Airlie Beach Air Show

It must have been a record crowd last weekend for the Airlie Beach Airshow at Whitsunday Airport - there were people everywhere! Clear skies made excellent viewing conditions and a stiff breeze gave respite from the hot sun.

Crowds out for the Airlie Beach Airshow

There were a variety of planes on display, on the tarmac and in the air. The military aircraft consisted of a magnificent Spitfire replica, Aero L39 Albatros Fastjet, a T-28 Trojan, a P-51 Mustang, a Wirraway and a Grumman Avenger.

Spitfire replica

Yakovlev Yak 52

North American P-51 Mustang

There were helicopters galore,  including the local army cadets demonstrating a heli medivac. There were Gippsland Airvans, Beavers and Caravans, all doing fly pasts. The Whitsundays own 1940's DH-82A Tiger Moth was also showing his tricks from the open air cockpit.

Tiger Moth

Just to drive home that anything is possible, a local man with his Zenair 701 was there to talk about his outback flying adventure with his mates last year: 8484 kilometres over 26 days to the west coast and return. What an adventure. What freedom!

Rogan with his Zenair 701

One of the main attractions, the Paul Bennet Airshow, left everyone in awe of the precision acrobatic manoeuvres of the hand built Wolf Pitts Pro, screaming up to speeds of 300 kilometres per hour.
This amazing pilot looped and rolled then tumbled out of the sky after climbing 2500 feet - there was a collective gasp as the plane went quiet for a couple of seconds as it went into a stall. The grand finale was the triple ribbon cut, at just 16 feet above ground and spaced 300 feet apart this is something that must be seen to believe it is even possible.

Stuntman Paul Bennet in the Wolf Pitts Pro

The final act was the formation display of the Royal Australian Air Force Roulettes. The six Roulettes fly at speeds of up to 590 kilometres per hour in their PC-9/A aircraft and may experience up to 4.5 times the normal force of gravity during their aerobatic display. I have seen these guys fly at many places around Australia: Mt Panorama in Bathurst (several times over the years for the annual car race), in Hobart, and Coral Bay on the North West Coast.

PC-9/A designed by Pilatus Switzerland and built under license by Hawker de Havilland in Sydney.
Introduced to the RAAF in 1987.

RAAF Roulettes in action

From an event management perspective, the Airlie Beach Airshow was a very well organised event; from the park and ride to gate entry and layout of the venue. There was a variety of quality food stalls, shade areas and toilets so there was no queuing or standing around in the hot sun. An excellent day out. Looking forward to the next one!

Girls in the jeep