Day two started off on a slightly different note. Instead of hopping off the bed early hours of the morning and rushing like a madman to catch the first shuttle service, I decided that I wanted to accumulate more Zs. Besides, this time round it was more of a family affair than a lone-wolf escapade so I had the perfect excuse not to get my hiney up so early. Having said that, it was something we learnt to regret dearly later that day.
After a quick lunch at Hougang Mall, we took a slow stride towards Hougang bus terminal, which is right next to the mall, for that free shuttle service to Payar Lebar Air Base. To our disbelief and amazement, the queue almost circumvented the entire terminal, which isn't exactly small, thank you! No doubt, we anticipated a long queue being this late in the day, but never like this! I shuddered to think about attending future public events this popular. ESPECIALLY on Sundays!
Thankfully, the shuttle coaches/buses flowed in continuously apart from a few intermittent lags. It was still bearable despite the searing heat from the afternoon sun. Comforting cool breeze was lacking and we sweated buckets. After 40 minutes of snail-paced moving, we were soon up in a shuttle coach heading towards the air base. Ah, the comforts of air-conditioned coaches!
At the destination and passing the usual security gates, we skipped everything and headed straight for the grandstand. The air show would start in no less than half hour's time and given the crowd size of the afternoon, we were not taking chances! This time, the luxury of picking up good seats like the previous day was practically zilch. The grandstand was already fully packed, brimming with eager spectators! Luckily, we spotted scattered seats at the lower decks of the grandstand nearby. Without hesitation, we immediately seized those. Beggars simply cannot be choosers.
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| Incoming red and white! |
The show started off on time as scheduled. The first treat served was the enthralling high-altitude free falling performance by the reknown SAF parachuting team. A.k.a. the Red Lions. Their jump platform, the usual C-130 high above the clouds, atop the grandstand arena. As expected, each commando jumper performed flawlessly. All landed safely with skilled precision, garnering much awe from the gleeful audience.
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| Gosh! We must have looked like a colourful sea of ants to him! |
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| Freedom beneathe the red and white banner, the envy of those who can't be like them... |
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| Time to be down to earth! |
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Thank you for an exciting performance. A bow to the audience, and take in all the applauses and cheers well-deserved.
Well done fellas. See you again at the next event! |
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| F-15SG on standby. |
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| F-16C on standby. |
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It felt funny to see oneself on the big screen. Oh what the heck! For the novelty of it, I have captured that moment.
Coincidentally, there were two same zoom lenses in the picture.
Look for one with the shorter lens foot. Hello! That's me. :) |
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| Looking at this image, feels like you're watching a Top Gun movie doesn't it? Rest assured, goosebumps galore! |
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| All that heat behind the rear. Talk about false "bokeh" (to the photography peeps)! |
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| The usual salutations: felt electrified when the audience received direct eye-to-eye contacts with the pilots! |
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| Tango Yankee for the gracious salute, pilot. And off you go to deliver a stunning performance! |
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| Two mean-looking thrusters throttling up for an awesome and deafening take-off. |
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| F-16s ALWAYS look that good in the air, as if they were meant to be! |
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| A bank to the right and I see your wonderful, red, hot rear! |
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| The impact of these explosions were felt all the way from the grandstand! |
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| An Apache going about its usual "look threatening and mean" business. |
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| Twin fins finally amongst us! Hooyah! |
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| Burn baby burn! |
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| Reaching for the sky. How hard can that be with double the power?! |
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| The Chinook once again delivered its twin Spider LSV cargo into the compound. |
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| Super Puma looking its best! |
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| Deliver them safely from above the tree tops and off you go! |
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| AH-64D ready to deliver its hell-load (payload) of Hellfires. |
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| With devastating results! (We all know that's just professional pyrotechnics) |
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| Viper with a dramatic landing. |
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| Hercules achieving an impressive short landing. Smokes from burnt rubber testified to that. |
After the show it was back to the displays for more shoots. A few more hours, the event would have to call it a day. The weather while wasn't great as there were no nice blue skies serving as vibrant, colourful photographic background for the subjects, at least gave us cool breezes. Oh well, you can't have your cake and it eat.
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| Rotors of an RSN subject, a S-70B Seahawk. |
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| A marking that says its name. |
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Gotta learn from these two: rest on a comfy chair (a stable platform), turn around and shoot.
You can't go wrong with lower ISO settings! Who gives a damn about heavy and cumbersome tripods?! |
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| More smiles and snap shots across the board. |
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| A cheerful smile brings joy to all, leaves fond memories after the show to remember by. |
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| Fully loaded and almost done for the day. |
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| Gulfstream G550 AEW. At this angle, boy you sure have a big nose! |
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Signing off with a grand view of a truly awesome subject, the F-15SG Strike Eagle! See you again at NDP 2011! |
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