Recently in Airshow Category

As a young boy who dreamed of flying around the world, I had a fixation with the Concorde and the Boeing 747. Even now, just talking about these two beautiful aircraft or writing about them brings a silly smile to my face.

I never flew on the Concorde, although I got a photo of myself beside one in 2010 at Toulouse airport. I also happily parted with a lot of Euros for a beautiful model of one in British Airways colours at the Airbus shop in Toulouse.

I have, however, flown on the 747-400 several times and loved it almost every time. 

Occasionally, I snagged a seat in the upper deck - the special place in this venerable aircraft and my favourite spot. It feels like the cabin of a private jet to which only the invited few have access, and a place where you are virtually guaranteed special attention from the crew.

When you walked down those stairs after your flight, you could look around smugly at those who did not have the privilege. I certainly did that. The tables were turned when I was the one seated downstairs. I would look longingly at those stairs, and daggers would fly from my eyes targeting those who sashayed down with a smile.

Singapore Airlines operated the first 747-400 I flew on, and it was also the first one in which I got into the upper deck (Melbourne-Singapore). The advent of the Airbus A380 and Boeing 777-300ER means that the 747-400 is no longer economical, and the final aircraft will be retired from SIA's fleet in March.

So I am glad that the members of the public who are going to the Singapore Airshow next week will get a chance to see the 747-400 on the static display. This is one of the last opportunities to see this beautiful aircraft in SIA colours, and it will be a fond farewell from many of us to what was - and to a large extent still is - a symbol of the romance of flying.

There are many newer, faster and more comfortable aircraft aircraft out there and I certainly enjoy flying in all of them. And when there is an opportunity, I will fly in the 747-400s operated by the other airlines in the region.

Yet, for the romantic in me, the SIA 747 will always have a special place in my heart. Thank you for the dreams and memories. You will be missed.

Yet again I'm impressed by the creativity displayed by one of the region's air forces in putting together a flying display to impress both frequent air show visitors and the the general public.

The RSAF plans on teaming its new F-15SG with an F-16C in a joint aerobatics display, certainly an unusual teaming of aircraft. A few hours ago the pair buzzed our office in Changi Business Park. The team here has become quite lulled by the regular commercial traffic approaching from the south, so two fighters on afterburner coming directly above us from the north certainly got our attention.

The RSAF's F-15/F-16 combination is not entirely without precedent. A few years back the RSAF combined F-16s with A-4 Skyhawks, and RSAF F-16s have even paired with AH-64D Apaches. Can you imagine the USAF and US Army cooperating on something like a joint aerobatics display?

My favourite regional team is probably China's August 1, which flies red white and blue Chengdu J-10As. At Zhuhai in 2010 they were liberal in their use of flares. They also seemed to have few compunctions about flying near the crowd, and a few of them flew directly overhead. Perhaps not the safest thing to do, but very cool to watch.

Flightglobal's plans for the Singapore Airshow 2012 are well afoot. Looks like it's going to be a super busy week on the defence side. There will be two of us covering it, myself (@asiajetwatch) and my colleague @sivag.

Unfortunately, as is always the case at air shows, a lot of the briefings clash with each other and with individual briefings I've set up. Being a defence buff I'd be happy to go to ALL of the briefings, but there is so little time and in any event I'll also be rushing to bash out stories.

Singapore's A Star, perhaps concerned about conflicting with other events, has the most bizarre timing and location for a show-related presser, at 5pm on Sunday before the show. The event is not even at the show site, but at a golf club. How random is that?

One unfortunate scheduling decision is Dallas Airmotive's opening of its Seletar service centre at 12pm on Monday, conflicting directly with the official opening of Roll Royce's monster engine factory, which will produce fan blades and the Trent 1000 power plant for the 787.  The Rolls Royce opening is huge for Singapore, and the prime minister will spend a few hours at the site. There can be little doubt of which event the media will focus on.

