The Aviation Studio

The 2024 iteration of San Francisco Fleet Week comes to a close! With a much clearer day today, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels put on a brilliant show. Supported by several acts such as the U.S. Marine Corps F-35B, the Patriots Jet Team and the F-22 Raptor Demo Team, Fleet Week is one of the most impressive West Coast airshows on the calendar.

That's a wrap on Saturday of San Francisco Fleet Week with some great representation from United, F-22 Raptor Demo Team, U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Marine Corps!

Today marks the end of an era with the final flight of the KC-10A Extender by the United States Air Force. Affectionately known as the 'Big Sexy', the KC-10 has served for 43 years following the type's first flight in 1980.

No stranger to Australia, the KC-10 was a common sight at Brisbane Airport during large scale exercises such as Talisman Sabre and for coronet missions in support of fast jet deployments across the Pacific.

The final active airframe from the 60th Air Mobility Wing, 79-1948, will be making its final flight today from Travis Air Force Base to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base for divestment at AMARG.

Rare - Japan Maritime Self Defence Force Kawasaki P-1 as "Japanese Navy 1-3" arriving into RAAF Base WIliamtown on Friday afternoon.

防衛省　海上自衛隊　(Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force)

Day two of AIRPOWER24 with another fantastic lineup of demonstration teams and displays to huge crowds at Zeltweg Air Base. Check out the last photo for a small glimpse at the crowds in front of part of the static lineup!

Rainy skies did little to deter large crowds from descending on Zeltweg Air Base for day one of AIRPOWER24! It was a fantastic day of flying in the mountains of Sytria with a range of demonstration teams on display from across Europe alongside a first visit from the U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team!

The Royal Australian Air Force's 82nd Wing, stationed at RAAF Base Amberley, is currently hosting a deployment of three B-2 Spirit stealth bombers. These aircraft are undertaking a Bomber Task Force (BTF) deployment from their home base of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. The B-2 Spirits are assigned to two distinguished units: the 509th Bomb Wing and the 131st Bomb Wing.

This deployment exemplifies the ongoing strategic partnership and operational collaboration between the United States and Australia, showcasing the advanced capabilities of the B-2 bombers.

The heat didn't stop crowds from flocking to the Brisbane CBD this afternoon for a series of thrilling displays today by the Royal Australian Air Force and Australian Army!

The countdown is now on for next year's Riverfire performances! What was your favourite display from today?

The Royal Australian Air Force putting on a lunchtime display with two F/A-18F Super Hornets lighting it up over the Brisbane CBD in preparation for Riverfire tomorrow evening!

Flying displays kick off from 4:55pm tomorrow afternoon with fireworks at 7:00pm.

A thrilling first day of practice displays in the Brisbane CBD today for this year's Riverfire as part of the Brisbane Festival! Both the Royal Australian Air Force and Australian Army graced the skies today with their C-17 Globemaster III and ARH Tigers!

Tomorrow the F/A-18F Super Hornet will be on show at 12:30pm!

This year's Bomber Task Force deployment to RAAF Base Amberley is in full swing with all three B-2 Spirits getting into the air throughout the day. 'Banjo 82' is seen here on recovery this evening just after sunset on return from off the coast of New South Wales.

Third and final day of the Pacific Airshow Gold Coast for 2024! The day drew to a close with approximately 250,000 attendees visiting Surfers Paradise across the weekend. All eyes are now on the 2025 edition expected to be held yet again in August!

Day two on the Gold Coast for the Pacific Airshow! Clear skies and perfect temperatures brought a packed out crowd to Surfers Paradise.

Only one more day to go with another packed flying program in store for tomorrow! What was your favourite moment from today's display?

Spirits return to Australia!

Under the cover of darkness last night a pair of B-2 Spirits arrived into RAAF Base Amberley as 'Clone 11' and 'Clone 13'. This is the second deployment to Australia in recent times following their last visit in 2022 supporting the Enhanced Cooperation Initiative between Australia and the United States.

