An A400M at the Dubai Airshow in November 2013. (Airbus)
Airbus Defence and Space is bringing its A400M airlifter to the Avalon Airshow for the first time.
It will be the first time Airbus has brought the A400M to the South Pacific, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
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The aircraft will be on static display and is one of the six A400Ms operating with the French air force.
Also from the Airbus stable on display at Avalon will be a RAAF KC-30A (which Airbus calls the A330 MRRT).
“It will be the first time that an A400M and an A330 MRTT have appeared together at an airshow in the region,” Airbus said.
==
==
Other Airbus Defence and Space aircraft coming to the airshow, which runs from February 24 to March 1, includes the C295 MPA multi-role maritime patrol aircraft and a full-scale model of its Tracker mini UAV.
Separately, airshow organisers said the F-22 Raptor will not now be performing in the Avalon flying display. Instead, the pair of F-22s will only be on static display at the event.
“Originally it was intended that one F-22 would take part in the flying display however, the aircraft’s display pilot has been diverted to other operational duties,” the airshow said in a statement.
Unfortunate news about the F-22, but it’s the nature of aviation; things change. RSAF display team, A400M, F-22s, Temora flying display etc etc, shaping up to be another great weekend. Can’t wait. Also, is this the first time for the C-295 at Avalon?
Chris
says:
Besides the 6 A400M in service with France around another 6 are in service with Germany, Turkey and UK. It is interesting that the RAF will get ~ 22 A400M operating between 24 C130J and J30 and 8-10 C17A whilst the RAAF will operate 10 C27J, 12 C130J30 and 8-10 C17A. The RAF plans are better out size cargo wise never mind 22 A400M tankers in addition to 14 Voyagers all hose and drogue offload capable. The RAAFs 5 KC30A are inadequate even with boom tanking. Its C27J and C130J30 are not fitted for aerial receiving never mind as offload tankers. Given the RAFs European AO compared to the RAAFs AO in the Indian Pacific who has the superior fuel payload offload balance plan? The A400M will soon be operationally deployed so our logistics personnel should familiarise themselves with it in detail.
Blake
says:
A400 on static display and the F-22 no longer putting on a display. The air show gets more & more dull every year (or two years as is the case) and they still charge $60 for general admin!
adammudhen
says:
@Chris, it’s worth noting the RAF examples of the A400M won’t be used as tankers. Apparently related to conditions within the AirTanker contract (for A330-based tankers).
ngatimozart
says:
The RAAF may look at the A400M when the C130Js are up for replacement. I agree it’s AAR capability would be ideal for the RAAF and AAR could be retrofitted to the C27J. I hope that Airbus do bring the A400M across the ditch to Wellington for the NZ govt to have an up close and personal look at just as they did with the RAAF C17 yesterday when the parliamentary Defence and Foreign Affairs committee went for a flight across to Woodbourne (Blenheim) and back in it. They should do the same with the A400M.
Corey
says:
The RAAF should buy a minimum 24-36 A400M aircraft with an additional 19 242t MTOW A330-200 MRTT with A330 freighter strengthened floor along with a freighter cargo door for increased cargo, troop and air to air refuelling capability. The RAAF should buy 6 new C-17 Globmaster III along with 24 second hand ones from the USAF (The very last 24 aircraft they received or the 24 lowest flight hour logged aircraft). An additional 14 C-27J Spartons should be bought as well. The RAAF should then buy 2 747-8I VIP aircraft with some equipment form the US VC-26 or as we commonly know it the New Air Force One. Why a 747-8 because it can fly faster, further with more passengers along with having room for all the equipment needed. Also the hourly operating cost of a 747-8 VIP costs $13,480US per flying hour. It can fly from Sydney/Brisbane to New York wit 100 people on board non-stop. If the RAAF also bought 3-4 Boeing 747-8F they would be able to transport freight to non hostile zones and deliver what ever cargo they have which would reduce operating costs and frees up other aircraft for transporting vehicles, helicopters etc.
