Meron ba nito sa atin?

Very rare during Phils. Air Force anniversary and Thailand gave us 4 units of OV-10 Broncos, kawawa naman tayo puro bigay na lang pero okey na rin at additional to our fleets.

Yes before back in 90-91, or at least in the very early 90s, with the most recent one I attended in 1998 or 99 by the French. In the early 90s, this was a time when Ramos was still our president and there was talk of modernizing the armed forces, hence the airshows. In the 90s, I attended an airshow by the Russians where they brought an Su-27, MiG-29, some Antonovs, helos, etc etc. Plenty of Russian aircraft. I remember watching the Su-27 (or was it MiG-29?) do the Tail-Slide manuever, hearing its mighty engines go full throttle, seeing its nose pointed straight up, then the engines are switched off, silence fills the sky, and it starts to slide, and when you think it's about to come crashing, the engines go back to life and it zooms away. I'm not making this up. I had the good luck to touch the very same plane when it landed and was towed back to the hangar. Beautiful! They made an en core presentation two years after IIRC, but I wasn't able to attend that one.

Then there was the RAF Red Arrows show when I was in high school.

Then the most recent I went to was by the French (the name escapes me). Also done at Villamor, they did some nice manuevers, but the overcast skies meant there wasn't much tricks done. Nonetheless, it was a joy watching them do precision formation flying.

IIRC, there's an observation post near Clark overlooking the target range there (I forgot the name) which was built for civilians who wish to watch the US conduct air strike training during the Balikatan exercises. IIRC, there was a big talk about this post, the leftist/nationalists saying it was a base of sorts (but it wasn't). From there, one could watch the USN's F/A-18Cs do some target practice and CH-53Es do some low-level flying.

And then there are the air shows the PAF does as rysorne mentioned earlier. They used to do this before lots of times (again, during the Ramos admin), going full force. I remember watching them do fly overs in my high school, seeing the whole OV-10 fleet, S211s, and the remaining F-5s. A lot and I really mean A LOT. Back then, the OV-10 were still painted in the lo-viz scheme. Nowadays, because of maintenance problems, rarely do they do such large scale overflights. Last I saw of the PAF was in 2000 or 2001 when four F-5s did some nice formation flying, even one so low over Rockwell that they cast shadows over Ateneo Law!

Airshows are more prevalent when a country is seeking to have its air force modernized. Airshows aren't just for PR purposes, but as well as business, to show the host country how good the aircraft are. Considering that there's hardly talk of modernization, then there are no airshows.

Wow! Migs and Sukhoi jets! Nakakainggit naman! OV's and such? Yuck! Sana naman kahit na patapon na F-14's ng Kano ibigay sa atin. I've heard na standard issue na sa kanila ang Hornets. Kahit na pang air shows lang na F-14's! OK na!

Hmm..Ngayon tuwing anniversary ng PAF ay puro na lang yung presidential chopper ang nandun....Pati yung mga Hueys na Vietnam War pa yata...(hnde makalipad yung airplanes sa bigay ni GBOY, ne SR?)

Kaya kpag may Anniversary ng kahit anong branch ng AFP, ang inaantay ko lang talaga e yung mga silent drills at slow drills e....^___^

One reason why the PAF isn't doing over flights in Manila is because they're doing combat ops down south - where they do a lot of over flights in rebel territory hehehehe (not to mention "live fire exercises" hehehehe)

I gots a college buddy who witnessed a "live fire exercise" by the PAF, resulting to the fuel tanks at Sangley get destroyed by a pair of iron bombs and the destruction of one of the F-5s that did the "exercise" hehehehe

And, oh yes, that "airshow" the Yanks put up sometime in 1989 I think that involved 2 F-4s flying over Metro Manila in support of Aquino's administration hehehehe

Currently, we don't need F-14s or high-performance aircraft. The OV-10 is what we need for COIN Ops down south and in the mountains of Luzon. Now, if only we could get a decent aircraft like the A-10... imagine that being used in COIN hehehehe

Look at today's issue of The PDI, there's a bit about Thailang donating some aircraft to the PAF.

Jomz: Yeah, I know that already. Didn't I say we don't need F-14s, and that the OV-10s are just right for our purposes? And that having an A-10 Thunderbolt II would very nice to have around (just think of all the cluster munitions it can carry, plus it's big gun for strafing purposes - we won't need any steeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenking Huey gunships with an A-10! Hehehehehe)

Maswerte yung mga nasa South, meron silang Live Exercise Hahahahaha




Ouch, sakit noon! Sayang yung F-5s kahit pangit!