I got a kick out of Boeing's thinly-veiled swipe at the F-35 in the title of one of its briefings: 'A brief examining the balanced and evolutionary approach to fighter design versus the challenges of fielding a "revolutionary" design affordably and on schedule." 

The organisers seem to have finally posted an update of what will be flying at the show. While the B-52 flyby will be sort of interesting in a 'check that off the list' sort of way, it's not a B-1B or B-2. Anyway, it's good to see US taxpayers' money at work.

I'm dubious that those MiG-29s of the RMAF Smokey Bandits team will get airborne. They suffered mechanical issues at LIMA in December (pictured above, on the ground), so not sure they'll get much airtime at the Singapore show. In any case, how much do these guys actually get to practice given the well known support problems with their cool, but Russian, aircraft?

The static park is looking healthy. The F-22 isn't on the list notwithstanding the liberal use of this aircraft's image on the landing page. Intriguingly the A330 MRTT is listed, although an Airbus presser yesterday said only the ACJ318 private jet will be coming to the show. 

Bombardier should confirm that Garuda will buy their CRJ regional jets, while ATR and Airbus are expected to announce some orders as well.

Not too sure if Boeing have lined something up, but Lion Air - their big customer - said that they expect to make an announcement around this time of the year. Could they firm their 737 MAX order?

Embraer do not appear to have anything lined up, although I heard that their E-190 might make an appearance and their Asian sales team has had success with Sriwijaya and BOC Aviation last year.

For a show that is traditionally the quietest of the big four, there appears to be a fair bit of activity ahead of it. Can't wait for the Singapore Airshow to begin.

While researching my features that will run in Flight International the week of the Singapore Air Show, I came across this cool retro video of a 1988 Singapore TV series about the RSAF.  There is some good footage of a number of types, including the F-5 and A-4. Surprisingly the F-16 doesn't make an appearance - perhaps at the time this type was deemed too sensitive.

For fighter aficionados this year's show looks like pretty slim pickings. The flying display list is short: F-15SG, F-16 C/D, RAAF Roulettes, and the Blair Rebel 3000. In year's past the show offered hardcore displays by aircraft like the F-111, the B-1B, A380, and even Russian types. There could be more flying displays than what's currently listed (I've heard the RMAF's MiG-29 equipped Smokey Bandits will be at the show) but the show organizer seems agonizingly slow about updating the site.

At least the 787 will be on static, but what of Airbus? The RAAF isn't sending a KC-30A, the A400M is needed for tests in Europe, and the A380 is, well, a bit common these days. 

Taking off in the backseat of a Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet is, for lack of a better word, awesome. As the afterburners light up the runway races by on both sides. Your back presses hard against the ejection seat and things seem to happen very, very fast.

Courtesy of Boeing I had the chance to experience this very sensation in a US Navy Super Hornet on the sidelines of the Langkawi International Maritime & Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) 2011. I also had the chance to experience loops, a 6G turn, and even break the sound barrier.

Aside from the phenomonal experience of flying in one of the world's top fighter jets, I also learned a great deal from the pilot, a US navy aviator who goes by the call sign 'Tonto', about how pilots actually work with the Super Hornet in the real world, as well as some of the things they like most about it.

Winging along over the Straits of Malacca I took the stick for a while. Manoeuvring was  easy, just like an air show simulator. Tonto told me that new Super Hornet pilots only spend four or five flights actually learning to fly the aircraft, and after the first flight the emphasis is on instrument flying. For pilots of the F/A-18 A/B the transition is even easier. Super Hornet training, he told me, lasts for nearly a year, but about 90% of this time is learning, as he put it, "to fight the aircraft."

Tonto also demonstrated the Super Hornet's ability to retain useful manoeuvrability at very high alphas where most other fighters would stall out. At 20,000 feet he pitched the nose 45 degrees up, and our speed fell to just 89 knots.  Nonetheless, he was able to easily pirouette the nose this way and that. Total control.

