Air Shows & Displays

AMBERLEY AIRSHOW CANCELLED!!!
The Defence Minister today (19 Sep) announced the cancellation of the 80th Anniversary Airshow at Amberly which was to be held 28-30 Sep. The minister stated "Acting on the advice of the Chief of the Defence Force, Admiral Chris Barrie, I have agreed that both the Royal Australian Air Force 80th Anniversary Amberley Air Show and the Centenary Naval Review are to be cancelled. Substantial support for the RAAF 80th Anniversary Air Show was to be provided by the United States Military. Understandably this support is now not available after the tragic events in America on September 11. As a consequence Amberley Air Show is no longer viable." Maybe third time lucky?

The Amberley Airshow, commemorating 80 years of the Royal Australian Air Force, is be be held at RAAF Base Amberley on 28, 29 and 30 September 2001. In light of the removal of numerous functions from defence to the corporate sector, the airshow will be run by the 'Airshows Downunder' organisation. Admission will be $25. It was reported in the Saturday Courier Mail (5 May 2001), that:
'Australia's largest airshow to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the RAAF will be held at Amberley
later this year'.
The article goes on to say that the Federal Government has stepped in to fund the $220 000 required to pay for police and SES personnel after the Queensland State Government refused. The airshow is planned for 28, 29 and 30 September 2001, and may include the USAF Thunderbirds. Book your accommodation in Ipswich / Brisbane now!!BRISBANE 'RIVERFIRE'A F-111 will be doing a Dump and Burn for the annual 'Riverfire' spectacular on Saturday,
25 August 2001 (after 7:30 pm). The River Festival website address is:http://www.riverfestival.com.au

thanks to Bill Mason for the info...

MORE images from John Freedman (Avalon 95, 97, 99, 01; Tandem Thrust 01)

John Freedman photographs F-111Gs A8-272 and -277 in flight,
and F-111C A8-131 on the ground at Avalon 2001.

Bill Mason captures an unusual shot of the Boneyard Wrangler
venting fuel during Avalon 2001

Tim Beach images F-111C A8-127 at RIAT in the UK in the 1980's.
http://www.tim-beach.com/photolib.htm

More Images here

OLYMPIC CLOSING CEREMONY
(additional mpeg and jpeg wanted)

Olympics Dump and Burn

NBC Footage here (1.6Mb mpeg) (thanks NBC - great job!!)
ZIP file here.

RAAF F-111 'takes Olympic Flame to the heavens...'

Closing Party D&B also memorial flight for lost crew.
from The Queensland Times, 2 Oct 2000 by Simon Kelly and AAP
Most onlookers gasped as an F-111 from RAAF Base Amberley swooped over the Olympic Stadium in Sydney last night, taking the Olympic flame out with it.
But as thousands partied in the final-night atmosphere of the 'best games ever', very few would have known that on board the fighter was a solemn memorial for two Ipswich families.
Inside the cockpit was a 'daddy doll' belonging to young Kieva Hobbs, whose father Squadron Leader Stephen Hobbs was killed when his F-111 jet crashed into a Malaysian island peak in April last year. The pilot, Squadron Leader Anthony Short, also died in the crash.
see memorial article here

Poignant reminder as F-111 flies over stadium SYDNEY, Oct 1 (Reuters) - While most onlookers just gasped at the Australian Air Force F-111 fighter jet which swooped over the Olympic Stadium on Sunday, for two women and their families it represented a poignant reminder. Inside the cockpit was a small doll belonging to young Kieva Hobbs, whose father Squadron Leader Stephen Hobbs was killed when his F-111 crashed into a Malyasian island peak last year. Squadron Leader Hobbs had thought of the idea of the F-111's role in the closing ceremony more than two years ago. As the jet flew over the stadium helping mark the end of the Games, Kieva's mother Saskia spoke by phone to Kim Short, whose husband Anthony Short died in the same crash. ``When you hear that roar, it just reminds us immediately (of them),'' said Mrs Short, a doctor working at the Games.

