Warbirds Downunder Airshow 2018

Warbirds Online attended the Temora Aviation Museum’s (TAM) Warbirds Downunder Airshow 2018 on October 12 – October 13, which again was a spectacular success.  With a great line up of Warbirds in attendance, the Warbirds on display were high on quality and quantity, with only a couple of no shows due to unserviceability. Coupled with excellent weather on both days, although the prevailing wind did make it difficult for some aircraft, this was an airshow not to be missed. The cloud cover on the Saturday was also difficult for those who wanted to capture some of the action but in general the conditions were excellent.

Among the highlights were the participation of The Scone based Hawker Hurricane C/N 60372, C-FDNL, Mk XII / IIB Serial No 5481 VH-JFW and their Curtiss P-40E 41-25109 (RAF serial ET433) VH-KTY as well as T-6G Harvard 49-3186 VH-HAJ.

Another P40 in attendance was Doug Hamilton’s P40N VH-PFO which looks great in its Pacific Scheme.

Two North American / CAC Mustangs also attended, CA-18 Mk.21 Mustang A68-110 VH-MFT based at Caboolture Qld following its extensive recent refurbishment and P51D VH-FST From Archerfield wearing its USA P51 USAAC colors as “The Flying Undertaker / Snooks – 6th”.

The two Temora Based Supermarine Spitfires Mk VIII VH-HET Military S/N: A58-758 and Mk XVI, VH-XVI Military S/N: TB863 performed faultlessly throughout the show in formations with the Hurricane as the Battle of Britain Flight and later with all the other WWII fighters as a massed formation which was a major highlight of the show.

CAC CA-13 Boomerang  VH-MHR Military S/N: A46-122 from the TAM collection was magnificent as always performing for the appreciative crowd as was the collections Gloster Meteor F.8 VH-MBX RAF Military S/N: VZ467 which is the only single seat “Meatbox” flying in the world and painted to represent RAAF A77-851 a Korean War era Meteor operated by RAAF 77 Squadron and flown by Sgt. George Hale. The TAM Lockheed Hudson VH-KOY Military S/N: A16-112 “Tojo Busters” also flew a very dramatic routine and as always was much admired for its maneuverability for such a large bomber.

Other WWII displays included the ever popular Paul Bennet Airshows Grumman TBF/TBM Avenger VH-MML Build No: 53857 and Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS)  Catalina (PBY-6A Canso) A24-362 VH-PBZ “Felix” as well as TAMs Ryan STM S2 VH-RSY Military Serial # 474 and Lockheed Hudson VH-KOY Military S/N: A16-112.

Vultee BT-13A Valiant  VH-JKV was also attending again and put in a great display. Another trainer from WWII attending was the beautiful Ryan PT-22 Recruit (ST3KR) VH-RPT. There were at least 6 North American T6 family trainers in attendance as well including 4 used in the fantastic display by the Southern Knights team. Speaking of trainers a display of 4 CT4s, 3  CAC CA-25 Winjeels and a lone T6 performed an excellent display of close formation flying in difficult conditions.

HARS also sent DHC4 Caribou A4-234 which stunned the crowd with its STOL performance as well as the ability to reverse down the runway.

The RAAF as always supported Warbirds Downunder in fine fashion with an excellent contribution by C-17 Globemaster III, E-7A Wedgetail, C-130J Hercules,  2 X McDonnell Douglas/GAF F/A-18A and F/A-18B Hornets and 2 X BAe Hawk 127 lead-in fighter trainers. The 2  McDonnell Douglas/GAF F/A-18A and F/A-18B in particular gave a spectacular display when they flew in formation with the 2 P40s and 2 Mustangs – certainly not a sight seen before.  All of the RAAF aircraft performed exciting displays of their capabilities and were a good contrast to the historic aircraft performances.

Several old favourite TAM aircraft are currently undergoing maintenance at present including the CA 27 Sabre DH Vampire and EE Canberra and were not flying during the displays but they were still in evidence as static display aircraft. One TAM classic jet that did fly and gave a great display was Cessna A-37B Dragonfly VH-XVA Military S/N: 68-10779 one of several owned by TAM and only just restored.

3 Cessna O-1G Bird Dogs and a Cessna O-2A also flew great displays and gave a Vietnam era flavor to the event the O-2A in particular was very energetic in the air.

In the static aircraft park a host of visiting warbird and classic aircraft were on display including a Boeing Stearman, various Austers and an Avro Cadet RAAF Trainer.

We always look forward to the trip to Temora for this event and we are never disappointed.  The crowd entertainment and facilities are always first class as are the organization and static attractions, even getting out of the event after the show each day is not the chore.

We wish to thank TAM and in particular the event organizers for the great help and support they gave us on our visit.  We can highly recommend all aviation enthusiasts to put this on their bucket list for the next event in 2020.

For those who can’t wait there is always the opportunity to visit the Museum and flying days.  Check the TAM Website for details.

© John Parker 2018