Just over 4 weeks until the airshow... absolutely can't wait. It will be the best airshow in Australia to date... the list of aircraft on show it's amazing and reads like the inventory of the RAAF and USAF put together... I'm particularlly looking forward to the F-117 Nighthawk (Stealth Fighter).

It runs from Tuesday 15th March till Sunday 20th March... though the public can only go Friday afternoon and Saturday & Sunday. http://www.airshow.net.au/

http://archive.cs.uu.nl/pub/AIRCRAFT-IMAGES/F-117.jpg

If the weather is good I think they should get record crowds attending. A lot of my friends are going.

thats one sexy plane

i couldnt find a list of aircraft that are coming anywhere on airshow.net.au, what else apart from the normal contingent is coming? i havent missed one for 10 years, can not wait.

I haven't seen an official list, just what I've heard on the grapevine... but considering that grapevine is contained mostly within the RAAF, it's pretty reliable. I know the RAAF are bringing pretty much everything, and Boeing is going to be showing off the new Wedgetail AEW&C Aircraft (which are going to 2 squadron), the new army tiger helo will be there - as for what the USAF is bringing, I don't know how reliable my info is but I have heard B-1, B-52, F-15, F-16, F-18F, F-117, C-5, C-17...

Again, it will be AWESOME! My first visit to Avalon show - RAAF Aircraft don't interest me much cause I see them all the time, but I'm coming for the USAF aircraft (well that and I'm going for free on duty with the RAAF :) ).

well la di da hey, free entry and all, pity we cant all go for free.

C-5 and C-17 thats awesome, will be interesting to see the new wedgetail and the F117 cant wait for them, the rest of them are always pretty spectacular, the B1 flew not last airshow but the airshow before that, and thats a sight to see, wasnt as loud as i had hoped. Roulettes will make it aswell i'm sure, u being based at sale should be able to tell me that :)

Yeah, the roulettes are coming (as always). I am so over them... mind you I see them practicing most days, so the novelty is worn off - not to mention they're always flying at some event. In fact pretty much all RAAF aircraft will be there.

I wish the B-2 were coming - it was due to go to the Amberley Open Day a few years ago (pre Sep 11) but the whole thing was called off because of a massive storm. Since september 11 the US have said they're never sending it over.

Yeah, the roulettes are coming (as always). I am so over them... mind you I see them practicing most days, so the novelty is worn off - not to mention they're always flying at some event. In fact pretty much all RAAF aircraft will be there.


yeh i know they are a regular fixture, but i didnt know if they would be doing it after the crash, but i know they did preform on Australia Day, so i guess it makes sense that they will be there at Avalon, must say the novelty has worn off a bit for me aswell, would have seen them 100 times but its better than 1940's WW2 aircraft that fly in the morning! now thats boring, not to mention the gliders etc. :s

bump 9 days to go.....
whos going?

thats one sexy plane

Heheh, it looks like origami :)

Just got 6 tickets to the corporate areas on Friday night....woo hoo!

I'm navy, but I love the airshows. Its about the only time the zoomies do any work! ;)

they have advertised the Airshow with the slogan "miss it and you'll miss it forever" i hope this has no truth to it has i heard the Airshow will go to at least 2009 in Melbourne, anyone back this up?

Are the jetstar planes going to be there?

hey Neo, was reading the Age yesterday and they had a large article about the Airshow, it says the US are only bringing 3 F-16's, 3 F-15's a B-52 and a KC-10, no mention of the C-5, C-17 or the F-117 i hope they are wrong!?

Are the jetstar planes going to be there?

from the JetStar website : Between March 15-20, 2005 the Bi-annual Australian International Airshow will take place at Avalon Airport, Victoria, Australia. If you are travelling to Sydney, Brisbane or Adelaide from Avalon on Jetstar during this time, please be aware that traffic in and around Avalon may be heavy with Airshow visitors and this may affect your travel time to Avalon Airport.

so planes will be running as normal, which means jetstar flights will be taking off and landing all the time, something to look at :)

Jetstar will be part of Australia’s only Airshow with a strong presence at the event. There will be a Jetstar information and merchandise gazebo, with a great range of products available for sale and an A320 aircraft open for tours from 11:00am - 3:00pm Saturday and Sunday.

anyone else see the 3 i think they were american F-15's flying over Melbourne in formation at approx. 10:45am today?

well i stand corrected, just saw it on 7 news, and it was an RAAF F/A-18 trailing a C-130 Hercules, followed by 3 F-111's, on there way to Avalon, and staging the biggest RAAF flyover Melbourne to date.

p.s. seems as if i am talking to myself here! surely there is more than afew people who are interested in this stuff!!!!

