Whats wrong with australian airshows !!!!

Just an update…

Sorry Kiwis, but the Spitfire XVI is now Temora’s (and Australia’s) 2nd flying Spit. It’s here already, and due to fly in September.

As for events, Temora has a very decent flying display every 5 or so weeks. Check out Aug 5 & 6 if you can! Including:-

4 x F18 Hornet formation displays, plus/including (?) 1 static & 1 solo ‘high-energy’ display.
Tiger moth, Wirraway, Canberra, Vampire, Dragonfly, Spitfire, Meteor, PLUS visiting Mustang, P40 and Boomerang! (Not sure on the Hudson…)

Sounds like a great event! But, yes, Still too far for most of the country…

Shazam. :rolleyes:

http://www.defence.gov.au/raaf/airshow/index.htm

Richmond Air Show

RAAF Base Richmond
Richmond NSW
21–22 October 2006

From Warbirds to the giant C-17 Globemaster

The Richmond Air Show will feature a variety of exhibitions and ground displays to entertain the whole family and an exciting flying program featuring some of the Australia’s best vintage warbirds through to jets and helicopters in service with the Australian Defence Force today.

The Richmond Air Show celebrates:

90 years of flying from RAAF Base Richmond
85 years since the establishment of the Royal Australian Air Force
the biggest Air Show at Richmond since the Bicentennial in 1988.
More information and an enquiries line will be available soon.

Defence acknowledges the support of the NSW Government, Hawkesbury City Council, NSW Police, RTA, SES, St John Ambulance and the Rural Fire Service. Special thanks to Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, CityRail and Temora Aviation Museum for their contributions.

RAAF Richmond would be the obvious choice. It has public transport links and is not too far from Sydney. If the RAAF isn’t too busy there, perhaps they could get involved.

Of course, anywhere in Australia would be a long way to go for a lot of people – but ‘most’ of the people live in the southeast of the country anyway. And you need a lot of visitors to pay for the shows.

If Richmond is chosen, watch out for the cyclone season!

Bri

Great topic Setter,
One thing that must be in mind is the general accessability of the venue to the public. Wangaratta would be great as it’s right near the Hume Hwy but it’s a hell of a hike from Qld where a lot of aircraft are.
Temora is a real posibility as it’s a bit closer and is base to a great collection.
What about Scone in NSW?, I’ve never been but they used to have larger warbird show.
Tyabb did a fantastic job with Mustang gathering but is a bit small and close to housing etc.
I have to agree though, with the list of aircraft listed in Oz above, it’s pretty ****-poor that we don’t have a show that’s even halfway close to Wanaka.

If a proper national gathering is organised I reckon Temora or Scone should be venue’s

Agent 86, Tim

No worries Tim – I hadn’t taken offence – I was just back chatting you – I love yanks as well – I got married in Carmel – Come over as oft as I can

Kindest regards
John p

just havin fun mate!

I was just pulling yer leg Mr.Setter.I have nothing but thre utmost respect and admiration for Australia and her people.I luv my Aussie friends.fairdinkum! Tim.

Agent 86

You are a very silly person yourself !! Whats wrong with Aussie airshows in Aus – sounds a little too logical I know but there you go !!

John P

Hi Oscar

Yes I agree with you up to a certain point but I am sure that the program and airfield crowd layout could be better addressed as well as the flightline walk arounds. I shudder to sugest this but also perhaps a chat with CASA about making the displays a little more exciting but still safe ?

You would know what the chances are better than I but I would have thought it was worth a go. Temora seems to be able to display the aircraft in a more satisfactory way so it may just be that it needs more thought and discussion ?

Regards
John P

PS Have you read that item on your email yet ?

Thanks

Regards
John P

Silly, silly man

The problem with Oz airshows is obvious. They’re in Oz! silly Aussie.

The regulator CASA has a lot to do with it. They set display lines/heights etc etc..

Colin

Couldn’t agree more – All very sensible stuff and all worthwhile.

I think we can actually learn a lot from the Poms here. Duxford airshows are great and some aspects well worth pinching and of course there are no better places to go than the Shuttleworth collection – just fantastic. Both of these venues feature aspects you speak of.

I attend Caboolture airshow up here every couple of years and whilst they do it well from a crowd management point of view , the airshow performances are distant and the movement around the site is difficult. There is also a lack of coherance to the program all of which detracts from the spectator experiance. I don’t mean to put them down but we can all learn from other places.

Regards
John p

Another thought on an Australian Warbird Airshow

Amazing how the more one ponders the potential of a great Australian Warbird Airshow, the more ideas keep popping up in the head.

Some things to be considered for anyone looking at staging such an event:

1. Flight line – flight line needs spectator walk throughs at specified times so spectators can take photographs of participating aircraft.
2. Flying displays – need to be done so that the spectators get to see the aircraft flying by reasonably closely, not a tiny, weeny dot off in the far distance. One of the things that impressed me about Wanaka was how they got the display line right in front of the specatators.
3. Combine it with a trade show and anything else that draws spectators and revenue to support the event.
4. Facilities – always over cater for food and toilets – the two quickest things to turn spectators off is long, long queues for food or toilets.
5. Keep the program tight and visible – aircraft in the air performing, next to display taxying out where the crowd can see them, and no long gaps between segments – activity in the air, activity on the ground.
6. Whilst we still have them, get the veterans who flew the aircraft involved. Nothing like a commentary from someone who flew the aircraft on display ‘in anger’ and who can put the spectator ‘in the cockpit’
7. Use technology – on board cameras and large display screen to bring distant action closer.