Sunday October 1 7:59 AM ET

Sydney Olympics Go Out with a Bang By Paul Holmes and Paul Majendie SYDNEY (Reuters) - The Sydney Olympics (news - web sites) ended with a bang Sunday with the night sky lit up by a plume of flame spread over Stadium Australia by an F-111 fighter bomber. The 110,000 spectators and thousands of athletes thronging the arena for the closing ceremony felt the heat of one of the most spectacular effects to bring down the curtain on the Games. To the rhythms of ``Love Is in the Air'' and 1,000 sashaying ballroom dancers in fluorescent costumes, athletes partied the night away in the center of the arena, linking up to do a giant conga around the field. The fiery fly-past capped 17 days of the world's greatest athletes performing at the peak of their powers before near-capacity crowds who reveled in the most successful Olympics ever staged. ``I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games (news - web sites) ever,'' Olympic chief Juan Antonio Samaranch, presiding over his last Games in 20 years at the helm, declared to a sports-mad Australia fiercely proud of what its people had achieved. ``To you, all the people of Sydney and Australia, we say: These have been your Games,'' said Samaranch, whose Olympics were interrupted by tragedy when his wife died as he flew back to Spain. Success Of Games The success of the ``G'Day Games'' helped redeem the tarnished image of an International Olympic Committee (news - web sites) (IOC) smarting from the exposure of cronyism and corruption in the bidding for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games. Doping sullied Sydney's sporting spectacle, with seven athletes testing positive for drugs in competition, but the IOC hailed their exposure as vindication of a new, ``zero tolerance'' attitude to cheats. In Stadium Australia, war, politics and the divisions of nations were forgotten, as they have been at so many Olympics since Melbourne in 1956 when athletes first streamed into the closing ceremony en masse rather than as national teams. The athletes, letting their hair down after the rigors of competition, poured into the arena from four entrances as one for what the show's organizers billed as the biggest backyard party in the history of Australia. For Australia, the Games have helped to staunch old wounds in a young nation and to forge a cohesive identity out of a melting pot of immigrants from all across the globe. Aborigine sprinter Cathy Freeman (news - web sites), a potent symbol of Australia's disadvantaged minority, lit the Olympic cauldron at the start of the Games and then ignited the nation with an electric triumph in the women's 400 meters. Hard Act To Follow Frank Sartor, mayor of a city that has partied round the clock since the Games began, handed over the five-ringed Olympic flag to mayor Dimitri Avramopoulous of Athens, where the Summer Olympics (news - web sites) move in 2004. Sydney will be a hard act to follow after unprecedented ticket sales, television broadcasts to a record 220 countries and a glitch-free Games that unfolded as smoothly as the organizers had ever dared to dream. The athletes, treated to a stadium show of Australian icons from pop star Kylie Minogue and golfer Greg Norman to drag queens in all their finery, were not the only party animals in Sydney. Up to one million people packed the city for a spectacular fireworks display around the Harbour Bridge that promised to dwarf the New Year celebrations Sydney laid on to usher in the new millennium. The F-111 symbolically lifted the Olympic flame into the heavens to take it out of the stadium, down the Parramatta River and into the heart of a city basking in the world's praise.

Official Olympics website article 1, article 2 (repeated below) article 1Sydney Games to go out with a bang

29 September 2000

The Sydney Olympics are to go out with a bang - a low-flying fighter bomber is to ignite a massive plume of flame and one million people will be treated to one of the world's most spectacular firework displays. "Normally when you get to the end of an Olympic Games, there is a feeling that the whole thing is over and we are all going home," said Ignatius Jones, artistic director of Sunday's extravaganza. "Not in Sydney. We are going out with a bang," he promised. The F-111 fighter bomber is to "dump and burn" its fuel at 1,000 feet (300 metres) above Stadium Australia, scene of the closing ceremony where the athletes will enjoy a giant "backyard party" and be serenaded by pop star Kylie Minogue. The fighter bomber's dramatic flight will be the signal for 24 "lightning shells" to explode like giant flashbulbs all the way down the Parramatta River to downtown Sydney where another F-111 will light up the sky over the Harbour Bridge. It is being dubbed "the river of lightning". Jones, in a dig at London's "river of fire" that proved a damp squib on Millennium night in Britain, said: "It will be very different from the river of fire on the Thames in that it will work." The night sky will then be ablaze with fireworks that have a truly international flavour - pyrotechnical experts from Spain, Japan, the United States and South Africa are all contributing to the explosion of light. Jones has promised the display will be bigger and better than Sydney's Millennium celebrations which ranked as one of the most breathtaking on the night that saw in the new century. "It will dwarf anything we have done before," he said of the fireworks that will be set off from four giant barges, 10 smaller boats and the rooftops of downtown skyscrapers. Sydney loves to party and organisers expect up to one million people will pack the best vantage points around the harbour to see the 23-minute show that will consume A$3 milion ($1.7 million) worth of fireworks. The Harbour Bridge, Sydney's most beloved landmark along with the Opera House, will be the centrepiece of the festivities. A pyrotechnical waterfall in the colours of the Olympic rings is to cascade off the bridge to signal the end of the display and the start of a night of non-stop partying for a city revelling in the praise heaped on the Millennium Games. © 1996-2000 SOCOG and IBM. All rights reserved.article 2Olympic Games go out with a spectacular bang

