Avalon Airshow 2025, part 5: dogs

One of the most fun parts of Avalon Airshow are the dogs you get to see there. Both the air force and border security folks run demos, and the Royal Australian Air Force also has a place where you can go and pat their puppies :)

Military dogs demonstration

Cylon is ready for his military-dog demonstration

Photo of a malanois (large, mostly-brown dog) wearing a military harness and holding a stuffed dog toy in its mouth. A name patch reading Cyclon (in all capital letters) is attached to the harness. The dog is on a leash that's being held by its air force handler named Rea wearing battle fatigues. The two are standing in a large field with several carnival rides in the background.

Border security dogs demonstration

A sniffer dog and her trainer at Avalon Airshow 2025

Photo of a brown labrador retriever (a large breed of dog) looking around at the audience at an airshow. The dog is wearing a black harness and the trainer is wearing a blue border security uniform. The two are on a grassy field that's been covered by a large tent. Metal railings and netting have been placed between the field and the audience who are standing around the show area.

Military puppies

Malanois puppy with his air force handler

Photo of a malanois puppy sitting on a low bench in a fenced-off exhibition area at an airshow. The puppy is looking up the air force handler who is standing next to the bench. There are people standing and walking all around the fenced-off area so they can get a look at the puppies.

Avalon Airshow 2025, part 3: people

It’s not just fun to take photos of the aircraft that are flying around, it’s also fun to photograph the people who are attending the show with you. This and the next post are all about that.

People

Taking photos at Avalon Airshow 2025

Photo of a young man in the crowd at an airshow taking photos with a professional camera with a long lens. The man is wearing and Air Force t-shirt.

Avalon Airshow 2025, part 2: flying display

I love the flying display at airshows, and this year I came prepared with a folding chair and a long lens for my camera :)

The flying display at Avalon kicks off with a “wall of fire” along the runway, which is pretty fucking impressive. That’s followed by an aerobatic display and then a military display.

However, there was a crash at this year’s aerobatic display on Friday. The pilot survived, but they cancelled the aerobatic display for Saturday, which is the day I was there.

Also, this airshow takes place at Avalon Airport, which is open for regular commercial flights the whole time. Because of that, I got photos of a scheduled Jetstar flight landing in amongst all this. (Jetstar was the airline I used to work for.)

I’ve grouped my photos into galleries for easier viewing, since there are quite a lot of them! One photo I’ve selected as the feature photo for each section.

On the ground

Wall of fire display marks the start of the flying display at Avalon Airshow 2025

Photo of a massive wall of fire along the length of a runway at an airshow. Hundreds of people are standing in the foreground, several with their phones out as they record the display.

Fighter aircraft

F-35A Lightning II close-up

Zoomed-in photo of an F-35A military fighter aircraft in the air at an airshow.

Maritime aircraft and fuel tanker

MH-60R Seahawk "Romeo" and P-8A Poseidon

It’s only at an airshow that civilians like us get to see two aircraft flying this close to each other :)

Photo fo a MH-60R Seahawk "Romeo" multi-mission maritime helicopter hovering above the runway at an airshow. Above this a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft flies low across the runway. In the foreground of the photo there are hundreds of airshow attendees watching, photographing, and filming these aircraft.

Transport aircraft

C-17A Globemaster III on the runway

Photo of the front of a C-17A Globemaster III military transport aircraft on the runway at an airshow. In the foreground of the photo there are hundreds of airshow attendees watching, photographing, and filming this aircraft.

Commercial operations

Jetstar Airbus A320 about to touch down

Photo of an Airbus A320 passenger jet in Jetstar livery about to land on the runway during an airshow.

Avalon Airshow 2023: Super Galaxy

There were a bunch of cool civilian and military aircraft you could walk into at the air show. One of the coolest was the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy II.

Super Galaxy whale tail

Low-angle photo of the tail of a massive military transport aircraft (the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy) at an air show. There are lots of people walking around the event, and several dozen people are making their way into the aircraft from its rear loading ramp.

Walking into the Super Galaxy

Photo of dozens of people walking up the loading ramp of a massive military transport aircraft (the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy) at an air show. The aircraft’s cargo space is large enough to carry tanks and helicopters.

Walking through the Super Galaxy

Photo of dozens of people walking through the cargo space of a massive military transport aircraft (the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy) at an air show. The aircraft’s cargo space is large enough to carry tanks and helicopters.