I didnt see them as i was toiling away in Geelong, but i am interested and will be going to the airshow ...

well it seems that the USAF and USN will be sending their largest contingent of aircraft yet with all the ones Neo said B-1, B-52, F-15, F-16, F-18F, F-117, C-5, C-17... maybe not the B1 tho, and Australian sending its new Wedgetail AEWC and the Army sending its new attack helicopter the Tiger, aswell as the usual suspects F111's and F/A-18's, and i was just watching the news and saw KC-10, C-17 and 2 f-15's aswell as a re-painted RAAF F/A-18 celebrating its 20th year in service with the RAAF, so they are definately there!

Wedgtail AEWC:
http://microvoltradio.com/images/boeing201sept30a.jpg

http://microvoltradio.com/images/boeing201a.jpg

and yeh it does look similar to the Rialto that scraper in the background.

Aussie Tiger
http://www.defence.gov.au/news/armynews/editions/1033/images/01_tiger.jpg

wedgetail will only be on static display for the friday of the public show, and will be leaving for Seattle on Sunday at some stage.

heres are some pics of the 20th Anniversary RAAF F/A-18 Hornet:

http://www.defence.gov.au/media/download/2005/Mar/20050315a/000-174-934_0004_lo.jpg

http://www.defence.gov.au/media/download/2005/Mar/20050315a/000174846_0009JPG%20copy_lo.jpg

http://www.defence.gov.au/media/download/2005/Mar/20050315a/000174846_0138%20Full%20high%20front%20view%20of%20Hornet%20copy_lo.jpg


http://www.defence.gov.au/media/download/2005/Mar/20050315a/000-174-934_0114_lo.jpg

http://www.defence.gov.au/media/download/2005/Mar/20050315a/000-174-934_0136_lo.jpg

http://www.defence.gov.au/media/download/2005/Mar/20050315a/000-175-133_0001_lo.jpg

more images available at 20th Anniversary RAAF Hornet (http://www.defence.gov.au/media/download/2005/Mar/20050315a.cfm)


also got this info from a rival msg board ;) all these aircraft are apparently confirmed by the US Embassy :

1 x B-1B
1 x B-52H
2 x F-117 (Airshows has been trying to get one of these since the first show in '92 and now they are sending 2 down)
2 x F/A-18E/F (Most likely one of each E & F models as last show)
1 x F/A-18D (The 2 seat night attacker)
3 x F-16C
3 x F-15C/E
1 x AV-8B aka Harrier jump jet(Another first timer at Avalon)
1 x EA-6B
1 x KC-130
1 x KC-135 (Although there will probably be a few more hanging around the various RAAF bases on the East Coast as there will be a lot of thirsty birds to take home)
1 x KC-10 (Avalon first timer no. 3)
1 x C-17
1 x C-5
1 x AH-64 (Surprising that this and the following are coming since the Army's Armed Recce helicopter contract has been filled)
1 x AH-1

Barsby, if there were an F-117 at the Airshow, why has it not been reported by any of the media, and why is there not a photo of it in the media? I'd be VERY surprised if there was one at the airshow. I hope that you prove me wrong!

Same with Harrier, B-52 and B1 (although the latter two we've seen before, so I can believe). Not to mention, none of those are on the airshow website either.

well the Australian Airshow organisers have been trying to secure an F-117 since the '92 show, and it appears they have won the battle, and keep in mind the US would be keen to make an impact on the show, due to the Iraq war, may help persuade people to support American tactics a little more.....the Airshow website is useless anyway where doesi t even say what aircraft will be attending, i have also heard there may be a couple of suprises in store which wont be known until u turn up!

all those aircraft which have been said are coming have been confirmed by the US Embassy in Canberra....so i'd be very suprised if they didnt turn up, i'd be very confident that they will all show up.

To answer ur questions the USAF dont exactly make their stealth planes readily available for the media to photgraph, and u may also find that it wont show up to the Airshow until tomorrow anyway as the USAF didnt want to risk most of the aircraft due the the cyclone up north u may find that they will be arriving either tomorrow or even some may have arrived today.

B-52 is 100% lets just hope it flies this time!