Another Guest (from Australia)
says:
What, the F-22 Raptor will not now be performing in the Avalon’s handling display. Instead, the pair of F-22s will only be on static display at the event. That is certainly disappointing.
I mean what is a point of bringing these aircraft to Avalon if they are not going to perform a handling display. This is going to happen twice just like the Avalon 2011 when these two aircraft came to the event(from the 525th FS of the 3rd FW, Elmendorf) and were on static display. It’s kind of like being a “hangar queen”.
When Avalon comes again in 2017, if the F-22 display pilots have been diverted to other operational duties, in future stop bringing these aircraft if the other F-22 pilots aren’t qualified to show off their aircraft to the air show audience. In the next two years, bring back some F-15s, as well as the F-16s, B-52s or B-1Bs and bring some of the Malaysian Air Force’s Su-30MKM, maybe the Eurofighter Typhoon or other aircraft.
You can’t just bring F-22 aircraft to Avalon and the air show organisers say “the pair of F-22s will only be on static display at the event”. That is a total joke, the audience would love to see the F-22 show off its handling characteristics to show what the aircraft is capable of doing.
You’re absolutely correct Blake the air show will start to get more & more dull every two years and they still charge $60 for general admin! They are being very greedy.
Damian
says:
Geez Corey I stopped counting somewhere around the $20 Billion mark……..
Marc
says:
@ Corey. With a bottomless pit of money, I’m sure we can buy as much as we want!
Regarding VIP aircraft, range isn’t everything. It has to balanced with the ability to land/take off on shorter remote runaways which dot this land and others like South Pacific, east Asia, potential war areas and temp bases.
Trev
says:
Corey, way too much red cordial before writing your post.
Chris
says:
Adam, all A400Ms are plumbed for use as aerial refuelling tankers. The Voyager KC2 and KC3 contract is for a total of 14 airframes. The Voyagers have the same 111mtonnes as the KC30A and C17A. The A400M has 50.5mtonnes with capacity for 14mtonnes of payload or a ramp mounted hose and an additional internal tank in the cabin. For some scenarios around half the fuel has more operational utility. A ramp mounted hose allows the refuelling of larger probe equipped receivers like other A400Ms when insufficient KC3s with their longer centre line hose and drogue are available. 14 Voyagers are less airframes than the RAF Tristars and VC10s they replaced. The VC10s had 70 or 80 UKtons burning 7 UKtons hr. The Tristar had ~130UKtons burning 8 UKtons hr. The Voyager burns 6mtonnes hr in cruise and 4mtonnes hr at offload speeds. The A400M burns 4.5mtonnes hr at 780kmhr cruise ~100 kmhr less than Voyager. A400M tankers supporting A400M transports match logistically but aerial refuelling is limited to under 630kmhr a speed I currently do not have a burn rate for. UK long tons are similar to metric tonnes. US short tons less so.
Raymond
says:
So who will the A400M be primarily pitched to at Avalon? The RAAF or the RNZAF? Both?
The F-22 news really should be a separate article, not an addendum here. This will disappoint many.
Craigy
says:
@corey. Maybe all these new aircraft could be built by ASC in Adelaide as a replacement project for the subs being built elsewhere!
Trash Hauler
says:
Why not buy 48 A380s while we are at it. I’m sure Airbus will give the ADF a good price 🙂
adammudhen
says:
If people are so unhappy with the current Avalon airshow, perhaps they could go about setting up their own event and showing us how it should be done. The complaints about the price really are petty; a slab of beer costs that much and this comes with a day of things you can’t see anywhere else in the wider region. Also, @Corey…..wow….that’s quite an ambitious list. Good luck disbanding the Army and Navy to fund it 🙂
Corey
says:
Yeah I know it would cost a hell of a lot of money but this is where our RAAF should be with airlift/transport capability. With the VIP jet the 474-8 can land at a lot of airports in Australia even though it classed as a Code F aircraft. With the distance between Australia and other countries there is a hell of a lot of water hence why Qantas still use 4 engine aircraft to the US, Asia and Europe with limited 2 engine aircraft. The RAAF 2015/16 budget of $5 billion is a joke and it should be around $10+ billion and the overall ADF budget should be in excess of $30 billion. FYI yeah I do know it’s an unrealistic thing to happen but if we and the ADF keep pushing for larger budgets more jobs could be created in Australia.
