Avalon Airshow 2023: Lots to do

The biennial Avalon Airshow is back after four years! (The 2021 show got cancelled due to the pandemic.)

Here are some of the photos I took at the event.

Display aircraft

No push

Black-and-white photo of the nose of a medium sized, turbo-prop aircraft (a Beechcraft Super King Air). Printed in all-capital letters at the very tip of the aircraft’s nose is the phrase “no push”.

Beware of blast

Photo of a jet engine mounted below the wing of a transport aircraft. A large sign with red, all-caps text on a white background painted on the back of the engine reads “beware of blast”.

Do not grab

Photo of pilot’s seat of a Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. The cockpit canopy doors are all open. On various surfaces around the inside of the cockpit are signs in all-caps text that read “do not grab”.

Do you want to touch the nose too?

Photo of a man at an airshow carrying a little girl in his lap. The man is standing in front of a military transport aircraft and both the man and girl have one hand placed on the aircraft’s nose. The man is looking down at a child who you can’t see because there is a woman standing between the girl and the photographer. He is asking the child if they too want to touch the nose of the aircraft.

I want to touch the nose again!

Photo of a man at an airshow carrying a little boy in his lap. The man is standing next to the nose of a military transport aircraft. On the ground, next to the man, is a little girl (from the previous photo) who wants to be picked up so she can touch the nose of the aircraft again.

CH-47 Chinook

Photo of the front half of a large, dark olive coloured, twin-rotor military transport helicopter (specifically a CH-47 Chinook) at a public air show. The helicopter has ‘Republic of Singapore Air Force’ written in large, all-capital letters on its side.

Checking out the inside of a CH-47 Chinook

Photo of the inside of a military transport helicopter at a public air show. Several people are walking into the helicopter from its rear ramp, while several others are walking off.

Taking a peek at the belly of the A400M Atlas

Low-angle photo showing the underside of a large military transport aircraft (the Airbus A400M Atlas) at an air show.

Watching the show

Watching the flying program

Photo of several people standing in a line at an air show looking up at an airplane doing aerobatic manoeuvres. The aircraft in the sky is leaving a trail of white aviation smoke as the pilot performs manoeuvres. There are several other people walking around, including a group of Royal Australian Air Force cadets in their blue fatigues.

Capturing the take-off

Photo of a man taking a photo with a camera that has a very large lens attached to it. The man is at an air show, and the aircraft he is photographing is somewhere off-camera to the left of the photo. In the background of the photo is a massive military transport aircraft (a Boeing A400M), while everywhere else there are people walking around the event. A group of Royal Australian Air Force cadets in their blue fatigues are also watching the aircraft that this man is taking a photo of.

Puppies!

Belgian Malinois puppy-in-training

Photo of a Belgian Malinois puppy chewing on a blue, fuzzy toy while sitting comfortably on some astroturf behind a portable, white picket fence. The puppy is part of a litter being fostered for potential training to be a air force protection dog.

Avalon Airport

Sign at Avalon Airport eastern apron

Black-and-white photo of a large sign that reads “Avalon Airport / LAT S 38.01-8 / LONG E 144.28-4 / EAST 1”. To the left of the photo is a man with an air force tote walking across the aircraft parking apron. Jutting into the photo from the right is an aircraft wing with a jet engine mounted under it.

This was part one of four, so more photos to follow…