Day one of the Pacific Airshow Gold Coast for 2024! A fantastic array of aircraft on with a number of firsts including the F-22 Raptor from the United States Air Force and Greg Colyer's T-33 Shooting Star.

Two more days to go with large crowds expected to descend on the Gold Coast over the weekend. Gates open from 9am tomorrow with performances commencing from 10am!

The Canadian Forces Snowbirds escorting the Coulson Aviation - Next Gen Firefighting Martin JRM Mars on a flypast of Patricia Bay prior to her final landing. Originally delivered to the U.S. Navy in 1946 with the name 'Hawaii Mars', this aircraft was later converted to an aerial firefighter in Vancouver Island. For 47 years, 'Hawaii Mars' was used to defend communities from wildifires in British Columbia. It's no surprise that tens of thousands of people came out to say one last thank you and goodbye as she arrives at her forever home in the British Columbia Aviation Museum!

And that's a wrap for Exercise Pitch Black 2024! After more than 1700 missions over the past three weeks, the 2024 edition of Pitch Black drew to a close today. From first time participants to regular attendees, approximately 4400 personnel and 140 aircraft took part this year!

Still after a military fix? Keep an eye out on our social media channels and website as we still have plenty of content to share from the last few weeks.

A huge thank you for the continued support by the Royal Australian Air Force and Defence Australia and their respective media teams for allowing us to capture and share this exercise!

It's lights out at Exercise Pitch Black with night operations in full swing. As the second week of the exercise draws to a close, we take a look at our Monday evening view alongside the runway at RAAF Base Darwin.

The vast airspace of the Australian outback provides aircrews with an opportune chance for large-scale employment of a variety of military assets. Night flying will continue into next week, with operations wrapping up on Thursday night.

This afternoon the German Air Force and the Spanish Air and Space Force arrived into RAAF Base Darwin for Exercise Pitch Black 2024. They were joined by additional elements from the French Air and Space Force.

Arriving direct from Japan, these aircraft are currently taking part in Pacific Skies 24, a large-scale deployment involving 48 aircraft and participation in five exercises across North America, Asia and Australia. A mixture of Eurofighter Typhoons and additional Dassault Rafales were supported by four A330 MRTTs.

Exercise Pitch Black 2024 is right around the corner with the exercise officially kicking off tomorrow! Flying activity will be taking place from the 15th of July to 1st of August, with over 140 aircraft from sixteen nations lighting up the Top End.

Today's media launch at RAAF Base Darwin provided a fantastic insight into the exercise and what's on offer to the public for 2024.

For more information head over to our launch article at: https://theaviationstudio.com/2024/07/11/exercise-pitch-black-2024-kicks-off/

Exercise Dawn Strike returned to RAAF Base Williamtown this morning after a five year hiatus! Over thirty aircraft participated in this year's iteration, marking the graduation of new Air Warfare Instructors within the Royal Australian Air Force.

Dawn Strike comes off the tail-end of Exercise Diamond Storm held in the Northern Territory, the culminating activity of the biennial six-month Air Warfare Instructor Course (AWIC). 2024 also marks the 70th anniversary of the inaugural Fighter Combat Instructor Course which has since developed into AWIC.

Early morning departures from Townsville, Amberley and Williamtown accumulated with a series of high-speed low-level flyovers of Williamtown.

Less then three weeks to go till Exercise Pitch Black 2024 kicks off! More than 140 aircraft are set to participate in the largest iteration of the exercise to date with three weeks of flying in Australia's Top End. This year will see four newcomers with Italy, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Spain set to join the flying lineup.

Here's a small look back at a snippet of the action from 2022!

Exercise Crimson Dawn 24-1 is currently underway at Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville, the final stage of the OPCON course for new F/A-18F pilots. Several Super Hornets are seen here departing with a pair of 500 pound GBU-38 JDAMs on their way to the range.

This year marks the fourth year of operational conversion training taking place in country under No. 82 Wing Training Flight. Crews previously completed their training with the U.S. Navy at one of their two Super Hornet Fleet Replacement Squadrons.

The exercise will conclude late next week with newly-minted crews expected to return to RAAF Base Amberley on Friday.