Showing off
Air Force “pimps its ride” to support two of Australia’s biggest motor racing events

By CAPT Sandra Turner
Volume 48, No. 6, April 20, 2006

A track official stands in the pits while a 77SQN Hornet flies overhead before the start of the Clipsal 500 V8 race in Adelaide.

Photo by SGT Brent Tero

Members of the Roulettes aerobatics team present a memento to V8 driver Craig Lowndes after his recent PC-9 flight.

Photo by SGT Brent Tero

The Roulettes fly over the Grand Prix track in Melbourne in the lead-up to the race start.

Photo by WOFF Ray Bennell

Airfield defence guard AC Jeremy Bainbridge, left, shows Crystal, Adam and Marcus Bennett of North Haven, Adelaide, the controls of a gun buggie at the Clipsal 500.

Photo by SGT Brent Tero

ADELAIDE turned on brilliant weather and unrelenting excitement and entertainment, on and off the track, for last month’s 2006 Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar races.

With a total attendance figure for the four days of more than 270,000, it was the biggest race ever, and while Ford won on the track, Clipsal provided an excellent opportunity for the ADF to showcase its wares with an array of visual stimulation both on the ground and in the air.

The Roulettes provided a very impressive display of aerial acrobatics on Saturday and Sunday, while the fly-pasts of the AP-3Cs and the Navy Sea King helicopters before both races had patrons looking skywards.

But the favourite for many ‘petrol heads’ was kept to last. The sight of the F/A-18 screaming down pit straight at the end of the national anthem was an awesome sight and sound for the crowd of 70,000.

Weapons, medical equipment, night vision gear and a satellite terminal assembly were all on display for the crowds, with Army providing a popular display of a portable sawmill system.

Army’s hotted-up street machine, ‘Armygeddon’, was a special attraction for young and old. ‘Armygeddon’ spent a brief time on the track and it is hoped if it returns to next year’s Clipsal 500, it will have the chance to delight all patrons right around
the circuit.

And finally, the Navy Band’s SA Detachment entertained patrons for hours during the race days with their unique style of music and entertainment at the back of the pit stands.

 

By Peter Johnson

WHILE the cream of the world’s Formula One drivers were focused on a podium finish, the Air Force was aloft putting a different set of machinery and skills on show to the public.

The stage was the Albert Park Formula One Grand Prix circuit in Melbourne, and the players were the Roulettes aerobatic team and a Hornet from 77SQN, RAAF Base Williamtown.

Grand Prix spectators also got the opportunity to meet Air Force, Navy and Army representatives, proving that while the machinery is up with the best, it takes skill and training to get the best out of it.

BMW Celebrity Challenge drivers Kim Watkins, host of Network Ten’s 9am with David and Kim show, and Giaan Rooney, Commonwealth Games medallist and captain of the Australian swim team, got to discover this skill in a PC-9 flight on Grand Prix Friday.

Kim was flown by Roulette Leader, SQNLDR Dennis Tan, while Giaan was flown by Roulette Four, FLTLT Adrian Greener.

The entire Roulette team was later invited to Network Ten studios, with SQNLDR Tan and FLTLT Greener appearing as guests on the 9am with David and Kim program.

During the race, the F/A-18 display provided spectators with everything from a 115kt low-speed high-angle-of-attack pass to a 7.5G vertical departure with vertical aileron rolls climbing to 20,000 feet.

77SQN Hornet pilot FLGOFF Anthony O’Neill described the opportunity to support the Grand Prix as “awesome.”

“I was working pretty hard, actually,” he said. “I saw the grandstands packed with people and I saw the lake but I didn’t have much time to see too much more.”

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