Eamon
says:
Ahhh, the Avalon complaints begin again! Feel free not to show up, if the itinerary doesn’t meet your expectations – less traffic for the rest of us who actually appreciate it.
Tom
says:
Of course it is disappointing that the Raptor Display Pilot is not available for the Avalon Airshow, but ultimately its not that big of a deal. I have been to every Avalon since 2007 and drive a 2000 km round trip to do so, yes you do get a lot of the same thing every two years but I cant say its something to complain about guys, and $60 bucks is nothing. If you were going out to see a band guess what they will play the same songs each concert you go to and you end up paying waaay more that $60 for a day/ night out. Its going to be a great weekend for all the aviation nutters out there.
Jamaine
says:
I’d like to see the USAF send a B-2. That would really be a crowd puller!
Ian
says:
“Also from the Airbus stable on display at Avalon will be a RAAF KC-30A (which Airbus calls the A330 MRRT).” — typo at the end…
Bill Allwell
says:
Too light on in the military side of things for my liking. No F22s, no F15’s. Giving it a miss this year. Unless some F22 raptor pilot reads this post and decides to fly it.
Andrew Sherman
says:
I don’t mind the airshow being light on military jets if they’re going to focus on WW1 and Anzac day commemorating but they’re barely doing that either.
Michael
says:
Lucky ….. we pulled out this year 2015. After seeing them on static display in 2011 was really looking forward to go to the airshow. Driving over 1000 ks to see them on static display again VERY disappointed…… shouldn’t be called a Airshow maybe Ground Aircraft Show !
Another Guest (from Australia)
says:
Michael,
Ahhhh yes…..indeed that is so true. It should be called a Ground Aircraft Show! (Laughs)
Another Guest (from Australia)
says:
“the air show organisers say “the pair of F-22s will only be on static display at the event”.
Actually someone is right that it is also the USAF to blame, of not bringing the F-22 display pilots to show off its handling characteristics to the air show audience.
iscover
adammudhen
says:Unfortunate news about the F-22, but it’s the nature of aviation; things change. RSAF display team, A400M, F-22s, Temora flying display etc etc, shaping up to be another great weekend. Can’t wait. Also, is this the first time for the C-295 at Avalon?
Chris
says:Besides the 6 A400M in service with France around another 6 are in service with Germany, Turkey and UK. It is interesting that the RAF will get ~ 22 A400M operating between 24 C130J and J30 and 8-10 C17A whilst the RAAF will operate 10 C27J, 12 C130J30 and 8-10 C17A. The RAF plans are better out size cargo wise never mind 22 A400M tankers in addition to 14 Voyagers all hose and drogue offload capable. The RAAFs 5 KC30A are inadequate even with boom tanking. Its C27J and C130J30 are not fitted for aerial receiving never mind as offload tankers. Given the RAFs European AO compared to the RAAFs AO in the Indian Pacific who has the superior fuel payload offload balance plan? The A400M will soon be operationally deployed so our logistics personnel should familiarise themselves with it in detail.
