We got to see loads of planes
Make sure to check out part 2.
So in one day I took 4700 photos (~224 GB). Unfortunately my lens was faulty so lots are completely out of focus, most are very soft (marginally out of focus but usable if you sharpen and reduce resolution), and a few are actually sharp. Culling & editing them was a bit depressing as it was quite a bloodbath of rejection - lots of fantastic looking thumbnails that were sad to see at full size.
Reviewing the EXIF data it turns out the lens has been faulty since last year, but since then I've only taken pictures of stationary/slow subjects where I could still get the AF to work. It's a shame I only just realised the lens was faulty at the airshow as I was able to fix it in a few hours at home. I guess that means I have an excuse to go again next year.
Fortunately there are still enough good ones to create a few posts (especially when downsampled for web).
I've put the full schedule of what was shown at the bottom of this post - I took photos of most of them and I'll try share at least one photo of each. Note I won't necessarily post in chronological order.
The day started with a plane (piloted by Emma McDonald) circling some parachutists with huge flags.
Twin vipers - old school fighter jet from the ~70s.
3 of Roulettes & 100 Squadron Formation - this was the only properly sharp shot so I didn't bother editing the photos with all of them
and the RAAF Roulettes
That's the only sharp photo I got of all them, but also you can't see anything so here are some of the not sharp ones with better lighting.
Then we have the Red Star Roolettes. They did some very cool close passes.
Somehow none of these resulted in an aviation disaster.
Screaming Diamonds - made up of a Pitts S1-11 and two Pitts S1T. These are some very old biplanes that have been manufactured since the 1940s.
Then we have Matt Hall doing some crazy stiff with Red Bull.
Certainly one way to escalate from a mirrored-inverted flying stunt by adding a 3rd plane!
And a flyby of a guy in a jetpack (those jetpacks are insanely loud).
If you're interested in more photos of any of these let me know and I can dig up some more, otherwise look out for the next one of these!
PA 2026 Schedule
According to the website on the day:
- 10:18 - Gold Coast Skydive - Feat Emma Mcdonald
- 10:27 - YAK110 - Jeff Boerboon (USA)
- 10:34 - Twin Vipers - Strikemaster & Jet Provost
- 10:43 - PC-9 Display - Solo Aerobatic Display
- 10:52 - Strikemaster Solo - Jason "Easty" Easthope
- 10:59 - Gravity Industries - Flight 1: Jet Suits X 2
- 11:05 - ADF Red Berets - From RAAF C-17
- 11:13 - QFD Fire Attack Demo - Queensland Fire Department
- 11:22 - Australian Wingsuit Demo Team - Jason, Jeff & Chris
- 11:31 - Roulettes Formation - With 100 Squadron Spitfire & Mustang
- 11:38 - RAAF 100 Squadron - Mustang, Spitfire & Pay's Aviation
- 11:46 - Merlin Combine - 100 Squadron & Pay's Aviation Spitfire
- 11:54 - RAAF Roulettes - PC21 X 6
- 12:13 - Westpac Lifesaving - EC-135 SAR Display
- 12:29 - Red Star Roolettes - Nanchang CJ-6 x 6
- 12:54 - C-17 Demo Team - Pacific Air Forces
- 12:20 - Rod Flockhart - Extra 300S
- 13:02 - Jeremy Miller - Yak 55
- 13:10 - MV-22 Osprey Display - United States Marine Corps
- 13:23 - Southern Knights - Multi-Ship Display Team
- 13:39 - Mat Hall 3-Ship - With Kris Sieczkowski & Jason "Easty" Eastope
- 13:53 -
Withdrawn C-130 Display :( - 14:03 - P-8 Poseidon - United States Navy
- 14:10 - Screaming Diamonds - Pitts 3-Ship
- 14:22 - Emma Mcdonald - Extra 300L
- 14:29 - CAC Mustang & P-40 - Warbird Aero, Andrew Kennedy & Scott Tabener
- 14:43 - Gravity Industries - Flight 2: Jet Suits X 2
- 14:49 - BO-105 Helicopter - Bryce Nietvelt
- 14:58 - Mat Hall - MXS
- 15:11 - T-33 Silver Star - Greg Colyer (USA)
- 15:23 - YAK110 - Jeff Boerboon (USA)
- 15:41 - F-35A Lightning - RAAF