1 October 2000

The Olympic Games ended with a bang on Sunday as a fighter bomber set the night sky ablaze with a plume of flame and a spectacular cascade of fireworks lit up Sydney Harbour Bridge. At least one million people packed the harbourside for what was hailed as one of the biggest pyrotechnic extravaganzas the world has ever seen. Celebrations dowtown followed the Olympic closing party at Stadium Australia, where 110,000 spectators and thousands of athletes felt the heat as earlier another F-111 fighter bomber flew over trailing a 30 metre ribbon of flame. The Bridge, one of Australia's most potent icons, was the centrepiece of a A$3 million ($1.7 million) firework display that put in the shade the New Year celebrations that heralded the start of a new millennium. Sydney brought in firework experts from five continents to give the five Olympic rings on the bridge a breathtaking send-off. The two parties at Olympic Park and by the harbour were linked by a "river of lightning" that illuminated the Paramatta River. Breathtaking Climax It was a breathtaking climax for a fun-loving city that has revelled in the most successful Olympics ever staged. "I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever", Olympic chief Juan Antonio Samaranch, presiding over his last Games in 20 years at the helm, declared to a sports-mad Australia fiercely proud of what it had achieved. "To you, all the people of Sydney and Australia, we say: These have been your Games," said Samaranch, whose Olympics were tinged with tragedy when his wife died as he was flying home to Spain to be at her bedside. Sydney's success helped redeem the tarnished image of an International Olympic Committee (IOC) still smarting from the cronyism and corruption exposed in the bidding for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games. Doping sullied the sporting spectacular with seven athletes testing positive for drugs in competition. But the IOC hailed their exposure as a new "zero tolerance" attitude to cheats. In Stadium Australia, war, politics and the divisions of nations were forgotten as they had been at so many Olympics since Melbourne in 1956 when athletes first streamed together into the closing ceremony rather than as national teams. Australian Icons The athletes, letting their hair down after the rigours of competition, poured into the arena from every corner for the biggest backyard party in the history of Australia. They were treated to a show of Australian icons from pop star Kylie Minogue and golfer Greg Norman to drag queens in all their finery and a country and a western singalong of the country's unofficial anthem "Waltzing Matilda". The Games have helped to staunch old wounds in a young nation and to forge a cohesive identity out of an Australian melting pot of immigrants from all across the globe. Aborigine sprinter Cathy Freeman, a potent symbol of Australia's disadvantaged minority, lit the Olympic cauldron at the start of the Games and then ignited the nation with an electric triumph in the women's 400 metres. Frank Sartor, mayor of a city that has partied round the clock since the Games began, handed over the five-ring Olympic flag to Mayor Dimitri Avramopoulos of Athens where the Summer Olympics move in 2004. Sydney will be a hard act to follow after unprecedented ticket sales, television broadcast to a record 220 countries and a glitch-free Games that unfolded as smoothly as organisers had ever dared to dream. It was truly a night to party. ABC article 1 (repeated below)Curtain falls on 'best ever' Games Outgoing International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch has declared Sydney's Olympic Games the "best ever".

Embracing the Australian humour that has surrounded the Games, Samaranch led the capacity crowd in a rendition of the now famous chant,"Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi."

The ceremony began with a mock situation, involving a lawnmower wreaking havoc across the Olympic Stadium, interfering with official proceedings.

The crowd clapped and laughed as the out-of-control lawnmower crashed into a podium, knocking Olympic officials to the ground.

The official celebrations were kicked off by Christine Anu, who performed her hit song "Island Home" atop an enormous globe surrounded by a sea of iridescent stars across the stadium field.

The flag barriers for the competing nations then entered the stadium ahead of athletes from 199 nations.

Three times gold medallist and silver medallist Ian Thorpe carried the flag for Australia.

The athletes quickly joined in the party atmosphere, cheering and dancing as Australia's top-selling band, Savage Garden performed in front of the capacity crowd.

