RSAF Open House 2008

The RSAF Open House 2008 was opened to the public from 30th August to 31st August 2008 and the visitors were treated to a great show of aerial display, fun games and carnival, informative display on the modern 3rd Generation Army and Airforce, and last but not least, the displays !
I reached there with my cousin aroudn 1+pm, the weather was good, sunny and bright, although with dark clouds looming in the sky. After clearing the security entrance, we were greeted by the “veterans” of the RSAF, the retired air warriors of the 1st and 2nd Generation. I forgot to take photos of them, I used to train in the UH-1H years ago !
Moving down, turning to the main ground, we were welcomed to the main showground ! Many different fighter jets, transport planes and ground military vehicles were on display. There were many people around especially families with children. They were very keen to sit inside the fighter jet to get a feel of it and were queuing up for it, so were the helicpoters, the Apache AH-64 and Super Puma. Other performances included the arming display for the different fighter jets, precision timing and teamwork.
Inside the hangers, it was turned into an exhibtion ground, showcasing the latest technology used in the RSAF and the history and development of the RSAF, brought back memories when I was a small kid looking at the fighter jets flying in the sky during major events such as NDP. There were also a great sense of pride when I saw how our RSAF had become a global citizen, helping countries around the world in humanitarian relief missions. We had grown a lot in the past 43 years !
The weather soon changed, strong rain and winds hit the RSAF Open House, luckily, we were resting in the stadium gallery, away from the rain. It was heavy and I was afraid that the aerial display would be cancelled. However, it stopped in time and the aerial display proceeded a little bit later instead of the usual stipulated timing.
The aerial display was an awesome performances consisting of

(1) Parachuters arriving from the sky
(2) Operational readiness by the figher jets squadorn
(3) Cooperation of armed forces and fighting machines (fighter jets, apaches, super puma, chinnok, charlie 130)
(4) Fighter Jets flypast

I had a great time photographing the aerial performance ! Although I was blocked by my fellow visitors, missed out some good photography taking opportunities.

Do check out my photos collection at Flickr !

Hope you all enjoyed my post and also enjoyed your trip down to the RSAF Open House 2008 !

5 Comments

  1. RSAF Open house! haha, this one has created so many noise pollution at my residential area! The aircrafts were flying so low that we could just take photo from our window at home!

    So you enjoyed yourself very much right! You are so actively participating in events! Thanks for sharing!

  2. Ooh , must be tough to have loud noises blasting through to your home ! However, great opportunities to take low flying aircraft photos !

    Yes, I enjoyed myself a lot ! Loved events and fun to be part of it !

    THanks for your support too !

  3. I went for the open house on both days. Fell in love w paya lebar air base & the planes which is so near where i live but i nv thought gd abt it b4. I called up rsaf's recruitment centre. Need at least a 2nd upp to be AEO. I dont qualify. The rest of their vocations r combat. I'm 27, did mech engineering in nus, worked as engineer b4, nw hving a job salary comparable to their pilots pay. Thnking will be stupid of me to quite my job & join rsaf. But will they accept a 27 yr old lady to be a pilot? Considering I may get married b4 30 also?

  4. How great to catch to the aerial display! I saw the Saturday morning show but missed the hot air balloon as it was delayed. Did they launch the hot air balloons, before the rain?

  5. When I was there, the weather was really bad, heavy rain. After the aerial display, when I left, i saw it trying to float up to the sky !

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