Good to see that Avalon has secured the Airshow till 2015.

have thye? awsome i have to go one year. i want more explosions =D who saw the cover of the herald sun today? i saw it on the train this morning, it was crazy, a wall of fire, so cool

yeh the wall of fire is great they have had that the last few airshows, in 03 i was in the car park when it went off and could feel the heat from way back there!

100 companies take off with Boeing
By Philip Hopkins
March 17, 2005


As many as 100 small businesses in Victoria are set to feed off Hawker de Havilland's $175 million investment to build parts for Boeing's new Dreamliner aircraft.

Hawker will upgrade its Melbourne plant at Fishermans Bend to design and build wing components for the Boeing 787. The project was announced yesterday by the federal and Victorian governments at the Australian International Airshow at Avalon.

Victoria's Minister for Innovation, John Brumby, said hundreds of jobs would be created in the local supply chain on top of 200 jobs at the Hawker plant.

More than 100 companies will be involved or will benefit from the contract in areas such as tooling, the provision of capital equipment, the supply of parts and testing.

For the design, make-up and testing phase, potential contracts are expected to be valued at about $60 million. When construction gets going, contracts will be worth about $30 million a year.

"This investment, together with associated investment by suppliers, firmly establishes Victoria as the premier aerospace state," Mr Brumby said.

The Hawker de Havilland investment comes on top of work won by local companies for the F-35 joint strike fighter (JSF) project. Of the 18 Australian companies that have won contracts, nine are from Victoria, including Hawker de Havilland.

A new private company, Australian Aerospace and Defence Innovations (AADI), will help coordinate companies' efforts to win contracts. AADI has been set up with seed funding from the federal and state governments to boost Australian companies' chances of securing big international defence and aerospace deals.

AADI chief executive Mark Hodge said some local companies not previously involved in the defence or aviation industries would not find it easy to get a contract with Hawker. "Our company will help them find their way," he said.

Australian companies are believed to have already gained work valued at more than $50 million for the JSF project.

For example, Marand Precision Engineering, based in Moorabbin, will manufacture an engineering installation and removal trailer for the F-35. The JSF project is now at the prototype phase, and the initial contract is for seven trailers.

Tony Ellul, Marand's joint managing director, said the company had done the work for the trailer in-house - the design, stress analysis and engineering.

Mr Ellul said it was a sizeable contract and could tap the company into the global aero-defence market.

Mr Brumby said elaborate production processes and equipment being established at the Melbourne plant would boost Hawker's chances of winning further JSF contracts.

AADI will be based at the Fishermans Bend aerospace precinct, home of research bodies such as the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, the Cooperative Research Centre for Advanced Composite Structures, and RMIT's Centre for Aerospace Design Technology. Although based in Victoria, AADI will have a nationwide focus.

Classic Bomber Packs a Punch

The United States has confirmed that a giant B-52 will spearhead its impressive list of participants at the Australian International Airshow 2005.

The aircraft, also known as the Stratofortress, is a formidable and imposing warplane that has formed the backbone of US Bomber squadrons for almost 4 decades.

B-52s are destined to have an operational lifespan like few other military aircraft. They served in Vietnam in the 1960s, the liberation of Kuwait in the 1990s and they are earmarked to remain in service until 2034.

The dimensions of this durable warhorse, like its weaponry, are awesome.

The B-52 weights a massive 78 tonnes and can carry a lethal payload of 150-tonnes. It boasts a 60-metre wingspan and a 50-metre long fuselage.

Among its arsenal is Harpoon air-to-ground missiles, Cruise missiles and an assortment of bombs and mines.

The Stratofortress is a true long-range bomber and can fly more than 16-thousand kilometres without refuelling. It has a maximum speed of mach .9 (957 kilometres per hour) and an operational ceiling of 55-thousand feet. The massive thrust required to keep the aircraft aloft comes courtesy of eight Pratt and Whitney Turbofans mounted in pairs beneath its mighty wings.

A B-52 will participate in the flying displays on both the Friday and Sunday of the Airshow being staged at Avalon Airport between 18th and 20th of March.

The event will be a major celebration of aviation, aerospace and defence technology via the theme “The Shape of Things to Come …”

Large crowds are expected to turn out for this once-in-a-lifetime aviation spectacular – many of them will also visit host city Geelong that boasts a superb waterfront precinct and a plethora of world-class restaurants and wineries.

wow thats great news! i am going sunday!! :)

the fact it is staying in service til 2034 amazes me, will nearly be 80 years old by then!

only ever seen a B-52 fly once and that was i think in '01 when it was leaving the airshow to return to its base in the US, so it just took off and that was it, no fly-by or any thing which was very disappointing, sounds as if Airshow '05 will make up for that however.

