Impressive ‘Warbirds Downunder Airshow’ Came Back

By Commissioning Editor James Kightly. Photos by Nigel Hitchman and James Kightly

As the northern hemisphere’s airshow season wraps up, in Australia, the Temora Aviation Museum put on a dedicated warbird show at their home base in rural New South Wales. Warbirds Downunder (WDU) returns for the first time since 2018, the long gap caused by the Covid pandemic.

The weather on the run-in to the show was very changeable with exceptionally heavy localized rain all the way up and down the eastern states, and notable cloudbursts and varying volumes of rain at Temora on the Thursday and Friday. But the skies cleared on the Saturday before the flying started, and the crowd and crew were blessed with ideal conditions with blue skies, and comfortable temperatures. On the ground, the breezes were pleasant, though a bit more challenging for the pilots when flying.

While some anticipated aircraft weren’t able to attend (either due to weather or serviceability issues) the audience was presented with a smoothly run, continuous stream of acts, all well-commentated upon by expert Peter ‘Ando’ Anderson as always.

The show opened with the Australian National Anthem, and then featured four V12 powered WWII fighters (as seen in the header image); the local Spitfire Mk.VIII, VH-HET, of 100 Squadron, RAAF, Old Aeroplane Co Curtiss P-40F, VH-HWK, from Tyabb, Mustang VH-LUI from Precision aerospace, Wangaratta, both Victoria, and P-40E VH-KTY from Pay’s Aviation, NSW, flown by Paul Bennet.

The ‘Tiger Formation’  comprised two Temora-operated de Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moths, VH-UVZ and -CXY, the Temora Ryan STM, and Scott Taberner’s Temora-based Ryan PT-22 VH-RPT. Later, Brett ‘Archie’ Alderton presented a lyrical solo display in DHC Chipmunk VH-CPI.

The Heritage Trainers team featuring Australian military training types with four Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Winjeels and five PAC CT-4s offer an impressive sight and sound in the blue skies, They flew as a combination of seven, very experienced civil pilots and two pilots and aircraft from 100 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force: much better in combination than the military operating separately to the civil component. Pilots were Sam da Graca Costa (RAAF), Ben Thompson, Phil Munro, Steve Guilmartin, Matt Denning, Chris Tulk (RAAF), Nick Cauldwell, Matt Grigg and Matt Henderson.

The civil originated trainer formation first displayed at Warbirds Downunder 2011, and usually fielded seven Winjeels and CT-4s or (as here) has step up to nine of the two types, with additional solo aerobatic demonstrations: this show’s display having a CT-4 solo from Queensland based Matt Denning, and Winjeel presented by team lead Matt Henderson.

Luke Kempton presented the family Vought BT-13 VH-JKV, a show regular. The Harvard (T-6) display team ‘The Southern Knights’, were formed for the first Avalon airshow in 1992, and are still going strong. The pilots this weekend were Doug Hamilton, Steve Death, Guy Burke and Scott Taberner.

Unique in the British Commonwealth, and a legacy of Australia’s Pacific history is the extensive Vietnam setpiece. As well as being a major section of the show, it saw one rarely seen jet bomber ‘in action’ and a new helicopter restoration to the warbird scene. The world’s only airworthy bomber version of a English Electric Canberra VH-ZSQ was the center of this dramatic presentation, and was supported by two Cessna O-1 Birddogs, Dave Salter’s newly restored DHC Beaver VH-IMF, and a T-28 VH-RPX, and (on the Sunday) the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society’s Bell UH-1 VH-X9S, at it’s first public airshow. The registration ‘X9S’ is an example of the newly released alpha-numeric code allowed by the Australian civil regulator, and stands for ‘Ex 9 Squadron’.

A new combination for this show was the ‘Pacific Formation’ featuring the world’s only airworthy military-configured Lockheed Hudson bomber, VH-KOY, Grumman Avenger VH-MML, from Paul Bennet Airshows and flown by Matt Henderson, and the Graham Hosking’s Chance-Vought Corsair VH-III.

Notably, in the other was New Zealand guest display pilot Bevan Dewes (one of the 20 under 40 highlighted here) in ‘Harold’ Doug Hamilton’s ex-Royal New Zealand Air Force Harvard. This was Bevan’s first Australian display, after a decade of display flying in New Zealand, and there recently including in his own magnificent Harvard, covered by Vintage Aviation News earlier here.

Another new display item, newly seen in civil hands at a Temora showcase event was the Arthur Aero Pilatus PC-9, recently returned to flight after retirement from the RAAF, and originally displayed by test pilot and Pilatus expert Steve ‘Boris’ Becker. This aircraft has already been sold, others will be available!

The finale included the core theme of the show with the ‘V-12 Formation’ consisting of six V-12 engined WWII fighters and (not a V-12) the even more pugnacious Chance-Vought Corsair, each fighter performing a solo display, joining for formation flypasts, and then a VERY spirited tailchase.

After a pause to let the echoes die away, the show was wrapped up by the RAAF 2 Operational Conversion Unit F-35A Lightning display by Flight Lieutenant Kurt ‘KP’ Pearce, RAAF. The RAAF also presented a Lockheed C-130J with a fly-in display, and the national aerobatic team the RAAF Roulettes.

Everyone can see this year’s event as a success. Th organizers report 13,000 people came to see the show in total over the two days, and they were very happy with the attendance. We look forward to the next Warbirds Downunder show – in the meantime don’t forget the regular Showcase events, as they are released, soon, will be listed here.

Warbirds Downunder History

The first Warbirds Downunder show was put on in 2011, with following events in 2013, 2015 and 2018. Previously the Temora Aviation Museum had run year round ‘Showcase’ displays that presented most of the museum’s aircraft to a smaller audience. The switch to a big show came with a greater participation from visiting warbirds from other operators up and down the eastern states.

A proposed show in 2020 was cancelled due to the development of the Covid pandemic, as was the first change to 2021, and then changed— —given the Royal Australian Air Force’s anniversary, to the Temora Air Force Centenary Showcase with tickets capped at 3,000 attendees. It’s good to see the show back, and we look forward to it becoming, hopefully, a more regular event.

James Kightly (Commissioning Editor)

James Kightly, from Melbourne, Australia, discovered his passion for aviation at the Moorabbin collection in the late 1960s. With over 30 years of writing experience for aviation magazines in the UK, US, Australia, and France, he is a feature writer for Aeroplane Monthly and an advisor for the RAAF History & Heritage Branch.

James has interviewed aviation professionals worldwide and co-runs the Aviation Cultures conferences. He has flown in historic aircraft like the Canadian Warplane Heritage’s Lancaster. At Vintage Aviation News, he ensures accurate and insightful aviation history articles.

Outside aviation, James has worked extensively in the book trade and museums. He supports the Moorabbin Air Museum and the Shuttleworth Collection. James lives in rural Victoria with his wife and dog.

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