Bart Bear's Blog

 

Labels: aircraft, airshow, balloons, Canberra

It was hot at the Avalon airshow in March. We had been walking for what seemed like hours, looking at all the aircraft parked in the static display areas. Small bears get hot very quickly and I needed to find a shady spot for a short rest. Now, there is one aircraft that has a shady spot just the right size for me. It is the F-16, and this one was visiting from Singapore. While the Oldies were talking to the Singapore crew, I settled down in the gap above the air intake for the engine and below the front fuselage. I recommend it as a resting spot for all small bears who are overheating at airshows where F-16s are parked. Just remember to stay awake and get down before the engine starts.

Labels: aircraft, airshow, aValon, Victoria

I am sitting near an access panel on a BAe Hawk 127 LIF at the Avalon airshow. This is a great little jet. It is a special variant of the Hawk trainer, specially modified to be close to the Hornet fighter in its handling properties. Its cockpit instruments and layout are also close to the Hornet's. This means that RAAF fighter pilots can be trained on a cheaper aircraft before they graduate to the Hornet. LIF stands for Lead-in Fighter. I love Hawks, they are fast and noisy. Best of all, the pilots seem to like small bears. I was able to look all over this one and even see the electronics inside the hatches, nobody else at the Avalon airshow was able to go where I did.

Labels: aircraft, airshow, aValon, Victoria

This sleek aircraft is a Rockwell B-1 Lancer. The B-1 has been in service with the USAF since 1986. It is a swing-wing, supersonic low-altitude bomber. I have seen a B-1 flying at previous Avalon airshows, and it is very impressive. They aren't allowed to go supersonic at the airshow, but they get pretty close to it and with the wings swept back they are low, loud and very fast. With the wings fully extended they are not much faster than an airliner at landing speed, but they are still very loud. I love the noise they make, specially when it comes way behind the aircraft. There is always a crowd near the B-1 on static display and sometimes it can be hard for a small bear to get a good look at it, but not this time. Just look closely at the crew ladder and you will see me with my new American friend, coming down after a look inside. No other visitor at Avalon was able to do this; small bears are special.

Labels: aircraft, airshow, aValon

This is the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor, possibly the best all-round fighter in the world today. There were 2 of them at the Avalon airshow and I just had to see them. I have read about the F-22 and Dad and I have made a model of it, but it is different seeing them for real. As soon as we were past the airshow gate I steered the Oldies toward where I figured the Raptors would be. You couldn't see them from any great distance because they were parked between a C-17 and a B-1, both much bigger 'planes. The Raptor has been around for a while. The first one flew in September 1990 and it went into service with the USAF in 2005, but these were the first to come to Australia. I was a bit disappointed because they didn't fly on the day we were there, but I did get a really close look at them. Just check out the bottom photo. The pilot took me inside the barrier and showed me just about everything possible without getting into the secret bits. Small bears really do get everywhere.

Labels: aircraft, airshow, aValon, Victoria

Last weekend we went down to Melbourne again, and on Saturday we went out to the Avalon airshow. This one was commemorating the 90th birthday of the RAAF, so it had examples of most of the aircraft that have flown with our air force. Most of them flew during the day. I have shown you lots of these aircraft in previous posts, so will only have a few from this time around. These pictures are of an FA-18 Hornet with special 90th tail markings. The problem with military aircraft markings these days is that everything is in various shades of grey, so it is a bit hard to see them at times. A good example is the fuselage stripe and squadron badge on this 'plane; in earlier times they were emerald green. Anyhow, the thing that most of the onlookers found fascinating about this aircraft at the time the photos were taken was what was happening in the cockpit. Just look closely at the bottom picture (click on it for a bigger image) and you will see somebody that you should recognize. Small bears can get anywhere.

Labels: aircraft, airshow, aValon, Victoria

Wow, it's hard to believe that I have been writing this blog for 4 whole years! I didn't think that anybody would be all that interested in the doings of a small Aussie bear and his Oldies, but at last count people from 15 different countries were reading my ramblings. Over the four years I have shown you some of my favourite places, like Fiji, Norfolk Island, Hamilton Island, the Great Barrier Reef and lots of places on mainland Australia from the beaches to the central desert. I hope my travels by car, boat, plane and train have been fun to read about, and I hope the Oldies keep us travelling. And of course I haven't been able to resist bragging a bit about the craftwork and models that I help the Oldies with. Thanks for reading my blog; I really do enjoy your emails and occasional comments.

Labels: aircraft, airshow, animals, astronomy, beach, Captain Cook, family, Fiji, fish, Hamilton Is, lighthouse, Norfolk Is, Queensland, Temora, train

One of the rarest aircraft flying today lives at the Temora Aviation Museum. It is a Lockheed Hudson and is the only flying example of the thousands that were built during World War 2. This one started its service in 1942, on anti-submarine patrols along the coast of Australia. Later it operated out of New Guinea on bombing and reconnaissance missions. After the war it was an airliner with East-West Airlines and then a survey 'plane with AdAstra Aerial Surveys, until being restored to its WW2 condition between 1976 and 1993. You can see it flying at just about every Temora museum flying day, a living reminder of the vital role that the Hudson played in the defence of Australia way back in the dangerous years when Dad was a baby.

By the way, the week-long gap in my postings is not due to my being on another interesting trip. Instead, I have been helping the Oldies with running some of the National Australian Convention of Amateur Astronomers, held in Canberra over the Easter weekend.