"Geelong's superb waterfront precinct" my ass.

This is going to be great!

Geelong has an amazing waterfront and beach... what are you talking about?

who saw the Chinook fly over melbourne this morning? i had my camera in my bag but was too slow =( awosme helicopter that is.

Geelong has an amazing waterfront and beach... what are you talking about?

If by amazing you mean amazing that the bay has industrial complexes built all over the adjacent shores so you have lovely views of the refinery etc and after you've been there for five minutes and realise that all there is is a couple of over priced restaurants , some grass and a merry-go-round then yes, it is amazing. ...
as for the eastern and western beach.....well they are like a smaller, dirtier delapidated version of st kilda.
Geelong has a habit of celebrating mediocrity.

The wall of fire tonight was amazing =) if anyone else saw it....

oh man i want it to be on the enws, i want more fire! i am so going next time, i'll save up :P

more details please, which aircraft were there?! what were the highlights?

NO F-117!

and i heard no B-1 and no C-5 either.......no harrier.....

I was only there from about 6.30 on friday, i saw F-111 flying about doing fly-bys, then there were some navy squirrel choppers doing some pretty impressive stuff. There was that stupid plane with the lady standing on top waving at us for a while. They had a constellation doing fly-bys which was cool...hmmm a glider with fireworks, big (unexpectedly big) fireworks display, then they had the F-111 do a couple of fly-bys with afterburners and then the "wall of fire" which was awesome....

If by amazing you mean amazing that the bay has industrial complexes built all over the adjacent shores so you have lovely views of the refinery etc and after you've been there for five minutes and realise that all there is is a couple of over priced restaurants , some grass and a merry-go-round then yes, it is amazing. ...
as for the eastern and western beach.....well they are like a smaller, dirtier delapidated version of st kilda.
Geelong has a habit of celebrating mediocrity.

I find the area at Eastern beach charming, with the Italianate stairs and fountain, the enclosed swimming area and the old beachhouses, the grassy hill dotted with seating shelters and some stunning homes overlooking the area. The redevelopment of the waterfront looks fantastic compared to what was there. Given some time that foreshore area and the CBD will grow to be even better. Geelong is only a small city of 250 000 and for its size I think it has achieved quite alot over the last few years. To say that Geelong celebrates mediocrity is a bit harsh in my opinion. I think it has huge potential and I think the council are doing a great job breathing new life back into the place.

MG2

and i heard no B-1 and no C-5 either.......no harrier.....
Told yer! Nothing special or new. Oh well, hopefully next time. I guess they shouldn't have called it a taste of things to come.

I was disappointed this time round. its the same every bloody year and I wont be going next time.
Seen one F18, seen them all etc. Its becoming rather repetitive!

I'd like to see other airforces represented - Canada, UK, Germany etc.

I find the area at Eastern beach charming, with the Italianate stairs and fountain, the enclosed swimming area and the old beachhouses, the grassy hill dotted with seating shelters and some stunning homes overlooking the area. The redevelopment of the waterfront looks fantastic compared to what was there. Given some time that foreshore area and the CBD will grow to be even better. Geelong is only a small city of 250 000 and for its size I think it has achieved quite alot over the last few years. To say that Geelong celebrates mediocrity is a bit harsh in my opinion. I think it has huge potential and I think the council are doing a great job breathing new life back into the place.

MG2

Parts of the waterfront are picturesque, but theres no substance to them. Once you've been down there once you've seen it all and have no need or desire to come back for anything that is down there (appart from the occasional event a few times a year). Thats why it seems great to tourists but in actual fact i dont know anyone here who actually spends anytime at all down there...Its just so boring. And trust me, unless you live here you cannot understand how Geelong celebrates mediocrity, i've been to alot of small cities around the world and Geelong easily rates in the bottom few (of those in western countries) in my opinion. Of course it is only my opinion, but i would consider myself widely travelled and fairly unbiased, anyway this isnt thread for this so i'm done. PS geelong is only about 165000 in the city proper, 200000 in the area.

i was disappointed with it aswell, wedgetail took off and never came back, which was a big let down, the B-52 was good but only did 2 fly-by's which was a tad annoying, why fly all the way from guam and back non stop with doing more than just 2 fly-by's! the commentators and 1980's soundtrack they played were a joke! and the fact that the new Army attack chopper didnt fly was a massive let down aswell, infact only the F-16,F-15,RAAF F/-18 and an F-111 flew from the fasts jets, just not enough.

