Amberley goes on show in style - Department of Defence

AIR FORCE October 16, 2008
THROUGH HOOPS: Above,
MWD handler LAC Denham
Milovankic and his dog ‘Lex’
put on a show of their own.
Photo: CPL Melina Mancuso
ALL THAT JAZZ: Right, 2WG
cadet FSGT (AAFC) Ashleigh
Ward blows a tune on her
trumpet during the show.
Photo: CPL Andrew Eddie
SOUVENIRS: Left (from left)
CPL Andrew Outhwaite, LAC
Bryan Hudson and FLGOFF
Erin Rinaldi sell 36SQN
merchandise at their stall.
Photo: LAC Scott Woodward
2008 Defence Force Air Show
AMAZING AMBERLEY
ROGER THAT: Security Police member
SGT Matt Lee watches over the show
from the RAAF Base <strong>Amberley</strong> control
tower. Photo: CPL Melina Mancuso
GROUP FUN: Left,
(from left) 76SQN’s
CPLs Philip Moore,
Duane Harvey and Kris
Georgiadis with SGT
Chris Wild in front of a
squadron Hawk at the
show.
Photo: AC Benjamin Evans
YOWSERS: Right,
Jayden Brady, 7, with
LAC Leigh Forrest in
his ‘yowie suit’ at the
2AFDS display.
Photo: CPL Andrew Eddie
It was tipped to be the most comprehensive
Defence Force Air
Show staged in a decade, and
RAAF Base <strong>Amberley</strong> didn’t
disappoint, with more than
90,000 visitors flooding through the
gates on October 4-5.
Right from the start the signs were
that it was going to be big, with a
record number of pre-show tickets
sold. An hour before the gates opened
on day one, hundreds of people began
queuing to get into the base, with
thousands more streaming in from all
directions.
By noon, the line-up at the ticket
booth still stretched for 200m, while
traffic banked all the way back to the
Cunningham Highway, which had to
be closed in one direction to facilitate
flow.
CAF AIRMSHL Mark Binskin
said if those who attended didn’t know
much about the Air Force before they
came, they sure do now.
“We had a great display right
There’s no business like air show
business, writes LAC Aaron Curran
across the board,” he said. “This came
not only from the flying side, but
from the public talking to so many
of our people, from the maintainers
around the aircraft, to operators of
the Bushmasters and the dog handlers.
They’ve had a chance to look at
the Air Force from the ground up.”
On display was a large selection
of assets, from the latest C-17 to the
soon-to-be-retired F-111. Other aircraft
and personnel from around
Australia attended, with Hawks,
Hornets, Orions and Hercules all having
static and flying displays.
Brisbane visitor Adrienne
Montague saw the C-17 for the first
time and waited in the 100m-long
queue to walk through it and see the
TRUCKIES: Left, LAC Marius
Niculescu from 382ECSS shows
Kyrra Wilks, 6, Georgia Kool,
7, and Jaimee Rogers, 9, a fire
truck. Photo: CPL Andrew Eddie
FAMILY DAY: Below, SQNLDR
Nicole Dos Santos enjoys the
air show with her family.
Photo: LACW Tricia Wiles
aero-medical evacuation set-up inside.
“The C-17 was unbelievable,” she
said.
“You can’t comprehend the size
and the capacity and that something
like that could ever get into the air.
Inside it was so neat and organised. It
is fantastic how they can cope with so
many things at once.”
Other Air Force and ADF units
were represented as well. From the
Army’s ARH Tiger helicopter, Navy’s
air assets, Air Force Cadets, Defence
associations and other Defence-related
exhibitions in halls.
Defence Force Recruiting was also
prominent and put in a big effort to
show the public what the ADF had to
offer.
A display that proved very popular
was <strong>Amberley</strong>-based No. 2
Airfield Defence Squadron (2AFDS).
The squadron had on show snipers,
Bushmasters, weapons, bikes, 4WDs
and equipment.
LAC Cassidy Te Maro, a sniper
from 2AFDS, was busy with people
wanting to photograph him in his
‘yowie’ suit with his rifle.
“It was my first air show and I
really enjoyed it,” LAC Te Maro said.
“It was good fun and good to get
the kids involved. A lot of people said
they had never seen anything like it.
“I guess they were all around me
because they only saw the [yowie]
‘get-up’ in the movies.”
The US Air Force joined in with
two F-15s and a C-130, and the
Singaporean Air Force also contributed
an F-16 and Super Puma helicopter
to the line-up.
USAF Staff Sergeant Ramone
Hayes from 44SQN came along with
the F-15s and was delighted with the
crowd’s response to their attendance.
“It was my first time in Australia
and I loved it,” he said. “A great country
and everybody was very friendly
to us. Everyone knew that these [aircraft]
were F-15s. I had never seen an
F-111, and the ‘dump and burn’ was
just awesome.”
The air show team, led by Head of
Special Events (HSE) AIRCDRE Phil
Byrne, took on the responsibility of
putting it all together.
AIRCDRE Byrne said they run air
shows for two reasons: firstly to showcase
the ADF, and in particular the
Air Force, to the community; and secondly
to highlight the range of careers
in the ADF.
“On both counts we were very successful,”
AIRCDRE Byrne said.
“We put an enormous amount of
work into planning this event over the
past 12 months and also considerably
more effort into public relations for
the <strong>Amberley</strong> show, and the results
speak for themselves.”
AIRMSHL Binskin said he was
“extremely proud” to see the Air
Force team at work during the show.
“It was a huge team effort and I
want to say a personal thank you to
Want to see
more air show
photos?
Go to www.defence.gov.au and click on the ‘2008
Defence Force Air Show’ link on the homepage. Or
just check out the next edition of AIR FORCE News,
which will feature a wrap-up of the show.
LAND OF THE GIANTS: The
RAAF Base <strong>Amberley</strong> display
area was flooded with people
during the 2008 Defence Air
Show, as this bird’s eye view
shows. Photo: AC Dan Pinhorn
everyone who was involved,” he said.
“Pulling this one together was a great
success and echoed publicly in the
media with very positive reporting. I
also received many compliments from
the public and from our own people,
so well done to all who contributed to
the effort.”
But it was the sheer volume of
attendees that proved this was one of
the best air shows yet. In the words of
visitor Adrienne Montague: “I don’t
know how anything can top this show;
it was just superb.”
NICE AND TIGHT: Four
77SQN Hornets stick
together for a high speed
pass over the crowd.
Photo: CPL Andrew Eddie
IN THE SWING: Australia’s
Federation Guard’s Precision
Drill Team thrill the crowds
with their weapon handling
skills. Photo: AC Dan Pinhorn
October 4-5
COMPARING NOTES: USAF
pilot CAPT Kevin Heath (left)
talks with 6SQN’s FLGOFF
Jasper McCaldin about the
F-15 aircraft.
Photo: LAC Scott Woodward