Having the day off I decided to head out to Amberley for a look, runway one five was in use so I set up north of the runway. The issue with air force bases is there are no schedule movements, so you could be there for hours and get nothing or be there twenty minutes and get an airshow.
I was out there for over an hour before the first aircraft came in. It was a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III with the call sign "Stallion 51". Stallion did three touch and go's circuits before heading away from the airport, circling for some time then coming back for a full stop landing.
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| RAAF BOEING C-17A GLOBEMASTER III A41-213 (MSN 50272) |
Then it wasn't long before we had another aircraft join us, this time it was an Airbus A330-203 MRTT with the callsign "Dragon 43". Dragon did a single low level high speed flyby before coming back to land.
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| RAAF AIRBUS A330-203 MRTT A39-002 (MSN 951) |
It is currently home to No. 1 Squadron (operating the F/A-18F Super Hornet), No. 6 Squadron (operating the EA-18G Growler), No. 33 Squadron (taking delivery of the Airbus KC-30A), No. 35 Squadron (operating the C-27J Spartan) and No. 36 Squadron (operating the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III). Located on 1,600 hectares (4,000 acres), RAAF Amberley is the largest operational base in the RAAF, employing over 5,000 uniformed and civilian personnel.
Amberley was one of only two airfields in Australia (the other being Darwin International Airport) that were listed as a Transoceanic Abort (TOA) landing site for the Space Shuttle. Amberley is currently undergoing a A$64 million dollar re-development program. The RAAF has plans to have Amberley operating as its "superbase" with flights of F/A-18F Super Hornets, F-35 Lightning II, KC-30A, C-17 Globemaster and the C-27J Spartan.
Unfortunately I didn't get to see any of the F/A-18F Super Hornet's, the EA-18G Growler's or the C-27J Spartan's this time, but I was happy with what I got.
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