Blake
says:A400 on static display and the F-22 no longer putting on a display. The air show gets more & more dull every year (or two years as is the case) and they still charge $60 for general admin!
adammudhen
says:@Chris, it’s worth noting the RAF examples of the A400M won’t be used as tankers. Apparently related to conditions within the AirTanker contract (for A330-based tankers).
ngatimozart
says:The RAAF may look at the A400M when the C130Js are up for replacement. I agree it’s AAR capability would be ideal for the RAAF and AAR could be retrofitted to the C27J. I hope that Airbus do bring the A400M across the ditch to Wellington for the NZ govt to have an up close and personal look at just as they did with the RAAF C17 yesterday when the parliamentary Defence and Foreign Affairs committee went for a flight across to Woodbourne (Blenheim) and back in it. They should do the same with the A400M.
Corey
says:The RAAF should buy a minimum 24-36 A400M aircraft with an additional 19 242t MTOW A330-200 MRTT with A330 freighter strengthened floor along with a freighter cargo door for increased cargo, troop and air to air refuelling capability. The RAAF should buy 6 new C-17 Globmaster III along with 24 second hand ones from the USAF (The very last 24 aircraft they received or the 24 lowest flight hour logged aircraft). An additional 14 C-27J Spartons should be bought as well. The RAAF should then buy 2 747-8I VIP aircraft with some equipment form the US VC-26 or as we commonly know it the New Air Force One. Why a 747-8 because it can fly faster, further with more passengers along with having room for all the equipment needed. Also the hourly operating cost of a 747-8 VIP costs $13,480US per flying hour. It can fly from Sydney/Brisbane to New York wit 100 people on board non-stop. If the RAAF also bought 3-4 Boeing 747-8F they would be able to transport freight to non hostile zones and deliver what ever cargo they have which would reduce operating costs and frees up other aircraft for transporting vehicles, helicopters etc.
Another Guest (from Australia)
says:What, the F-22 Raptor will not now be performing in the Avalon’s handling display. Instead, the pair of F-22s will only be on static display at the event. That is certainly disappointing.
I mean what is a point of bringing these aircraft to Avalon if they are not going to perform a handling display. This is going to happen twice just like the Avalon 2011 when these two aircraft came to the event(from the 525th FS of the 3rd FW, Elmendorf) and were on static display. It’s kind of like being a “hangar queen”.
When Avalon comes again in 2017, if the F-22 display pilots have been diverted to other operational duties, in future stop bringing these aircraft if the other F-22 pilots aren’t qualified to show off their aircraft to the air show audience. In the next two years, bring back some F-15s, as well as the F-16s, B-52s or B-1Bs and bring some of the Malaysian Air Force’s Su-30MKM, maybe the Eurofighter Typhoon or other aircraft.
You can’t just bring F-22 aircraft to Avalon and the air show organisers say “the pair of F-22s will only be on static display at the event”. That is a total joke, the audience would love to see the F-22 show off its handling characteristics to show what the aircraft is capable of doing.
You’re absolutely correct Blake the air show will start to get more & more dull every two years and they still charge $60 for general admin! They are being very greedy.
Damian
says:Geez Corey I stopped counting somewhere around the $20 Billion mark……..
Marc
says:@ Corey. With a bottomless pit of money, I’m sure we can buy as much as we want!
Regarding VIP aircraft, range isn’t everything. It has to balanced with the ability to land/take off on shorter remote runaways which dot this land and others like South Pacific, east Asia, potential war areas and temp bases.
Trev
says:Corey, way too much red cordial before writing your post.
Chris
says:Adam, all A400Ms are plumbed for use as aerial refuelling tankers. The Voyager KC2 and KC3 contract is for a total of 14 airframes. The Voyagers have the same 111mtonnes as the KC30A and C17A. The A400M has 50.5mtonnes with capacity for 14mtonnes of payload or a ramp mounted hose and an additional internal tank in the cabin. For some scenarios around half the fuel has more operational utility. A ramp mounted hose allows the refuelling of larger probe equipped receivers like other A400Ms when insufficient KC3s with their longer centre line hose and drogue are available. 14 Voyagers are less airframes than the RAF Tristars and VC10s they replaced. The VC10s had 70 or 80 UKtons burning 7 UKtons hr. The Tristar had ~130UKtons burning 8 UKtons hr. The Voyager burns 6mtonnes hr in cruise and 4mtonnes hr at offload speeds. The A400M burns 4.5mtonnes hr at 780kmhr cruise ~100 kmhr less than Voyager. A400M tankers supporting A400M transports match logistically but aerial refuelling is limited to under 630kmhr a speed I currently do not have a burn rate for. UK long tons are similar to metric tonnes. US short tons less so.
