Attended Wings over Illawarra today - questioned the effort on arrival with 30kt gusting to 50kt crosswinds, and more so once it was apparent nothing was going to be flying. Late in the afternoon a few of the jets including the hornets were able to get up, but nothing else dared move. Even when they did get up it was impressive watching the lighter jets including the sabre really having to crank in against the wind. The Sabre on return from its display took a really hard landing with a strong gust catching him just at touchdown:
There was significant smoke while it was braking and it took a long time to pull up. The hornets ended up taking off over it while it stayed sat at the end of the runway - not sure what the situation was.
Not sure of the full story, but the Connie was apparently sunk into a taxiway during a runup trial - was pointed out to me by some army cadet volunteers.
A selection of other shots from the day.
Hornet through its paces:
S.211 on its display
Mustang:
F-111:
