A totally amazing experience, which has been sadly put on hold indefinitely after the USAF cancelled all aircraft flybys, demonstrations and airshow support in the aftermath of sequestration in the United States government following its budget woes.
Click on the thumbnails below for high res imagery, or follow this link.
Commonwealth of Australia
This sounds freakin' awesome. From the Royal Australian Air Force:
An Air Force C-130J Hercules transport aircraft will make a spectacular appearance on Sunday, February 24, as it conducts a ‘flaredrop’ over Port Phillip Bay.
Beginning shortly after 8pm, the Hercules will fly over Port Phillip Bay towards St Kilda in a counter-clockwise direction, at an altitude of 300 metres. It will complete a ‘practice pass’ to ensure there are no boats or other obstructions for the flaredrop. On its second pass, the Hercules will dispense up to 240 flares over the course of ten seconds, as the aircraft banks left towards Williamstown.
The best public vantage points will be Beaconsfield Parade and the St Kilda Foreshore. The display may also be visible from Williamstown.
The flares will safely burn out before they reach the water; however, Air Force requests the cooperation of local boat owners to remain clear of the flightpath.
The flares serve a practical application, being part of the C-130J’s countermeasures against attack by infra-red guided missiles. The C-130J will be one of the many Defence aircraft on display at the 2013 Australian International Airshow, to be held at Avalon Airport from February 26 to March 3.
The display over Port Phillip Bay will also recognise this month’s 10th anniversary of continuous deployment of Australian Hercules to the Middle East Area of Operations, the longest such deployment in Air Force history.
This activity is subject to availability of the C-130J to conduct this task, and may be cancelled at short notice. Air Force will endeavour to notify the public through media and online if this display is cancelled.
Live updates for the flypast will be posted to http://www.twitter.com/airforcehq and using the hashtag #Avalon13.
So if you like aviation and are in Melbourne this Sunday, you know where to be!
F-22 at 2011's Avalon Airshow. The F-22s were static only the last time they swung by the neighbourhood.
From Avalon Airshow's Facebook page:
The United States Air Force has just confirmed that its top-of-the-line fighter, the F-22 Raptor will return to Avalon for the first flying display ever seen in Australia.
Two F-22 Raptors and their teams will be attending the 2013 Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition, with one of the aircraft on static display.
Major Henry 'Schadow' Schantz is the United States Air Force F-22 Raptor Aerial Demonstration Team Chief and will be showcasing the aircraft's amazing maneuverability for the Airshow crowds.
The United States Air Force is once again showing its long standing support for the Avalon event and is also bringing an F-16 demonstration team (Ed: Almost certainly the PACAF F-16 display team from the 35th Fighter Wing based at Misawa, Japan) for the flying display along with a C-17 demonstration team.