Labels: aircraft, airshow, New South Wales, Temora

This aeroplane was the reason that we decided to go to Temora for their January flying day. It is a Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk, an aircraft type that has a special place in Australia's history. Back in World War 2, when the Japanese were moving towards Australia, the only fighter aircraft that we could get in any quantity were Kittyhawks. By that stage the Kitty was an old design, but it was tough and dependable. Even after Spitfires arrived, the Kitty remained in the front-line squadrons. They almost disappeared after the war, but now some of them are being salvaged and rebuilt. Temora is one of the places where you can see one flying whenever this one visits. Of course Dad and I have built model Kittyhawks, six of them so far, but it is really special to see a real one in the air.

Labels: aircraft, airshow, models, New South Wales, Temora

Last Sunday we went to the Temora flying day. The Aviation Museum at Temora is a great place. They have lots of historic aircraft , and they are all in flying condition. It is the only place where you can see TWO SPITFIRES flying. There is new Sabre jet fighter there, as well as a Hudson, Canberra, Boomerang, Tiger Moth, Ryan STM, Cessna Dragonfly and Meteor. The flying days are "must be" places for small bears and Oldies. This time there were a couple of special visiting aircraft, a Curtiss Kittyhawk and a Catalina flying boat. I really like the Catalina. It is the only one flying in Australia and it belongs to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS). Catalinas were one of the most important aircraft in WW2. They hunted enemy ships and submarines, dropped bombs, mines and supplies (not at the same time), and kept an eye on thousands of miles of ocean, keeping the convoys safe. This is one of the slowest aeroplanes that I have ever seen; it's slow but it can fly for ages. And guess what. This Catalina is marked up to represent the aircraft that Dad and I made a model of! The only differences are that the big one is still missing its nose turret, and the original OX-Y was a true flying boat and could only operate from water, while the HARS one is an amphibian and can fly from water or land. My model is like the original. I love aeroplanes and it's great when you see one that you have made a model of.

Labels: aircraft, airshow, models, New South Wales, Temora

This is one tough little vehicle. It is an aircraft tug used at the Richmond RAAF base to move aircraft around. The aircraft based at Richmond are big - Hercules and C-17 - so the tractor has to be really powerful. I saw this one in action when we went to an airshow there a couple of years ago. The guys let me climb on the tractor but they wouldn't let me have a go at driving it. They say that when I grow big enough for my feet to reach the pedals they will give me a go. I guess that rules out small bears as anything but passengers. A pity, because I would like to push big aeroplanes around. Maybe I can get Dad to make a model tractor and I can use it to shuffle the models in his shelves.

Labels: airshow, New South Wales, Richmond

Whenever we go to airshows I have a great time. It seems that pilots and groundcrew all like small bears, so I get to go places that big people can't. For instance, how many airshow visitors ever get to sit on the nose of a BAe Hawk 127 LIF? One of the great things is that I can always talk Dad into making a model of the aircraft that I like best, if there is not one already in our collection of 800 or so. So as soon as we got back from the Richmond airshow last year I started putting the pressure on for a model of the Hawk that I sat on. We always do our models in 1/72 scale, so the model is much smaller than me and I guess that I shouldn't try sitting on it.

Labels: aircraft, airshow, models, New South Wales, Richmond

At Avalon airshow I saw a really mean-looking helicopter. It was bigger than the one I flew in and it had a big gun under its nose. Gee, I could have some fun with a machine like that. Dad says that it is a Tiger. Well, maybe, but real tigers have yellow and black stripes and this one had brown, green and black ones. The small photo in the corner is a good example of why you never turn your back on Mum when she has the camera. OK, Dad and I were both looking up and we have more or less the same shape but we don't need photos to prove it!

Labels: aircraft, airshow, aValon, helicopter, Victoria

I saw a really big helicopter at the Avalon airshow. It was much bigger than the one I flew in a week later. This is a Russian Mil-8 helicopter. It is one of the most successful helicopters ever. It is used in over 40 countries and there are over 10,000 of them in use. This one is used for carrying cargo and aerial agriculture work. The people who import these choppers into Australia told us all about them and let me climb all through this one. Aeroplane people usually like small bears.

Labels: aircraft, airshow, aValon, helicopter, Victoria

This is really a Bart-sized aeroplane! I found it at the Avalon airshow and fell in love with it. It is a French ultralight design called Cri-Cri and is the smallest twin-engined 'plane in the world. It is actually aerobatic and you can see some videos of it on the web. The first one flew in1973 near Paris. I couldn't find the pilot of this one so I didn't see inside it and can't tell you much about its history. Isn't it a cutie?

Labels: aircraft, airshow, aValon, Victoria

Only a week left now until the Avalon airshow. I am getting really excited. Dad got the suitcases down yesterday and packing has begun. I really love airshows because the pilots let small bears go places that they keep people out of. Here I am at the last Avalon, sitting on a bit of the undercarriage of a Catalina flying boat. This bit has obviously been designed as a Bart-sized seat. Catalinas were really important to Australia during the war years, and as transports along the coast and the islands after the war. Dad has a real thing about flying boats, Catalinas and Sunderlands used to land and take off just outside his school in Grafton. It must have been a great way to travel. We are making a model Catalina sometime soon and I am looking forward to meeting my pilot friends again.

Labels: aircraft, airshow, aValon, catalina, Victoria

We always go to the Avalon airshow. This happens every two years and is the biggest one in Australia. One of the spectacular events is on the Friday night where aeroplanes fly after dark. You can see the flames from the jet exhausts and the aircraft drop flares and things like that. It gets a bit scarey when there are big explosions and fires when they pretend to drop bombs, but it is also very exciting. Back in 2005 the show started at sunset with a lot of guys parachuting onto the airfield just in front of where I was sitting. I would love to try that. Dad rubbishes the idea. He says it is silly to jump out of a perfectly good aeroplane. Sometimes I don't think he understands small bears. But he has made me my own parachute that I can use down our stairwell and off our balcony, so I forgive him.

Labels: airshow, aValon, Victoria