"How is this useful in combat?" I asked.

"After the merge, sometimes you can find yourself  in a situation where another fighter comes in with greater energy," he said. "In this situation we can often surprise guys who aren't used to flying against Super Hornets."

In other words, a Super Hornet pilot can still bring weapons to bear at low speeds and a high alpha.

Tonto also gave me a demonstration of the aircraft's Raytheon APG-73 pulse-Doppler radar. Thirty miles from the Langkawi airfield the APG-73 was able to paint a grainy black and white picture of the area. Buildings were clearly visible, but the aircraft in the static area were little more than a string of fuzzy white dots. 

A crosshairs appeared and started moving around the radar image. "This is how we'd aim a weapon," said Tonto. He was using the tiny finger-joysticks on the throttle to move the crosshair.

He added that the APG-79 active electronic scanned array (AESA) radar is an immense improvement over the APG-73 - which was, to be fair, once one of the world's top radars a decade ago. The  image AESA provides is "just like a black and white picture," he said.

Though our aircraft lacked AESA, Tonto said it is commonplace in the US Navy these days.  The APG-79 also equips Australia's Super Hornets, and is part of Boeing's bid in the Japanese and Malaysian fighter competitions - in both competitions the Super Hornet is the only aircraft with an operational AESA radar.

Perhaps the most interesting thing I learned, however, is how taxing it is to fly in a high performance jet. In terms of power and performance the Super Hornet is to passenger aircraft what an F1 car is to a public bus. The serious G forces, breathing oxygen through a mask, wearing 40lbs of gear, and being strapped down tight to a hard seat don't make for a comfortable ride, though Tonto said he's used to being in the cockpit for hours.

Halfway through our one hour flight I was feeling pretty stretched. I wanted nothing more than a swim and a cold drink. It felt good to land, climb out of the plane, and stretch my legs. That said, I'd hop back in the Super Hornet this very minute if I could. 

Nothing caps four busy days at a major air show such as Dubai like a ride in a military aircraft. At both Paris and Dubai Lockheed Martin hosted a media flight on the C-130J Super Hercules.  Both flights were very different, yet highlighted the capabilities of what's perhaps the world's most venerable military transport. There is no better way to learn about an aircraft than actually flying in it and chatting with the guys who work with it day after day. 

On Wednesday's Dubai flight, for example, I learned that when the C-130J is unloading cargo in a hot landing zone the pilot can feather the aircraft's propellers while keeping the engines at a high power rating. This means the guys rushing to unload ammunition, food, vehicles, or whatever aren't blanketed by dust while they work - yet the aircraft can still take off quickly if necessary.

Another cool thing: before take off the co-pilot sticks a special flash card into a slot next to his right arm rest. This records all aspects of the aircraft's performance throughout a sortie, and the data gathered later helps maintenance crews quickly identify issues. The pilot told me that he used to fly the ubiquitous H model. The J, he said, requires three crew as opposed to five for the H, and is still easier to fly and operate.

I had the opportunity to sit in the co-pilot's seat for a few moments. The pilot was still very much in control of the aircraft, but it was interesting to see how clear everything looked through the heads up display - and this with intense glare off the desert and Persian Gulf. The aircraft was extremely responsive, and lining it up to reach specific waypoints was easy. At one point the pilot accelerated to 180 knots from 170 knots. I could feel the aircraft surge beneath me.

Aside from its ability to entertain journalists, the C-130 series has been a huge sales winner for Lockheed. In the form of various variants it has been flying for over half a century, and production of its latest variant, the C-130J, will continue for some years. 15 countries have bought it. In the Asia Pacific C-130J users include Australia (a long-time C-130 user) and India, where the C-130J was the first American aircraft purchased in decades. India has committed to six, and wants six more.

Finally, the views over Dubai and the Persian gulf were awesome. I'll take this thing over a commercial airliner any day. Below are photos of the flight, courtesy of Andy Poulastides/Lockheed Martin.