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A video of an RAAF Globemaster appearing to weave between skyscrapers in Brisbane has received more than 100,000 likes and 6,000 comments on the discussion website Reddit.
The video shows the C-17A preparing for the Riverfire festival in the Queensland capital in 2018, but was posted by the user a few days ago.
Reports at the time suggested the aircraft was flying at an altitude of 100 metres and cruised at 300km/h.
The angle of the phone video makes the Globemaster appear to be weaving in and out of the buildings – even though it maintained a safe distance.
“I sincerely, genuinely and legitimately had my heart drop a million miles a second once the plane turned,” said one user.
“Yup. There was definitely a WTF moment when I saw this,” wrote another.
Riverfire is the big finale to the Brisbane Festival in the city’s South Bank, and draws an estimated 500,000 attendees each year.
In 2019, the RAAF even created this 360-degree video from inside the cockpit of a Globemaster flying through Brisbane CBD. A warning alert can be heard sounding “Obstacle ahead. Terrain, terrain”.
Another user-created video also shows the C-17A preparing for Riverview, here.
The Boeing C-17A Globemaster III is a four-engine heavy transport aircraft that can accommodate huge payloads and land on runways just one-kilometre long.
That flexibility comes from its design, which mixes both high-lift wings and controls requiring just three onboard (pilot, co-pilot and loadmaster).
Cargo is loaded onto the C-17 through a ramp system at the back, while its floor has rollers that flip from flat to handle wheeled vehicles or pallets. RAAF owns eight, all operated by No. 36 Squadron and based at RAAF Base Amberley.
Last month, Australian Aviation reported how a Globemaster was sent from Perth to the subcontinent to deliver medical supplies and PPE to help the COVID recovery efforts in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
This is the latest of a number of deliveries to the area, with 19 of India’s 36 states and union territories already receiving Australian medical supplies from previous missions, including 3,000 ventilators and 250 oxygen concentrators.
The deliveries form part of the Commonwealth government’s $37.1 million package of support for India, supported by the Indian government, the Indian Red Cross Society and local authorities.
philip
says:This is such a ‘beatup’. Anyone who’s ever been to Riverfire knows all these flights follow the river, nowhere near the buildings.
Darn
says:Shhh you we want Americans to think that’s how we do it down under .
Martin
says:The views from the ground likely made it look more dramatic and risky than it actually was, but a number of large transports / bombers have been lost in the USA due to extreme manoeuvres that WERE beyond the safe envelope of the aircraft.
Brian Hewson
says:A lot of panic by people who don’t understand. An aircraft which has, as one of its design capabilities, the ability to fly low and avoid terrain. Flown by professionals who train regularly to do this kind of flying.
Raph
says:The video was filmed in 2019, not 2018. In 2018, the C-17 passed on the left side of the Soleil tower while in 2019, the C-17 passed on the right side of the tower and over Story Bridge.