Raymond
says:So who will the A400M be primarily pitched to at Avalon? The RAAF or the RNZAF? Both?
The F-22 news really should be a separate article, not an addendum here. This will disappoint many.
Craigy
says:@corey. Maybe all these new aircraft could be built by ASC in Adelaide as a replacement project for the subs being built elsewhere!
Trash Hauler
says:Why not buy 48 A380s while we are at it. I’m sure Airbus will give the ADF a good price 🙂
adammudhen
says:If people are so unhappy with the current Avalon airshow, perhaps they could go about setting up their own event and showing us how it should be done. The complaints about the price really are petty; a slab of beer costs that much and this comes with a day of things you can’t see anywhere else in the wider region. Also, @Corey…..wow….that’s quite an ambitious list. Good luck disbanding the Army and Navy to fund it 🙂
Corey
says:Yeah I know it would cost a hell of a lot of money but this is where our RAAF should be with airlift/transport capability. With the VIP jet the 474-8 can land at a lot of airports in Australia even though it classed as a Code F aircraft. With the distance between Australia and other countries there is a hell of a lot of water hence why Qantas still use 4 engine aircraft to the US, Asia and Europe with limited 2 engine aircraft. The RAAF 2015/16 budget of $5 billion is a joke and it should be around $10+ billion and the overall ADF budget should be in excess of $30 billion. FYI yeah I do know it’s an unrealistic thing to happen but if we and the ADF keep pushing for larger budgets more jobs could be created in Australia.
Eamon
says:Ahhh, the Avalon complaints begin again! Feel free not to show up, if the itinerary doesn’t meet your expectations – less traffic for the rest of us who actually appreciate it.
Tom
says:Of course it is disappointing that the Raptor Display Pilot is not available for the Avalon Airshow, but ultimately its not that big of a deal. I have been to every Avalon since 2007 and drive a 2000 km round trip to do so, yes you do get a lot of the same thing every two years but I cant say its something to complain about guys, and $60 bucks is nothing. If you were going out to see a band guess what they will play the same songs each concert you go to and you end up paying waaay more that $60 for a day/ night out. Its going to be a great weekend for all the aviation nutters out there.
Jamaine
says:I’d like to see the USAF send a B-2. That would really be a crowd puller!
Ian
says:“Also from the Airbus stable on display at Avalon will be a RAAF KC-30A (which Airbus calls the A330 MRRT).” — typo at the end…
Bill Allwell
says:Too light on in the military side of things for my liking. No F22s, no F15’s. Giving it a miss this year. Unless some F22 raptor pilot reads this post and decides to fly it.
Andrew Sherman
says:I don’t mind the airshow being light on military jets if they’re going to focus on WW1 and Anzac day commemorating but they’re barely doing that either.
Michael
says:Lucky ….. we pulled out this year 2015. After seeing them on static display in 2011 was really looking forward to go to the airshow. Driving over 1000 ks to see them on static display again VERY disappointed…… shouldn’t be called a Airshow maybe Ground Aircraft Show !
Another Guest (from Australia)
says:Michael,
Ahhhh yes…..indeed that is so true. It should be called a Ground Aircraft Show! (Laughs)
Another Guest (from Australia)
says:“the air show organisers say “the pair of F-22s will only be on static display at the event”.
Actually someone is right that it is also the USAF to blame, of not bringing the F-22 display pilots to show off its handling characteristics to the air show audience.
Cheers.