2024 Australia Airshows and Scheduled Flying Days

[chrisr]

Agreed, the electric starter conversion was made in 2022 before its return to flight. It made me wonder if there was another reason for its rumoured grounding.

[Dave Homewood]

I have heard the RAAF has now grounded all five of the collection's jets.

[chrisr]

Lame, do we know why? I know the Sabre is due to the ejection seat not being serviceable.

[Dave Homewood]

I do not know the reason but my guess is probably money. I have heard the RAAF is experiencing budget cutbacks, just like us.

[colford]

There are as usual a lot of rumours and 'whispers' about the grounding of various aircraft in the Temora Aviation Museum fleet, particularly the jets. The Sabre, the ejection seat is the well known reason. Various solutions and alternatives identified, but none so far acceptable to the RAAF. The Meteor has been grounded since 2018, engines went to a overhaul shop in the UK, came back and since then nothing - had heard from one source it may relate to a UK Airworthiness Directive issued following a UK based jet incident. The Vampire they had just got back to airworthy when it had an in flight fire on one of its early test flights, so it is back in the restoration hangar. A-37, I had heard someone - overseas? - had identified an issue with one of its systems that could lead to a situation where the canopy may not be able to be jettisoned in an emergency, so was grounded whilst that was/is being researched and resolved. Canberra, heard nothing regarding its status over the past weekend.

Another thing I noticed for the conduct of WDU2024, was the absence of a number of the pilots who had been associated with TAM for some years and had previously been part of the line-up back at WDU2018 - age, availability and interest to continue under the new arrangements may be factors. But did notice a number of new, younger generation pilots becoming involved.

Overall the RAAF operates with a different risk management and safety regime to what a purely civilian based and managed operation might operate under. Where a civilian operator may operate a high performance turbo prop or jet without ejection seats and certain other systems and still find the levels of risk 'acceptable', the same may not apply to the RAAF and its standards. They also have a political layer they have to manage, which a privately owned organisation does normally not have to deal with.

Certainly there is a tightening of the Defence budgets in Australia and what money there is in the budgets is being consolidated and redirected to high priority upgrades to weapon systems and purchase of new and more capable defensive and offensive systems - in the week Warbirds Down Under took place the Government announced a multi billion dollar priority purchase of latest generation missiles for the Navy. The AUKUS submarine program is also sucking up a lot of the available Defence dollars quicker and earlier than anticipated. On top of that the tempo of operational deployments at short notice eg support for evacuation of Australian citizens from the Middle East and Lebanon in particular, and operations in support of our Pacific neighbours; as well as participation in a wider and larger range of exercises with Defence 'partners' in the region is up above previous levels and is putting a strain on the budgets already allocated.

The thinned down RAAF presence at WDU2024 may also be a sign of that prioritisation of resources in a time of growing budgetary reprioritisation and focus by Defence.

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks Colin. Good to know some details. So in future he jets may all return at some point hopefully, but with the budget restraints we cannot expect the whole collection to fly at the same time anyway I guess.

[campbellbox]

Ando's mantra has a nice "slip, slop, slap" ring to it. Also, graphic design is my passion

Safety sign F35 by Campbell McGill, on Flickr

[Dave Homewood]

Peter Hallen messaged me to say, "Col has his facts wrong on the Meteor. The engines were not overhauled in 2018, they were overhauled in house over 10 years ago. The Meteor flew at the 2019 RAAF airshow at Edinburgh."

[colford]

Oct 26, 2024 11:41:50 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

Peter Hallen messaged me to say, "Col has his facts wrong on the Meteor. The engines were not overhauled in 2018, they were overhauled in house over 10 years ago. The Meteor flew at the 2019 RAAF airshow at Edinburgh."

Mea culpa! Last time the Meteor flew at an airshow or scheduled aircraft showcase at Temora was at Warbirds Down Under 2018. Was not aware it had participated at the RAAF Edinburgh Airshow in 2019. So my point of reference to last seeing it fly at Temora or another major airshow was 2018. When I asked in 2020 or 2021 why the Meteor had not flown I was told by one of the people there that it was for something to be done on the engines in the UK - that coincided with me looking down the tail pipe of one the nacelles that I could get to a location to see down the tail pipe and seeing nothing. Others may know more.

