air shows

The Asian Aerospace ' 98 was held in Singapore from February 24th ~ March 1st 1998. It attracted 45,000 public and 25,000 trade visitors to view 929 exhibitors' trade products and 70 aircrafts from 33 countries

Among the highlights were the attack helicopters such as the Eurocopter's Tiger, and the British Westland Super Lynx. Of course, the crowd puller was the Russian Sukhoi SU-27 code-named "Flanker" by NATO which made its Asia-Pacific debut at the last Asian Aerospace in 1996. Two USAF F-15E Strike Eagles flew all the way down from Elmendorf AFB in Alaska whilst one of three USAF F-16C Fighting Falcons from Misawa Air Base, Japan, provided daily flying demo.,

The Rockwell B-1B Lancer long range bomber and the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter were supposed to have made an appearance in this year's show but because of the Gulf problem, these aircrafts have been deployed there.

I was a little bit disappointed with the flying display. Due to the current economic downturn, this year's flying display was quite mild when compared to 1996. This year we saw a fly-past by the air forces of Singapore and France whereas in 1996 the RAF Red Arrows were here demonstrating amongst other flying routines, their famous "Diamond" formation with nine aircrafts !.

For those who would like to keep abreast in the field of aviation, you can catch up with fellow aviation buffs in the countries shown below:

EVENT	WHEN	WHERE
Aero India 2001	07 ~11 February 2001	Yelahanka Airport, Bangalore, India
Australian International Airshow 2001	13 ~ 16 February 2001	Avalon Airport, Geelong, Vic. Australia.
Aerofair 2001	18 ~ 20 May 2001	North Weald Airfield, Epping, Essex, UK.
Biggin Hill Air Fair	02 ~ 03 June 2001	Biggin Hill Airport, Kent, UK.
Jyvaskyla International Air Show 2001	09 ~ 10 June 2001	Jyvaskyla Airport, Finland
Paris Air Show	17 ~ 24 June 2001	Le Bourget, France.
Wings of Eagles Airshow	30 June ~ 01 July 2001	Elmira, New York, USA.
RIAT 2001	28 ~ 29 July 2001	RAF Cottlesmore, Rutland, United Kingdom.
Hawker Hunter 50th Anniversary Air Day	21 ~22 July 2001	Kemble Airfield, Gloucs. UK
LIMA ' 01	9 ~ 14 October 2001	Langkawi, Malaysia.
Seoul Air Show 2001	15 ~ 21 October 2001	Seoul Airport, Sungham City, South Korea.
Dubai 2001	4 ~ 8 November	Dubai, UAE