200,000 attandance times minimum $40 a tick

$8mil. surely u could get more planes to fly for that!

i have loads of photo's to upload just cant be bothered at the moment.

to the contrary, i loved the sunday show. but i am not an enthusist like u guys, so i could see how it could have been disappointing if u go every 2 years. The last time i went was in 1992 i think, so i was really excited about going this time

cheers

lozza

here ya go lozza

ive reduced all your photos by 1/3. they were hUge!
http://img93.exs.cx/img93/7342/f11117lm.jpg

http://img163.exs.cx/img163/8752/f11125xm.jpg

http://img163.exs.cx/img163/8219/fa18hornet17ov.jpg

http://img163.exs.cx/img163/2448/myairshow2005pictures0095gv.jpg

http://img163.exs.cx/img163/4854/myairshow2005pictures0112cu.jpg

http://img163.exs.cx/img163/530/policehelicopter2om.jpg

http://img218.exs.cx/img218/8106/qantasjumbo14jg.jpg

good shots

heres a small portion of the photo's i took.

F-16
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v733/barsby/DSCN0392.jpg

F-111 Dump & Burn
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v733/barsby/DSCN0426.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v733/barsby/DSCN0423.jpg

C-17
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v733/barsby/DSCN0390.jpg

F-135 Mock Up
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v733/barsby/DSCN0221.jpg

Its a pity that safety is such an issue. At the last airshow I went to in Durban (a vastly smaller affair), the fast jets (SA Airforce Cheetah and Mirage FZ1) were allowed to go over the crowd, and do it quite low.

The arrival of the Cheetah on the day was particularly cool as it came from behind the crowd with no warning at something like 100ft and did a vertical climb out from right over the crowd with afterburner blaring.

It made half the crowd drop to the ground. I was expecting it and it still scared the crap out of me :D. I think I still have tinitus because of it.

Heaps of fun although admittedly probably not safe with those 40year old airframes!

ill put my bit in.

B-52
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/as00.jpg

B717, passengers watched the show from the tarmac
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/as01.jpg

a very big A380
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/as02.jpg

Ozjet's rust-bucket
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/as03.jpg

black hawks, decent fire in the Youyangs
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/as04.jpg

nice view
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/as05.jpg

yep, its big
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/as06.jpg

20th anniversary FA-18
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/as07.jpg

great shots silvermb, the B-52 was a highlight thats for sure, even if it did only fly over twice, and on the safety issue, planes definately flew closer to the crowd pre 2001, security and safety issues have been beefed up a lot since then tho.

I remember getting to the airshow and the fire which was just behind the Youyangs looked like a burn off, by the end of the day it was a raging inferno with smoke stretching km's and km's towards the city area.....amazing, heard nothing about it on the news, i be they wish Elvis was there this year!!

Yup I concur, awesome shots...

some of the planes look great - I'd love to have been down there for this esp the B-52 just the sound of it would have been awesome - such an imposing character!

Im sorry to here alot of the jets didn;t really do much and that the new helicopter didn't make any flights.

I have to say sometimes i get really upset that we never had the shows like the Uk and the US have had in the past. So many planes I would have loved to have seen flying - some of the marvels of the decades past are an inspiration. Pity now most dont have even air worthiness certificates :)

Look at this amazing old russian jet...
Tupolev Tu22M3 Backfire
http://website.lineone.net/~roling49/Jetbombers/Backfire-1a.JPG

This would have to be the jet I most want to see...
the USAF XB-70 Valkyrie pity there is only 1 and its a museum piece
http://www.vectorsite.net/avxb70-1.jpg

I'd also like to have seen a Concorde or TU-144 come out here but its a bit late now.

Hey last Airshow was a ripper though. We had EVERYTHING, except the Russians, who came here in the early 90s twice - and their SU-27s kick arse over the American crap that we see now - and the bonus is that we don't get their jingoistic commentary!

i dunno if i'd call the American aircraft crap, but yeh the russian planes were good if u enjoy fighter aircraft do the things that acrobatic planes are made for! :)