Mr Samaranch closed the Games with the traditional invitation to the world's youth to reassemble in four years for the next Olympics, to be staged in Athens.

Presiding over his last Olympics before stepping down next year, Samaranch praised the Sydney Games as "the best ever", an accolade traditionally bestowed on host cities of Summer Games but one he refused to bestow on the much criticised Atlanta Games of four years ago.

Mr Samaranch, whose wife died during the Sydney Games, echoed the widely-held view that the 27th Olympiad has been a spectacular success in his closing speech.
The outgoing president made a light-hearted reference to his announcement seven years ago that Sydney had beaten off opposition from Beijing to stage the 2000 pageant.

"Seven years ago I said 'and the winner is Sydney'," he said.

"Well what can I say now?"

In his closing remarks, Samaranch recognised the influence of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in creating Olympic history.

"You have helped to write a glorious chapter in the history of Australia," he said.

The mayor of Athens Dimitris Avramapoulos and the president of the Athen's Olympic Organising Committee, Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki were invited onto the stage by Samaranch to accept the Olympic flag.

They were joined by the priestesses of Olympia, the custodians of the Olympic tradition, who then carried the flag from the stage.

Following the singing of the Greek and Australian national anthems, the Greek national flag was raised and Samaranch in accordance with tradition invited the world to Athens in four years time.

"I call upon the youth of the world to assemble, four years from now, in Athens, Greece, birthplace of the Olympian, to celebrate with us, the Games of the 28th Olympiad," he said, declaring the Games officially closed.

Star of the opening ceremony, Nicky Webster sang 'We'll be one' as an RAAF F-111 thundered overhead with after-burners ablaze, symbolically extinguishing the cauldron.

As the flame went out, the party went on.

And while the curtain raiser to the Sydney Games avoided all the Aussie cliches, the closing party played on every one - inflatable kangaroos, ballroom dancing, drag queens and beer swilling Aussies.

Pop newcomer Vanessa Amorosi kicked the party into full swing, descending onto the field in a silver cage singing her hit song "Absolutely everybody".
Over 1,000 ballroom dancers in fluorescent costumes moved onto the field to the rhythms of "Love is in the air" and athletes danced away in the centre of the arena, linking up to do a giant conga around the field.
One of Australia's most successful bands, INXS, now featuring John Stevens, made its return to the world arena singing "What you need" as the stage transformed into a giant barbecue.
Jimmy Barnes kept the crowd pumped with his famous song "Working Class Man" and was followed by Midnight Oil who reignited the reconciliation theme.
Peter Garrett led the group in an enthusiastic rendition of their hit song, "Beds are Burning". Notably, all members of the band wore shirts and pants emblazoned with the word "sorry".
Earlier, the lead singer of Savage Garden Darren Hayes wore a shirt with the Aboriginal flag during the band's performance.
Yothu Yindi also performed their land rights anthem "Treaty" which made a reprise at the end of the evening.
Among the other stars to feature in the parade were supermodel Elle MacPherson, Paul Hogan, Bananas in Pyjamas and Greg Norman, who emerged from inside a great white shark swinging a golf club.
Pop Diva Kylie Minogue, who entered the stadium on top of a surfboard surrounded by lifeguards, starred in the closing extravaganza singing twice to the crowd and athletes' delight.
Rock band Men at Work then led the crowd and other entertainers in a rendition of "Land down under".
Country icon Slim Dusty, with guitar in hand, capped off the event with "Waltzing Matilda".
The crowd, athletes and other entertainers joined in the singing as they sky was set alight by the start of what was a spectacular fireworks display.
Up to one million people packed the city for the spectacular fireworks display around the Harbour Bridge which eclipsed Sydney's year celebrations.
Each segment of the display represented each corner of the globe.
The fireworks spectacular ended in a blaze of glory as the Olympic rings on Sydney's Harbour Bridge were set alight by a golden explosion.
The Bridges' golden glow faded and the sky returned to darkness, signalling the end to Sydney's Games.

