Location: Avalon Airport, Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Admission: Various packages were available, please, see article.

Parking: $10.00 per day or free with Gold Pass.

The tenth biannual Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition was held at the Avalon Airport in Geelong, Victoria from March 1 thru 6, 2011. It celebrated its 20th year and it is the center piece of the Royal Australian Air Force 90th anniversary.

Since 1992 the Avalon Airshow is a place for business to come and show their latest products to worldwide customers and potential clients. It has grown from 226 exhibitors to over 600. It is the largest and most influential aerospace event in the southern hemisphere. Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday are open to the general public. The attendance was record setting 190,000+ persons!

Gone from Avalon is the awesome F-111 and its impressive fuel and dump display of past years. The F-111 was retired in 2010. This year marks the first appearance of the new RAAF F/A-18F Super Hornets at Avalon. Australia ordered 24 Super Hornets from Boeing as a stopgap measure while it is waiting for the long delayed and over budget Lockheed F-35A Lighting II. A mockup of the F-35 greeted visitors as they entered show grounds. These Super Hornets are extra wired so that if needed in the future they can be converted to Growlers, an electronic attack platform version of the F/A-18F. Super Hornets from No 6 Squadron delivered a powerful and loud display.

The highlight of the public days was the return to Avalon of the B-1B Lancer. As expected it was a crowd favourite with its 4 GE 101 engines on full afterburner for take-off delivering 30,000 lbs of thrust each. The B-1B uses 300,000 lbs of fuel per hour on afterburner. Two B-1Bs from the 7th Bomb Wing, 28th Bomb Squadron flew non-stop from Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene Texas in 21 ½ hours with 3 air refueling hook ups from KC-135s. One of the four crew members flying the B-1B on display, Lt. Col. Ty Neuman, a 13-year Weapons System Officer (WSO) in the B-1B explained that one of the goals of the air display is to demonstrate the speed, performance, and global power projection of the B-1. The highlight of the display was the demonstrated speed of this aircraft at low altitudes. Designed to penetrate deep into enemy forces using the terrain to mask the aircraft from enemy radar. The B-1B flies combat missions every day in the Afghanistan theatre of operations. It flies Armed Over Watch missions where it provides surveillance and close air support for the troops on the ground. When needed the Combatant Commander, and ground forces all across Afghanistan, know that there is a B-1 overhead to take care of business in a moment’s notice. The B-1’s long loiter time and speed make this an ideal strike asset for a country as large as Afghanistan. Smaller fighter aircraft are limited in range and time on station, giving the B-1 the upper hand in today’s combat environment.

In the aerobatics front, there were performances from the three-time world champion Nikolay Timofeev flying his Sukhoi Su-26M and Matt Hall flying his MX-R Racer. Nikolay is an aeronautical and mechanical engineer who helped on the design and development of the Su-26M. Matt is a former F/A-18 driver and a Red Bull Air Race pilot.

The RAAF Roulettes formation aerobatics team was again performing at Avalon. The 40-year old team has been flying the Pilatus PC-9/A since 1989 when it replaced the Machi MB.326H. The team’s mission is to promote the RAAF, help with recruitment and to entertain. The six-plane team is led by Squadron Leader Glenn Canfield, in his 6th season with the Roulettes and his third season as the Roulette leader. The team is based at RAAF East Sale where the Central Flying School is located (CFS). Since 1962 CFS has formed 3 formation aerobatic teams including the Roulettes.

The airshow concluded the Saturday and Sunday public days with a spectacular demonstration by the Australian Defense Force (ADF) employing a combination of Army troops, vehicle, Black Hawk helicopter and the full power of F-18s flying above triggering loud explosions on the ground.

Since the airshow takes place in Avalon Airport, the organizers had to carefully time the flying display with the scheduled take-offs and landings of Airbus A320s from Jet Star and Tiger airlines, which only added to the total airshow experience. Avalon is also home of the Qantas heavy maintenance base and on Friday the public could see a Qantas 747 up close taking off and landing.

The Friday evening show, known as the Boeing Night Alight Show is when the viewing public is presented with night performances rarely seen in other airshows. The SALT Jet glider flew as well as the S1-A Cadet both with sparkling fireworks emanating from their wing tips. The highlights of the evening was a takeoff and landing of the Lockheed Constellation as the sun went down along with the amazing display of the F/A-18 Hornet in the dark, afterburners lit and shooting flares while explosions roared on the ground. The evening concluded with a laser light show.

The Avalon Airshow is a must see event if you live in Australia or otherwise can make the trip Down Under. Ticket prices were $55 per day for adults and $25 for children 5-14 years old. The Gold Pass allows you in an exclusive area with numbered bleacher seating, access to food vendors, shaded seating areas and its own bathroom facilities. The Gold Pass prices range from $170 for one day to $460 for a 3-day pass. One main problem with the grandstand seats is that if you are there to photograph your favourite aircraft taking off and landing most likely some of your photos will be obscured by a row of speakers located along the runway fence. The Avalon show is an event that can be entertaining for the entire family with a Kid’s Zone providing entertainment for the younger ones and an Arena with performances by a monster truck and motorcycle stunts. Bathroom facilities were adequate. There were plenty of parking spaces at $10 per car or free if you have a Gold Pass. Food prices are higher than in US airshows. Bottle of water was sold for $4.50, Krispy Kreme doughnuts were selling for $4 each. When going to the Avalon Airshow, plan to arrive early to avoid the huge crowd and to get a spot by the fence between the speakers. It is advisable to bring some warm clothing even though the forecast may call for a warm day. This year the weather cooperated much more than 2009 when it rained on Saturday and Sunday and low clouds were present for the Friday night show. This time around there was some light rain on Friday and the rest of the weekend was warm and sunny. Perfect weather for an airshow. The best lighting to photograph the show is in the morning hours. In the afternoon you be shooting against the sun. Also allow extra time to visit the RAAF Museum Point Cook. It is a 25 minute drive south-west of Melbourne. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 1 PM you can see some of the museum aircraft display flying.