I had the opportunity to go to Townsville in North Queensland earlier this week to interview some of the Thunderbirds for a freelance piece I was doing for the national broadsheet, The Australian newspaper.
Here is the link to the piece plus some shots I took. At the bottom are some shots taken by a friend of mine, who is a freelance photographer and another Qantas pilot. He goes by the callsign of Jabs.
Jabs was also the photographer of this historic piece of film from the old days of Kai Tak in Hong Kong. A Korean Air pilot almost killing his passengers by refusing to go around. Ignore the Youtube comments, most of them don't have a clue what good piloting is!
That landing is terrifying! I'd be a little worried about that undercarriage too!
The 747 is engineered specifically to handle a 45 (?) degree crab at touchdown. Due to the low underwing engine mounts, you can't touch down safely with any appreciable bank.
Deb Mitchell from ASB.TV reposted Mike's article in the "Thunderbirds In The News" thread.
ASB Forum Buzz wrote:USAF THUNDERBIRDS DOWN UNDER
Date: 09/26/09
(The Australian Business) They are the world's top military aerobatic team and they are set to thrill Australian audiences for the first time since 1992.
You can see it was a hazy day, due to the great Australian Dust Storm that meant it took me twelve hours to get home instead of the usual three.
That Dump and Burn routine from the two F-111's was the last one ever to be seen at an air show... which is really sad. The RAAF will be finishing its 36 year association with the Aardvark early next year when the first Super Hornets arrive.
Talk about being brave! But you gotta do, what you gotta do 
