Geoff Thomas
Although the skies were scarcely clear, the cloud-base for yesterday's flying display at Asian Aerospace was more than adequate for the aerobatic pilots' skills to be ably demonstrated.
Following the opening sequence by the 'home team' - the Black Knights from the RSAF - the interesting mix of fixed and rotary wing aircraft were put through their paces by an international selection of highly skilled pilots. If you ask an airshow crowd about their favourite act, fast jets usually steal the march, but in the skies over Changi everyone seems to agree that the Royal Australian Air Force's Roulettes aerobatic team are pretty special.
Their turbo-prop two-seater Pilatus PC9/As trainers are flown in a memorably impressive routine which could have more than a little to do with the fact that the pilots are all active qualified flying instructors (QFIs) at Australia's Central Flying School!
Other particularly tight displays yesterday included the two Dassault fighters - the Mirage 2000 and the Rafale -and the French national aerobatic team's Alpha Jets whose patriotically-coloured smoke left a smell of kerosene in the air long after their display ended.
But the prize for the noisiest and most g-filled (both positive and negative) display must go to the USAF's Lockheed-Martin F-16 which is filled the overheated humid air over the airfield with a crackling roar as its pilot made it dance around the sky. Impressive stuff...
Source: Flight Daily News
