Classic Fighters 2009 #2: RAAF Caribou

For me, one of the signature aircraft for the airshow [although not my favourite as we will see in another post] was the Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou, operated by the RAAF's No. 38 Squadron.

This is the first time I have seen a Caribou, and probably just as well I did as the RAAF is due to retire these aircraft later this year. In fact, this particular aircraft [A4-195] had a 45 years of operations logo painted on the front-left of the fuselage.

What impressed me most about the aircraft was its STOL [Short Take Off and Landing] capability... around 300 meters for takeoff, and not much more than 150 meters according to the commentary. It was also really noisy, but what Vietnam-era military aircraft isn't? :-)

Anyway, here are a whole bunch of photos of the Caribou being put though its paces at the airshow.