[chrisr]

When reading about the RAAF's budget, there were mentions of trouble funding recruits. The RAAF may not be able to spare the pilot required to fly the aircraft.

It also seems instead of cutting the RAAF budget, funds are being re-prioritized to fund F-35 upgrades and long range missiles. Probably more a matter of sticking to their core business than anything.

[Dave Homewood]

This is from Peter Hallen. Meteor at Edinburgh November 2019:

[Mustang51]

That was its last flight

[colford]

Warbirds Down Under 2024 - Sunday. Compared to the Saturday, Sunday morning dawned pretty bright and clear. So lots of blue skies and bright sunlight to form the backdrop for the day's photography.

So part one of the Sunday photo selection, posted as close as I can get them to how they appeared during the day.

WDU2024 Fighter 4 1st Pass SUnday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

wDU2024 Fighter Four Opening Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Fighter 4 1st Pass 2 Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Fighter 4 1st Belly Pass Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Fighter Four Line Astern Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Ryan PT22 takeoff Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Ryan Takeoff Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Basic Trainer 4 1st Pass Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 P&22 Yellow Wings Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Tiger Highside Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Tiger Sorbent Hunt Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU Tiger Srbent Hunt Sunday 2 by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WSU2024 Tiger Landing Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Roulettes Arrival Climb Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Roulettes Arrival Over the Top Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Roulettes Bomb Burst Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Roulettes Bomburst 2 Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Roulettes Line Abreast Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Roulettes Mirror Pass Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Roulettes Opposition Pass Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Roulettes Roll Back Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Roulettes Final Roll Over Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

It was certainly calmer with less wind than Saturday, as a result, the smoke from the likes of the Roulettes and Roaring 40's Harvard Teams was hanging around in the air for some time before dispersing. Given it was a much warmer day on the Sunday compared to the Saturday, when the breeze did come up it was welcome to help keep the crowd slightly cooler.

More to follow soon-ish.

[colford]

Sunday, part 2.

WDU2024 Beaver Flyby Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Beaver Belly Pass Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 C130J Top Side 1 Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 UH-1H Solo Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 UH-1H Solo 2 Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 UH-1H Solo 3 Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Canberra Top Pass Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Canberra Taxi Back Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Pacific Trio 1st Pass Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 PC-9 Top Pass Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Beech & Harvards Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Beech & Harvards 2 Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Beech & Harvards Break Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Harvard Solo Climbing Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Harvard Solo FInal PAss Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 P40 GAO Takeoff Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 P40CVV Takeoff Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 P51DOP Takeoff Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Spitfire VIII Takeoff Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Spitfire VIII Solo Finale Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Spitfire VIII Solo Finale 2 Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Corsair Solo hi Side Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Fighter 7 Finale Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Fighter 7 Finale Bottom Pass Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 Fighter 7 Tail Chase 1 Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 F35 Arrival 1 Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 F35 Belly Pass 1 Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 F35 Burner Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 F35 Dirty Pass 1 Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 F35 Dirty Pass 2 Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 F35 Flares Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 F35 Open Bays Pass 1 Sunday by Colin Ford, on Flickr

And that concludes our coverage of WDU2024.

[Dave Homewood]

Beautiful photos Colin!

[johnnyfalcon]

I see quite a few ex Kiwi airframes

[Mustang51]

Very nice indeed.........

[colford]

On the Saturday of Warbirds Down Under 2024, in a brief pause between formations, a quick photo reconnaissance mission was flown using one of the Cessna Bird Dogs that was present for the event. The 'back seater' manning the camera should be known to most members of this forum for his aviation photographic work............

WDU2024 Saturday 0-2 Photo Bird by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 0-2 Photorun 1 by Colin Ford, on Flickr

WDU2024 0-2 Photo Run 2 by Colin Ford, on Flickr

[planecrazy]

Great photos thank you Colin, one thing I thought perhaps a little unusual the late model Corsair with the
extra aerial behind the rudder, was that a later model feature or the Nation that operated them perhaps?

[Mustang51]

Lovely pics of Gordo's Dog there with The Hon G. Conroy aboard. Tried to "g" up the crowd to be waving.....shall see how it turns out !

Ref that antenna....its on quite a lot of later model Corsairs