Avalon 2007 – Breaking the Barriers

Other features of the airshow week include a wide range of associated conferences, a large land defence exhibition (LanDef), and a ‘Careers and Skills Showcase’.

This year’s show has been themed ‘Breaking the Barriers’, with famed US test pilot Chuck Yeager confirmed as the airshow’s guest of honour (a replica of Yeager’s record breaking Bell X-1 will be shown alongside a Wright Flyer replica and a full size mockup of the F-35 JSF).

Aircraft highlights of the show include the return of the Super Hornet (which looks set to be the RAAF’s new strike fighter – see overleaf), a contingent of US Air Force fighters (F-15s and F-16s), a B-52 bomber, E-3 Sentry AWACS, transports (KC-10 tanker and a C-17), and a Predator UAV.

Examples of most types in the ADF inventory will be there, including the first airshow appearance of the RAAF’s C-17 airlifter, the Roulettes, F/A-18s, F-111s, Hawks, C-130, Caribou, Orion, Black Hawk, Tiger, Sea King, Squirrels and Seahawk.

Other foreign military participation for the show will comprise a New Zealand 757 and a Singaporean Super Puma helicopter.

A large collection of warbird and historic aircraft will be there, such as HARS’s Constellation and Catalina, but sadly the Temora Aviation Museum’s impressive collection will be absent.

Helicopters, vintage and sport aircraft will also be there en masse.

Trade exhibitors will bring upwards of 90 aircraft, a range of business, regional and GA types from the TBM 850 single turboprop to SkyAirWorld’s first Embraer 170 70-seat jet airliner. Other types include various Cessnas, three Gulfstreams, Hawker 850XP, Falcon 900EX, Learjet 60XR, Challenger 604 and 850, Global 5000, CRJ900, Cirruses, Diamond DA-20 and DA-42, Javelin light jet, PAC 750XL, Tecnams, the Whitney Boomerang and more.

The aircraft provide the glamour for the show, but its real business is done in the trade halls. Airshow organisers have booked a record number of exhibitors, with almost 600 companies and organisations booking space.

Details of the associated conferences (including the Chief of Air Force Air Show Conference and the Australian International Aerospace Congress) can be found via www. airshow. net. au.

A big innovation for this year’s show is the Careers and Skills Showcase. Teachers and career advisers are being invited to the show on the Friday to take part in career forums and discussions to inform them of career opportunities in the aviation and defence industries. Then over the weekend the airshow’s conference centre will be taken over for stalls with hands-on displays and exhibits for interested students and their parents to try out, such as aircraft and ATC simulators, mock checkin counters, aircraft engines for stripping, etc. From Friday afternoon the gates will again be open for the public airshow, highlighted by the return of Friday evening’s ‘Night Alight’ routine, highlights of which will include the F-111’s dump and burn routine and the ‘Wall of Fire’.

Unfortunately ticket and car parking prices have crept up (although organisers say a day at the airshow is still cheaper than an afternoon at the football). General admissions prices are now $45 per adult.

Three thousand Gold Pass grandstand seats per day are also on sale (but selling 20 per cent faster than in previous years, organisers say). For $150 for one day (and up to $420 for three), ticket holders receive a reserved grandstand seat, entrance to the Gold Pass enclosure and facilities (including “gourmet food outlets, bar and alfresco dining”), free carparking, a souvenir program and a Gold Pass cap.

Again pilots can fly their own aircraft into the show, either into the main airshow site or to the Avalon East satellite grass strips (linked to the main site by shuttle bus). A three day ‘Destination Avalon Air Tour’ rally is also being held. It departs Shepparton in Victoria on March 19, arriving at Avalon on the 21st.

Avalon is about 40 minutes from Melbourne and 15 minutes from Geelong along the Princes Freeway. Trains stop at nearby Lara station with shuttle buses to the airshow.

If you are considering coming to the airshow from out of town, make sure you book ahead for accommodation, as the World Swimming Championships are being held in Melbourne at the same time, while the Formula 1 Grand Prix finishes the weekend before.

Finally, if you are coming to the show, please visit the Australian Aviation booth in the main exhibitor halls (Hall A 1N24). Meet the small AA team, and take advantage of airshow discounts on magazines, subscriptions and books.