(The following USA articles mis-identify the F-111 as Royal Air Force in lieu of Royal Australian Air Force)NBC article 1NEW YORK POST article 1
A Dump and Burn is the dumping of fuel from a vent between the engine exhaust cones, where the fuel is ignited by the heat of the afterburner (reheat).
A great party trick!! RAAF JETS IGNITE CLOSING CEREMONY EXCITEMENTDefence Public Affairs and Corporate Communication
PACC 272/00 Sunday 1 October , 2000The Royal Australian Air Force lit up Sydney tonight when two F-111 strike aircraft from RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland took part in the closing ceremonies of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
The first jet, crewed by 42-year-old pilot Wing Commander Dave Steele from Murwillumbah, and navigator 34-year-old Squadron Leader Geoff Harland from Adelaide, swooped low over Homebush Bay performing a spectacular 'dump and burn' to the delight of the crowd in the packed Olympic Stadium.
An hour later, a second jet, crewed by 30-year-old pilot Flight Lieutenant Andrew Buttsworth from Nambucca Heads, and navigated by 24-year-old Flying Officer Brad Machan from Cairns, soared over the Sydney Harbour Bridge trailing a 200 metre long flaming tail to signal the start of a massive fireworks display.
The popular 'dump and burn' sequence, performed exclusively by the Australian F-111s, occurs when jet fuel is dumped, or released, behind the aircraft and ignited by the massive twin engine afterburners.
Wing Commander Steele, Commanding Officer No. 6 Squadron, and pilot of the jet which was seen by billions of television viewers worldwide watching the Olympic Closing Ceremony, described it as an exhilarating experience.
"The adrenaline really started pumping when we saw the stadium lights on our approach run, " he said. "We came in at low power, then brought in the afterburners just before we went over the stadium which gives you a real kick as the extra power comes on.
"Then we activated the dump and fed fuel out the rear of the aircraft between the two jet exhausts where it ignited into the long trail. Actually you can't see the dump and burn trail from the cockpit, just the orange glow in the sky behind the aircraft."
The F-111 crew members were among thousands of people who contributed to the Sydney 2000 Olympics finale but without even touching the ground. The aircrew, all from No 6 Squadron at Amberley, completed their brief but spectacular appearance over the Games City and were back at their home base within hours.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Aircraft: F-111G, operated by No 6 Squadron, RAAF Amberley.
Engines: Two Pratt and Whitney TF-30 turbofans each developing 8165kg
thrust or 12,400 hp
Airframe: Length 23.0 metres, Height 5.3 metres
Wingspan: 21.3 metres extended, 10.3 metres swept
Weight: 22,725 kg basic, 51,846kg fully loaded
Ceiling: Above 50,000 feet
Speed: Supersonic at sea level up to Mach 2.5 (2500km/h)
Crew: Pilot and Navigator
Specific details
First flight over Olympic Stadium
Crew: Wing Commander Dave Steele (pilot) 42 of Murwillumbah, New South Wales
Squadron Leader Geoff Harland (navigator) 34 of Adelaide, South Australia
Direction: North to South over centre line of stadium
Altitude: 1000 feet (about 300 m) above stadium climbing during dump and burn to about 15,000 feet (5000 m)Flight over Sydney Harbour Bridge
Crew: Flight Andrew Buttsworth (pilot) 30 of Nambucca Heads
Flying Officer Brad Machan (navigator) 24 from Cairns, Queensland
Direction: West to East over Bridge
Altitude: 1000 feet (about 300 m) above stadium climbing during dump and burn to about 15,000 feet (5000 m)Issued by Public Affairs and Corporate Communications, Department of Defence
Victoria Barracks, Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, Qld, 4000For the Tail Number Followers...Stadium Dump and Burn F-111G A8-272 (ex USAF FB-111A 68-272)
Harbour Dump and Burn F-111G A8-271 (ex USAF FB-111A 68-271)

Photos
(please send in a few of your own!!)

River Fire Brisbane 2 Sep 2000 by David Riddel

Some F-111 Images from the Avalon Airshow '99 by Jason O'Toole

Avalon 99 by Ashley Marr

Avalon 95 A8-129 by Chris Daley	Avalon 95 Night Show by Chris Daley	Avalon 99 A8-129 by Chris Daley
Avalon 99 A8-281 by Chris Daley	Avalon 99 KC-135 by Chris Daley	Avalon 97 A8-140 by Chris Daley
The infamous Story Bridge Brisbane Dump and Burn by Mal Lancaster	Avalon 95 F-111G, RF-4C F-16C by Chris Daley	Avalon 97 F-111G A8-272 by Peter Knibbs

F-111G Crewed by FLTLT Schneider and FLTLT Ferguson of 6SQN performing Low Level Handling Displays. (photos by webmaster and Sasha)