Walking out the front of the Super Galaxy

Photo of dozens of people making their way through the cargo space of a massive military transport aircraft (the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy) at an air show. The aircraft’s cargo space is large enough to carry tanks and helicopters.

USAF Super Galaxy flight crew ready to take questions

Photo of two US Air Force flight crew of the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft wait at the front of its cargo area. They are ready to answer any questions that visitors to the air show might have.

USAF Super Galaxy flight crew talking to the visiting public

Photo of a US Air Force flight crew member standing in the cargo area of a Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft during an air show. The crew member is answering a question that he’s been asked by one of the air show visitors.

USAF Super Galaxy flight crew taking questions from the visiting public

Photo of a US Air Force flight crew member standing in the cargo area of a Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft during an air show. The crew member is answering a question that she’s been asked by one of the air show visitors.

Explaining the intricacies of the pumps along the Super Galaxy nose door

Photo of a man in a Federation University (Ballarat, Australia) cap points to a series of hydraulic pumps attached to the nose door of a military cargo aircraft (the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy). The man is explaining the intricacies of this pump to another man standing next to him.

Open nose door of the Super Galaxy

Photo of the open nose door of a massive military transport aircraft (the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy) at an air show. The entire nose section at the front of the aircraft has been separated from the rest of the airframe and raised up on massive hinges. There are dozens of visitors walking out from the cargo space at the front of the aircraft. There are also hundreds of people walking around the event, looking at the dozens of aircraft parked at the air show.

Avalon Airshow 2023: Black Eagles flying display

At this year’s air show we were treated to a aerobatics flying display from the Republic of Korea Air Force’s Black Eagles aerobatic team. Here are some of the photos I took of that display.

Black Eagles in diamond formation

Photo of eight black-and-yellow jet aircraft (specifically, KAI T-50 Golden Eagle jet trainers) from the Republic of South Korea Air Force Black Eagles aerobatic team. The aircraft are flying in a diamond formation across the sky.

Black Eagles looping in formation

Photo of eight black-and-yellow jet aircraft (specifically, KAI T-50 Golden Eagle jet trainers) from the Republic of South Korea Air Force Black Eagles aerobatic team. The aircraft are flying upside-down towards the ground as part of a loop manoeuvres they are performing. The aircraft are all emitting white aviation smoke to show their flight path.

Black Eagles breaking their loop formation

Photo of eight black-and-yellow jet aircraft (specifically, KAI T-50 Golden Eagle jet trainers) from the Republic of South Korea Air Force Black Eagles aerobatic team. The aircraft have just broken formation after completing a loop manoeuvres in the air. The aircraft are all emitting white aviation smoke to show their flight path.

Two Black Eagle jet aircraft flying at each other

Photo of two black-and-yellow jet aircraft (specifically, KAI T-50 Golden Eagle jet trainers) from the Republic of South Korea Air Force Black Eagles aerobatic team. The aircraft appear to be flying in to each other head-on, as part of an aerobatic manoeuvres. Both aircraft are emitting white aviation smoke to show their flight path.

Two Black Eagle jet aircraft that have just flown past each other

Photo of two black-and-yellow jet aircraft (specifically, KAI T-50 Golden Eagle jet trainers) from the Republic of South Korea Air Force Black Eagles aerobatic team. The aircraft have just flown past each other head-on at close range, as part of an aerobatic manoeuvres. Both aircraft are emitting white aviation smoke to show their flight path.

Avalon Airshow 2023: Behind the scenes

I took a few ‘behind the scenes’ photos at the air show.

Washing the wing of his aircraft

Photo of an older man in a large field with white room-sized tents, buses, trucks, and a few general aviation aircraft parked in it. The man is wearing black chinos, a blue casual button-down shirt with its sleeves rolled up, and a black cap. He is standing next to the waist-height wing of a white airplane parked in the field (technically a Diamond HK36 Super Dimona motor glider). All the aircraft parked here are behind areas roped off by blue traffic cones with blue pennant flags on strings attached to them. The man is holding a blue bucket in his left hand. With his right hand he is washing the dirt off the wing of the airplane.

