Australian International Airshow 2003 16/2/3
I went to the Australian International Airshow which was being held at Avalon Airport in Geelong, its about an hour's train ride south-west of Melbourne. The theme was a century of flight...
They had various pyrotechnic explosions (petrol based and some airbombs) which they let off during mock air battles and bombing runs. This one here was a mock WWI air battle between a Sopwith Camel and a Fokker DR1 (pictured).
They had a couple of recreations of early aircraft, including the Wright brothers bi-plane. They got pushed into place on the runway then took off at about 10mph and nearly got blown over whenever the wind blew.
This one here seems to be made out of a bit of dowel and some crate paper. People were openly laughing at them, but I think it was a nervous laugh because it looked so much like a gust of wind would bring it crashing down.
They had some US 'Heavy Metal' there too which was fun. This is an FA-18 Hornet on take-off. They also had an F-16 and a couple of F-15s as well as the early jet pioneers like the Mig-15.
They finished off with a couple of F1-11s doing a 'Dump and Burn' Where they dump their fuel midflight and ignite it, leaving a trail of fire as they accelerate up into the clouds. They also did a simulated bombing run at the same time which looked near enough like napalm which was pretty cool.
Got back to the hostel about 8pm. Went out drinking. What a day.