The boys have made it to the Australian International Airshow 2023 (aka Avalon) and have been kept extremely busy recording content for the Australian Defence Magazine podcast as well as the recently revived Plane Crazy Down Under podcast. Woo hoo!
The show has featured plenty of military and some GA announcements but not a lot on the airline front as far as the boys could tell. In addition to the AH-64E Apache, F-35A and P-8A doorstop interview opportunities with the Defence Minister, there was also the announcement that the RAAF are standing up 9SQN once again to fly the MQ-4C Triton UCAS. This news was scooped a few days in advance of the official announcement because we all saw the 9SQN emblem proudly painted on the aircraft’s fins. Oooops :)
Speaking of drones, Grant interviewed a representative of the team developing the “Wanderer,” a sovereign, low cost ISR drone with all components made in Australia that’s been designed and built by the RAAF and the Defence Science and Technology Group. Very neat stuff!
At this year’s airshow, Peter Meehan announced he was hanging up the microphone and retiring from the commentary team. He has been the “Voice of Avalon” since 1992 and is handing over the team anchor role to our friend Tony Moclair. Steve & Grant grabbed a quick chat with them both about the transition.
It wouldn’t be an Avalon without at least one tanker on the ramp and, this year, we had three examples of the USAF’s current tankers: KC-135, KC-10 and KC-46. Grant’s calling them Grandpa, Juniour and Cousin It…
Three USAF Tankers at Avalon: KC-10, KC-46 & KC-135
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