Just a few more for anyone thinking about it.

Thank’s Setter(John),

How about a Hurricane on that Oz list!!!!.

I know only one Hurra made it downunda way back.

Seen an old pic of it sitting up on the Essendon drome in C.W., and a few of it’s bit’s may still even be hidden around Melbourne or Victoria?.

And I know a few old boy’s from around here, who as teen’s saw the Hurricane just sitting up there as a hac, and some also saw what was left after the crash of the LB-30 Lib, arriving as the ammo was going off, fun and exciting stuff for the young lad’s.

A few have left us over the last few year’s(R.I.P.), many that served with the RAAF as Erk’s, then the Airline’s operating out of the Drome..

I still go to a big Xmas dinner, though a next door church, and have amazing chat’s about the Pacific War, Aero engine’s and some first hand history of thing’s that have happened at the Essendon Aerodrome.

AND it’s heap’s!!!, really quiet a historic SITE, in it’s own right.

They are busy right now knocking all the old Hangar’s down(nearly finished I think), which is a damn shame, but you know what most were made of!!!.

Pitty they could not have made some safe copy’s of some of the building’s, but the land is worth a BOMB., so now we just have the picture’s.

BUT John, I am damn sure there’s still a few old boy’s around here who would just love to see some real old Heavy Metal bird’s or Wood, wire and dope, back at the Drome.

All that inverted flying for a start. Can’t do the engines any good.

Would pushing the nose forward produce positive G ? How would it effect something like a DB605, do Merlins have to be specially adapted for flying up side down ????

So many questions, not enough time.

What’s wrong with Australian Airshows????

All that inverted flying for a start. Can’t do the engines any good.

Phill;
Just to comment on a couple of things.

Oscar only owns the Avenger not the Sea Fury – thats based in the same hanger at Archerfield but owned by FlyingFighters museum.

“Must have cost you a bomb Oscar, to have both the Avenger/ Seafury at Avalon , or do they pay upp!.”

“When sitting under Connie one Show
A dude told me how much a hour, but I can not really remember what he said now, I think he said about $10,000.Oz.”

Yes it must be around that to keep her going – a lot anyway and with petrol going up the way it has it won’t be getting any cheaper …..

“Man that must be fun
Flying from the State’s, Do ya tingle a little and think of Smithy when you are doing it sometime’s Oscar, maybe touching down at old bane……….”

Oscar will no doubt answer that one !!!

“Good Luck, on a grand adventure mate

Some show’s at Old Essendon Drome Setter(John) would be real NICE!.”

Yes it would but restricted space and the need to keep the GA happening might cause a problem but it is worth looking into – same issues with Avalon these days?

“But I don’t think the neighbour hood would be too happy

And I think it’s damn shame we don’t have MORE Spit’s .

Something just has to be done about that! “

Well Oscar does have a Spit in restoration – so he is doing something about that!!!!

Spits aren’t as popular here as in the UK where it has turned into a little gold mine and coompared to other WW11 aircraft they are a little over hyped – much better to have the diversity we have here in my opinion – you can have 2 to 4 other WW11 fighters for the UK price of a Spit so I would opt for a P40 and a P39 and a Yak 3/9 and some change plus a nice car any day .

Regards
John P

Great idea John

Interesting stuff 🙂 .

Must have cost you a bomb Oscar, to have both the Avenger/ Seafury at Avalon :confused: , or do they pay upp!.

When sitting under Connie one Show :rolleyes:
A dude told me how much a hour, but I can not really remember what he said now, I think he said about $10,000.Oz 😮 .

Man that must be fun 😀
Flying from the State’s, Do ya tingle a little and think of Smithy when you are doing it sometime’s Oscar, maybe touching down at old bane 🙂 .

Good Luck, on a grand adventure mate 😉

Some show’s at Old Essendon Drome Setter(John) would be real NICE! 😀 .

But I don’t think the neighbour hood would be too happy :p

And I think it’s damn shame we don’t have MORE Spit’s 🙁 .

Something just has to be done about that! 😮

Hi TJ

Oscar knows the way – He bought a B25 some years ago in partnership with some others and flew it out from the States via the Pacific – It was a very happy time for a lot of us when that B25 arrived here and flew all over the place for a few years.

Regards
John p

Yeah, remember seeing the film about that many years ago. Do I remember correct from earlier contact that you might know where to find a copy of that film?

To Oscar, John Lear lives in Las Vegas in case you want to get hold of him with regard to you visiting Reno with his old 26!

T J

Route depends on winds/weather and fuel [AvGas availability]. With the B-25 we took the “northern” route – Calif [Stockton] – HNL- Majoro [Marshall Is] – Honiara [Solomons] – Brisbane. This time we are looking at a “southern” route due fuel at MJO.

Hi TJ

Oscar knows the way – He bought a B25 some years ago in partnership with some others and flew it out from the States via the Pacific – It was a very happy time for a lot of us when that B25 arrived here and flew all over the place for a few years.

Regards
John p