Gotta keep your plane clean

Photo of an older man in a large field with white room-sized tents, buses, trucks, and a few general aviation aircraft parked in it. The man is wearing black chinos, a blue casual button-down shirt with its sleeves rolled up, and a black cap. He is standing next to the waist-height wing of a white airplane parked in the field (technically a Diamond HK36 Super Dimona motor glider). All the aircraft parked here are behind areas roped off by blue traffic cones with blue pennant flags on strings attached to them. The man is holding a blue bucket in his left hand. With his right hand he is washing the dirt off the wing of the airplane.

Aircraft Ground Operations for the air show

Photo of four people sitting around a desk in a second-story room of a white, semi-permanent building. On the table are computers, radios, and other communications equipment. This corner room has floor-to-ceiling windows on both exterior-facing sides. A sign attached to the corner of one of these windows reads, in all-caps “aircraft ground operations”.

Air traffic control tower at Avalon Airport

Photo of the air traffic control tower at Avalon Airport. This is a wide, 14 metre tall, white tower with dozens of communication antennae installed on its roof. There are large, darkened, floor-to-ceiling windows around the top of the tower.

Avalon Airshow 2023: Lots to do

The biennial Avalon Airshow is back after four years! (The 2021 show got cancelled due to the pandemic.)

Here are some of the photos I took at the event.

Display aircraft

No push

Black-and-white photo of the nose of a medium sized, turbo-prop aircraft (a Beechcraft Super King Air). Printed in all-capital letters at the very tip of the aircraft’s nose is the phrase “no push”.

Beware of blast

Photo of a jet engine mounted below the wing of a transport aircraft. A large sign with red, all-caps text on a white background painted on the back of the engine reads “beware of blast”.

Do not grab

Photo of pilot’s seat of a Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. The cockpit canopy doors are all open. On various surfaces around the inside of the cockpit are signs in all-caps text that read “do not grab”.

Do you want to touch the nose too?

Photo of a man at an airshow carrying a little girl in his lap. The man is standing in front of a military transport aircraft and both the man and girl have one hand placed on the aircraft’s nose. The man is looking down at a child who you can’t see because there is a woman standing between the girl and the photographer. He is asking the child if they too want to touch the nose of the aircraft.

I want to touch the nose again!

Photo of a man at an airshow carrying a little boy in his lap. The man is standing next to the nose of a military transport aircraft. On the ground, next to the man, is a little girl (from the previous photo) who wants to be picked up so she can touch the nose of the aircraft again.

CH-47 Chinook

Photo of the front half of a large, dark olive coloured, twin-rotor military transport helicopter (specifically a CH-47 Chinook) at a public air show. The helicopter has ‘Republic of Singapore Air Force’ written in large, all-capital letters on its side.

Checking out the inside of a CH-47 Chinook

Photo of the inside of a military transport helicopter at a public air show. Several people are walking into the helicopter from its rear ramp, while several others are walking off.

Taking a peek at the belly of the A400M Atlas

Low-angle photo showing the underside of a large military transport aircraft (the Airbus A400M Atlas) at an air show.

Watching the show

Watching the flying program

Photo of several people standing in a line at an air show looking up at an airplane doing aerobatic manoeuvres. The aircraft in the sky is leaving a trail of white aviation smoke as the pilot performs manoeuvres. There are several other people walking around, including a group of Royal Australian Air Force cadets in their blue fatigues.

Capturing the take-off

Photo of a man taking a photo with a camera that has a very large lens attached to it. The man is at an air show, and the aircraft he is photographing is somewhere off-camera to the left of the photo. In the background of the photo is a massive military transport aircraft (a Boeing A400M), while everywhere else there are people walking around the event. A group of Royal Australian Air Force cadets in their blue fatigues are also watching the aircraft that this man is taking a photo of.

Puppies!

Belgian Malinois puppy-in-training

Photo of a Belgian Malinois puppy chewing on a blue, fuzzy toy while sitting comfortably on some astroturf behind a portable, white picket fence. The puppy is part of a litter being fostered for potential training to be a air force protection dog.

Avalon Airport

Sign at Avalon Airport eastern apron

Black-and-white photo of a large sign that reads “Avalon Airport / LAT S 38.01-8 / LONG E 144.28-4 / EAST 1”. To the left of the photo is a man with an air force tote walking across the aircraft parking apron. Jutting into the photo from the right is an aircraft wing with a jet engine mounted under it.

This was part one of four, so more photos to follow…