Observations in Oz !

[Silver]

G'day Folks,

Hello from 'down under' !

Just thought you guys may be interested in some aviation-related observations I have made in Australia.

- The Victoria (State) Police Air Wing use the Dauphin/Panther for patrols, air ambulance and SAR duities.
It is painted in a striking blue and white colour scheme.

- There is a great interest here in aviation, and if the new Air Corps book was available here it would sell like "hot cakes" !

- The RAAF are due to retire their F-111's in the coming years ) apparently it is the only (RAAF?) jet that can perform a full 'flame out' with it's aftreburner. It's a neat trick at ceremonial events here (i.e. the 2000 Olympics).

- The RAAF have had some trouble with their Blackhawk fleet. Apparently the pylons on the helis have developed cracks of some sort. However, most of them have been repaired/replaced at this point in time.

I attended an airshow at Point Cook Air Base (south west of Melbourne) on Sunday. It was to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the airbase - and entry was free !
There was a great selection of aircraft on display, from Mustangs, Catalina Flying Boat, Harvards, etc.

For me one of the most interesting displays/aircraft was the PC-9's of RAAF 'Roulettes' display team.
All I can say is that the AC "Top Guns" are going to love the PC-9 ! It's so smooth, and sounds like a jet !

I took some pics at the show and hope to get them to Frank soon for his gallery.

Regards,
Silver.

[alpha foxtrot 07]

it's nice to see that your enjoying yourself silver. i look forward to seeing your pics.

[John K]

Hey Silver, I seem to remember one of my joooniers went down to work with the Victoria Police on their heli's, Eamonn O'Co**ell (is that enough of a clue without actually saying his name?)

[Silver]

Incidentially, Point Cook air base is also the home to the RAAF Museum, which I also visited.

It has a good selection of aircraft on display (c.25 aircraft) including Vampire, Macci and Phantom jets (it's one huge jet!).
They are also restoring a P51D Mustang and Mosquito in their workshop (which was also open to the public). The Mosquito is constructed almost entirely of wood !

(I have some pics of these aircraft also, which I will be sending to Frank).

I would reckon that the total museum space is about the same size of the AC No.4 "musuem" hangar.
The musuem is divided into 4 seprate sections with many display cases, video screen and overhead walkways to view the aircraft from above.

It shows what could be achieved with an AC museum.

Bye for now,
Silver.

[Silver]

Check out -

http://www.raafmuseum.com.au

[202]

Silver

Interested in your observations, as I made it to Point Cook last October. Interesting to a degree but like a lot of things in that part of the world difficult to get there (at least by public transport where you have to train and taxi) and while there is a reasonable collection of aircraft it is not stunning (eg. the museum would not be a patch on the British museums or say the Brussels Air museum). Nonetheless it is worth the trip and some coincidental echoes of Irish interest. For example, to know that they operated some AIIIs at the Woomera missile range in the 1960s. Also the tragic accident in the 1960s too when three Vampires on formation training followed each other into the ground.

If you have the time you might also make the trip to the RNAS Museum at Nowra about 100 miles south of Sydney. A motley collection of aircraft but it does have the bonus of overlooking an operational field where the RNAS heli fleet is based (even if they have had problems a la the IAC Dauphins in commissioning their latest heli order).

Enjoy down under.

[John K]

202! I was NCO i/c of that in the early '80s! RIP!
Have you been to some of the museums over here in the UK? Duxford is the dogs danglies! Even down where I live there is a thriving museum, what are they afraid of in Baldonnel? A small cover charge would pay for any ongoing work.

[sealion]

The only thing Duxford lacks is a nearby hostel to stay in,as you will never see everything in one day.

[Frank]

Hi Guys,

I'll be adding Silver's pictures from the Point Cook Air Show over the next few days as and when I get the time.

I have 3 pictures on the site at the moment but I'll add the others as I get a chance.

Click here to see the pictures


Regards,

Frank.

[pilatus]

nice pc-9s but i think ours still look better!?any big jets at that show F/A-18A,F-111,s?

[Silver]

Yeah , I prefer the new AC PC-9's too  '>

There were no modern jets at the show - it was a commemorative show and the only jets there were a Vampire and a C-37.

However, I did see an RAAF F-18 at the Melbourne Grand Prix - the noise as it flew overhead was unreal !

[Guinness]

No offence to all of you lads but i think it's funny when a lot of you are talking about the jet-noise as never heard before.

maybe it's because I live near a AFB where jets ( e.g. F-16's and A-10's) are common visitors.

Guinness

P.S. But you all win on this topic as I prefer to be there now to see the new IAC PC-9M's