A-10? Ayos na yon! Pag wala nang hostages, they can use it for carpet bombing or major damage as long as the enemy doesn't have the SAM's and Stinger to clip their wings down! Hahahaha

Thailand doesn't have an insurgency problem. They don't have real use for their air force other than for preventive/border patrol measures.

The Philippines's Armed Forces is hard pressed because we have a very SERIOUS insurgency problem with multiple fronts. The Thais can spare us their OV-10s without problems for them.

We need all the help we can get. Bullets aren't free, unlike in video games.

Hello Guys,

May I butt in again? Sayang, sana nagkakilala tayo ng mas maaga. Last Saturday, Nov. 22, a group from the Club went to Sangley upon invitation by the PAF 15th Strike Wing who was celebrating their annual Aviation Day. This is the 3rd year we have been invited. We bring our models along for display.

In 2001 some of us had a chance to ride in one of the Hueys. We were also given a tour of their facilities inside the base including the repair center so we got to see the OV-10s up close. Last year there was an S-211 displayed.

This year we were a bit lucky although there were only 5 aircraft in display: MD-520 w/a new sharkmouth, BO-105, SF-260, BN Islander and one of the 4 OV-10s from Thailand. Original camouflage pa yung OV-10 except for PAF markings. At the other end of the runway can be seen some of the original OV-10s that were painted w/a sharkmouth. We were a bit lucky this year & we got to see all the aircraft up close & in detail. Kasama kasi namin yung 2nd In Command ng 15th Strike Wing kaya they opened all the aircraft on display for us. Dami naming detail shots, naubos ang mga film na baon namin.

Some hot air balloon enthusiasts gave a ride to those interested & the RC modelers gave an exhibition of their flying skills.

Maybe next time...

Airshows are great but most of the time it shows the latest (or almost) models of aircrafts. Why not try air museums or any military museums that has an inventory of military hardwares from the past. It's a good place to do research for a modeling project.

On Cardinal's post, Villamor Air Base has an aircraft museum of sorts. I'm sure those at IPMS-Phils (BAC) have been there before. It has I think the F-86 Sabre, and several other relics, both rotary wing and fixed wing. But, like most museums, I reckon this be in a near decrepit state - I hope I'm wrong though. Haven't really been there - just passing by it whenever we take the Ft. Bonifacio route going home when coming from Makati or The Fort.

BTW, from my sister's office which is beside the NAIA runway, I can see one or two aircraft which to my untrained eye looks like a Constellation. Anyone from IPMS-BAC checked that out? It'd be great to have that restored or at the very least kept away from the scrapyard.

Last time Ive been to the AF open air museum the planes were indeed decrepit. In fact, there used to be a P-51 there which had panels fabricated from sheet metal. Check out the indoor museum, there are some kits there built by IPMS-BAC. I havent seen the aircraft you were referring to, GI. Maybe it was a YS-11?

The earlier posts here reminded me of the forums in Manokski's (all about the AFP). Wala na talaga tayong gamit sa AFP eh. And those remaining are spread out across the archipelago. When I was in Zambo, I saw a single OV-10 and a MG520 take off. Looks like that 2-plane formation was the strike package na.

One of our members --- Slick --- is a PAF Huey pilot. He says most huey pilots fly only once a month (proficiency flight) para lang di nila malimutan kung paano. Very sad. He gave us a short tour in Villamor and we saw what appeared to be a Huey scheduled for dismantling. Puro agiw at alikabok na. When I asked if it was going to be turned into a gate guardian or museum piece, he said : Hindi ah. Mapapalipad pa yan. Kulang lang sa parts.

Hi guys. I have to agree with you guys regarding the state of the AFP especially the AF. I don't know when will it be up graded. Like about three years ago I went to see a friend in Sangley Point, there I saw the OV-10's which was, sad to say, our prime air deterent up to this day. Yes we had those Italian jets(what model were those?), but they too suffered too many mishaps that they have to be grounded. I don't know if they're still being used today. Anyway, I hope the politicians or whoever is in charge should really give it some thinking. Maybe someday when they do & if they do decide to upgrade the "Sandatahang Lakas" we might just get to see the OV-10's in a museum. They better decide soon before all the inventory are lost to mishaps.