Look up in the sky....

It's a bird, it's a plane... No, it's a Helicopter Ballet. It's an amazing display of death defying aerobatics & skill flying everything from the RAAF Roulettes, the Pilatus PC-9s, Seahawk & Squirrel Helicopters. Sounds like an Airshow. Sure was. We went to the International Airshow 2007 at Avalon on Saturday.

An early start got us onto the Public viewing area just as the first Roulettes roared into life above us. They were the start of an amazing array of planes of all shapes and sizes showcasing the most awesome moves (handling) I have ever seen. I usually watch (or not look) at these displays through eyes covered by hands, but this weekend I watched in fascination and sometimes just plain (forgive the pun) fear as these planes roared around, looped the loop, threaded the needle, fell from the sky and dive bombed & buzzed the thousands of people watching.

We saw many planes from the RAAF flown by very experienced trainer pilots. These included the Red & White Roulettes, the Mighty F-111 with it's 'dump & burn' routine - wow what a sight. The F/A 18 Hornet, the F-16 Fighting Falcon & the F-15 Eagle all were visitors from the USAF and entertained us all with their superb flying routines. The B-52 Bomber made an appearnce flying by twice from an place unkown & returning to same unknown place.

Other Australian services were represented with the Caribou STOL tactical transport, the P-3 Orion Maritime patrol aircraft & the C-130 Hercules transport. To see these large planes just take off and bank, right in front of you is just an awesome sight.

Airliner fans were not forgotten either with a display of 70 years of commercial aviation with the Douglas DC-3, Lockheed Super Constellation, Boeing 737 being just some of the aircraft represented both in the air and on the ground.

Helicopters were well represented with the Army Aviation presenting a simulated battle sequence involving Iroquois, Kiowa & Black Hawk Helicopters.

For the Vintage & historic aircraft fans there was plenty of action with the Southern Knights T-6 Harvard formation areobatic team, a P-40 Kittyhawk, P-51 Mustang, Yakolev Yak-9 and Cessna A-37 warbirds. The larger old military planes including the Neptune & the Catalina had the oldies in the crowd remembering days gone by.

Bob Carlton's Silent - 1N self launching glider gave the crowd a quiet moment watching the large glider, powered by two tiny engines, perform an almost classical piece of flying.


Of course everyone is waiting for the Aerobatics displays flown by skilled pilots and this weekend was no exception. Pip Borman & Chris Sperou's double act with Beech Debonair light aircraft was just jaw dropping. American guest Jim Leroy and Lithuanian, Jurkis Kairys kept everyone entertained with their 'impossible' physics defying routines and the day finished in great style with a bang - litterally. A routine called Tin stix of Dynamite & The Wall of Fire had us all jumping.

All this took place at Avalon Airport which is now home to Jetstar so we also had front row seats to a number of normal arrival & departures of Jetstar flights. I wonder what the passengers thought as they watched planes circling the airspace waiting for them to land so they could return to their activities.

A lot less excitment on Sunday when we had a wander round the Food & Wine Fair at Birrarung Marr, the Greek Festival in Lonsdale St and finished the day at a 'Stop the traffik' concert at Queensbridge Square. Mezz Coleman and her band were performing first up. (Mezz & the boys are the very talented kids of a friend I grew up with).

So with March almost over & Easter just around the corner, life in the fast (& noisy) lane can be put on hold for a while. There is a verandah among the Karri trees just calling us back for a little quality time with good friends.

A safe and Happy Easter to you all.

until next time............