Aldinga Airshow

The Aldinga Airshow 2024 took place on Sunday.  It was well attended, and provided a great days entertainment with action from some local and not so local aviators.   

The show opened with a local parachute club doing their thing!

This was followed by Paul Bennet in his yellow Wolf Pitts, and Jesse Jury in the CAP232, then the local aerobatic team the Silver Sharks in their Vans RVs

Next were some vintage aircraft, with the De Havilland Chipmunk and Tiger Moths group, followed by the RAAF Historic Squadron CAC Winjeel trainer.

Then we saw the Falke motor glider, and what was for me the best display of the day, the RAAF P-8A Poseidon from RAAF Edinburgh.   This was their first display where they were approved to fly below 500 feet, and I'm sure they enjoyed it as much as we did

We were then treated to Matt Hall in his Red Bull MSX-R performing extreme aerobatics.  This plane can pull up to 14Gs.  Next was Jim Whalley in his Aermacchi S211 jet trainer, and Paul Bennet again, this time in the WW2 vintage Grumman Avenger carrier borne torpedo bomber.

Emma McDonald was up next, showing some competition aerobatics in the Red Bull Extra 300.  Another interesting aircraft was the SIAI Marchetti SF 260. 

Another local is David Foord, who treated us to some aerobatics in his pretty blue and yellow DR107.  The last photo is also a local, Wendy Wills, flying her ex UK Army Gazelle helicopter.

This was a great day out, and I look forward to the next one!

   

Favourite photos of 2023

With yesterday's catastrophic fire danger day, we had 38°C and around 80% humidity, way too oppressive to move very far, so I took the opportunity to look through a few photos and come up with a post of some of my favourites.   I ended up with 11. Today, with a high of only 18° and mostly raining, means I haven't been out much again so thought I'd add another one in for a round dozen, and make a calendar.

The first is Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330 9M-MTG in the stunning "Harimau Malaya" livery. 

Next is Qantas Boeing 737 VH-VXQ "Retro Roo II" in the late 1950's livery

March's photo is Fiji Airways Boeing 737 Max 8 DQ-FAB.  A great colour scheme, and the first regular Boeing 737 Max service into Adelaide.

The next is Alliance Airways Embraer 190  VH-UYB in the RAAF Centenary paint featuring 7 past and present RAAF planes.

Another retro livery seen regularly in Adelaide is Qatar Airways Boeing 777 A7-BAC in the 25th Anniversary scheme.

The photo I chose for June is an RAAF AP-3C Orion A9-660.  Based at RAAF Edinburgh, these planes flew over my backyard regularly until they were retired earlier this month.

Next is a Jetstar Airbus A321NEO VH-OFE.  The new Jetstar colour scheme really pops against any background.

This is the photo I added in to make the round dozen.  The Royal Flying Doctor Service is an amazing charity, flying patients to and from every corner of Australia.  This is one of their Pilatus PC-21 air ambulances, VH-FMP.  These are used on longer distance operations.

 Regional Express have recently acquired some Boeing 737s and begun services between the state capitals.  their colour scheme really suits the Boeing 737.

"Retro Roo I" is my favourite Qantas retro scheme.  It is from the late 60's and is the scheme I first saw their Boeing 707s and 747s in at London Heathrow when I started plane spotting.

Another favourite is the Air New Zealand "All black" livery.  They have a number of different aircraft in this livery.  This one is Airbus A321NEO ZK-NNA.

Finally, for December,  we have another photo from RAAF Edinburgh.  This visiting USAF C-17 Globemaster III, 07-7187 arrived in great light.

Extra fire support for catastrophic fire danger tomorrow

Tomorrow has been declared a catastrophic fire danger day in South Australia.  This means that if there is a bushfire, it is unlikely to be brought under control quickly.  Many National Parks will be closed as will some schools in high ri9sk areas. 

NSW has sent across some extra arial firefighting resources that can be used if required

First to arrive was Cessna 560 VH-VJO (callsign Firescan 201).  This can be used to assess the extent and ferocity of a fire as well as being an airborne command centre

Then came the Boeing 737 Large Air Tanker N137CG (callsign Bomber 137).  When it arrived it turned into the runway extremely close to the airfield boundary.

Hopefully we won't need to call on these assets tomorrow

Barossa Birdmen Christmas Toy Run

Today was the annual Barossa Birdmen Christmas Toy Run Fly-in at Truro Flats Air Park.  Visitors donate toys which are then distributed to  deserving families in the Barossa region.   It is always well supported with up to 40 visiting aircraft.  Todays low cloud made for difficult conditions as most visitors must abide by Visual Flight Rules, meaning they must be clear of cloud and have the ground in view at all times.

Today there were 23 visiting aircraft.

Visitors included two DH-82A Tiger Moths (VH-CDM and VH-ABL), a very smart Lancair 200 (VH-OIO) and a Liberty XL-2 (VH-XLY)

Other interesting visitors were a Canadian Bush Caddy (19-4564),  a Tecnam P2008 (24-8001) and an Alto 912 (23-5595)

There were many other types represented, and here are a further selection of them. Jabiru 160 (19-8598), Jabiru 200 (19-3962), Aeroprakt Foxbat (24-8589), Sonex (19-8776), Allegro 2000 (19-4342) and Aeropup mk IV (19-7872)

In one of the hangers was this Fisher Celebrity 

Thanks to the friendly folk at Truro Flats for a great day, and a delicious steak sandwich for lunch!l

RAAF F-35A at Adelaide 500 Super Car Race

The Adelaide 500 super car race takes place every year in the city centre.  Roads are closed off, grandstands built, and for 4 days cars race around the streets of Adelaide at speeds exceeding 230Kph.  

The RAAF usually sends an aircraft to display for the crowd each day.  This year they sent one of the RAAF's newest fighters, the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II.  It is based at RAAF Edinburgh for the duration, and this afternoon I watched it depart and return after it's display