on the dirt, and deployed a parachute out the back which dragged a platform of supplies, and took off again without stopping. It circled and landed on the airstrip, and two Army Land Rovers with two M249s (one in passenger, one on back) emerged, and protected it while it took off again. I think that was the end of the battle.
By then an hour had passed and all the aircraft, including helicopters, did a flypast to end the day, which concluded with a Seahawk carrying an enormous Australian flag and two F-111s doing a DAB past it on either side.
When we get the rolls developed tomorrow, I'll scan them all and try and host them. In the meantime, here's the digitals:
(They are pretty large pictures, so if you've got that thing that shrinks them when they're fully loaded, turn it on, or save 'em)
Roulettes.
The Roulette Heart.
The trademark 'Bomb Burst' that the Roulettes do when ending their show. They were too close to fit them all in frame, but you can get the idea.
The RAN Squirrels, dancing.
Dancing again. It reminded me of a courtship dance.
And here's the video of the first DAB (couldn't get the second, out of memory), it's 4.8 megs and in MOV format. Actually, I'm out of space to host it, so if anyone has any bright ideas, please tell me.
There were all kinds of aircraft, and the flying part of the show went like this:
12pm: Army Red Berets parachute from Navy Seahawk.
12:07: Six Roulette aircraft doing their aerobatics display. This was great, they must've flown three metres from each other.
12:30: Hawk 127 handling. This is the lead-in fighter of the RAAF, used to bridge training pilots from the PC-9 to the F-111 or F/A-18.
12:41: DH-4 Caribou handling display, plus it demonstrates an air drop of supplies and Short Take-Off and Landing.
12:52: AP-3C Orion handling. This is the RAAF's recon aircraft, similar to an AWACs, but without the radar. It did a torpedo drop on a dummy submarine, starting a grass fire. This gave the RAAF firefighters a good chance to show off how they work in the field.
1:05: RAN Squirrel Dance. This was really good, it was a synchronised 'dance' between two Navy Squirrel helicopters. Excellent aerobatics.
1:20: F/A-18A Hornet handling. These were excellent, they did all kinds of manouvres, plus flare dumps.
1:32: Three Roulette PC-9s were led by a P-51 Mustang in an aerobatics display.
1:49: Here a Navy Seahawk airlifted a car over the centre of the airfield, and then dropped it 200 feet. On the way out of the base later in the afternoon, I saw the wreckage; the car was compacted and stood about three feet high.
1:56: F-111 handling, plus Dump And Burn. These are Australia's strike bombing aircraft, and the Amberley RAAF base's native aircraft, and twice as powerful, fast, and loud than the Hornets.
2:12: Classic Warbird mass departure. A few WWII fighters here, including Mustangs and one that I regretfully don't know, a bomber with a flat nose.
2:30: This was the best part, is was a simulated air-to-ground battle, demonstrating what the forces would do in a real-life situation.
Before the battle, all the aircraft took off - first the two Hornets, side-by-side, which was awesomely loud, then the two Hawks side-by-sound, also loud, then two F-111s, one at a time. Then the Orion, Caribou, and Hercules. Once they were all in position, they started the battle. The radio channels were broadcasted over the sound system, so we got to hear how it all goes down in real life.
Before anything started, there was about fifteen minutes of radio chatter between the commander (in the Orion) and the other units, positioning them and so on.
In the battle, first, two Army Kiowas reconned the area, before moving away so the Hawks could airstrike the enemy position, which was on the other side of the runway in the middle of the field. Pyrotechnics were set up there to simulate the ordanance explosions.
The Kiowas went in again and reported that there were still live hostiles, so the two Hornets came in - one firing two air-to-ground missile, and the other strafing with its cannon.
After this, two Army Blackhawk approached from the north, and troops rapelled from them and set up a position on the ground. Two soldiers were 'shot', so medevac had to be called, which was two UH1 Iroquois, with manned 7.62mm machine guns on either side. The first flew around the area to cover the second, which landed and had the two wounded troops loaded onto it. Then it took off and they both left the area.
After this, two F-111s flew over and bombed the enemy. Then a Hercules came in, landed on the dirt, and deployed a parachute out the back which dragged a platform of supplies, and took off again without stopping. It circled and landed on the airstrip, and two Army Land Rovers with two M249s (one in passenger, one on back) emerged, and protected it while it took off again. I think that was the end of the battle.
By then an hour had passed and all the aircraft, including helicopters, did a flypast to end the day, which concluded with a Seahawk carrying an enormous Australian flag and two F-111s doing a DAB past it on either side.
When we get the rolls developed tomorrow, I'll scan them all and try and host them. In the meantime, here's the digitals:
(They are pretty large pictures, so if you've got that thing that shrinks them when they're fully loaded, turn it on, or save 'em)
Roulettes.
The Roulette Heart.
The trademark 'Bomb Burst' that the Roulettes do when ending their show. They were too close to fit them all in frame, but you can get the idea.
The RAN Squirrels, dancing.
Dancing again. It reminded me of a courtship dance.
And here's the video of the first DAB (couldn't get the second, out of memory), it's 4.8 megs and in MOV format. Actually, I'm out of space to host it, so if anyone has any bright ideas, please tell me.