Herc flyover at 75 metres?

[bernard smith]

HERCULES AIRCRAFT TO WELCOME OLYMPIC TORCH TO CANBERRA

WHAT: A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) C-130J Hercules will conduct a flyover of the nation’s capital as the Olympic Torch conducts its journey through Canberra.

WHERE: The aircraft will fly above Anzac Parade from south to north no lower than 75 metres.

WHEN: The flyover will occur at approximately 10.20am on Thursday, 24 April 2008.

http://www.defence.gov.au/media/DepartmentalTpl.cfm?CurrentId=7614

It would have been interesting to see the reaction of the Chinese flame attendants if the flyover had been at the stated minimum! :D

[Craig Murray]

no lower than 75 metres

For a C-130 that's a high altitude pass! Regardless, it would have been outstanding to see if it had flown past that low.

[Nigel C]

On the topic of low flying Herc's, we occasionally see them belting up Victor-1 (500' route for aircraft wanting to by-pass Sydney controlled airspace running up and down the coast off Sydney, for those not familiar with it).

I don't imagine many aircraft would be on the lookout for a Herc when they first enter Victor 1, and military radios are often difficult to understand:eek:

[damien b]

Yeah i have done the coast run on a C-130 a few times and its all eyes out looking for smaller aircraft as the crew maintain a height around 500ft. We were always glad to be allowed to do the run coming back from trips up north as it can be quite busy.

Radio listening is also crucial, as you point out Nigel having a C-130 on the coastal route is not something smaller aircraft pilots are used to and can cause some unverving moments for both parties.

On the Canberra fly by, 75m seems a bit low as i recall 250ft (84m) being minimums for a over fly unless at airshows. Maybe my memory is a bit hazy.

[Craig Murray]

Another favourite for the military use to be hugging the coastline of the Central Coast from Broken Bay through to Newcastle. During my many years living at Terrigal the sight of Hornets and Hercs hugging the coastline was fairly common. And in my younger days at Terrigal Primary School I clearly recall that low level Mirage flying was a very common thing, they use to make a hell of a noise as they went past. I wish we still had some flying.

[Jethro H]

A friend of mine, retired navigator from 10 Squadron, states they use to train a lot along the Central Coast using Bird Island as a key point.

[Stephen Brown]

I have witnessed a formation of three Hercules belting down the coast over the beaches of Newcastle. It certainly was a tremendous sight seeing the three in nose to tail playing follow the leader at 500ft down the coast.

[Mark D]

On the topic of low flying Herc's, we occasionally see them belting up Victor-1 (500' route for aircraft wanting to by-pass Sydney controlled airspace running up and down the coast off Sydney, for those not familiar with it).
I remember doing radar a few years ago with a helicopter outbound via Cape Banks and making sure he had traffic on a C130 southbound in Victor 1, the chopper was going to turn the corner at Cape Banks at the same time as the C130 was passing the head southbound, that'd be a surprise!