RSAF 45th Anniversary Family Day

Two Saturdays ago, I attended the RSAF 45th Anniversary Family Day at Changi Exhibition Centre. The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) celebrates its 45th anniversary this year and it commemorated the occasion with visitors to the Singapore Airshow 2014. The hubz managed to get tickets for my parents-in-law and me --just the Family Day, not the Air Show. The tickets for the latter costs $22 and would only be held after the Family Day the following week.








The Static Displays


Before we reached the RSAF pavilion, we walked past some static display both from the Air Force and the commercial sector. I didn't snap pictures of many, only the ones I was interested in.




This aircraft is invisible to radar. When my FIL explained to my MIL in Mandarin, it sounded like the aircraft was invisible. It was so funny when my MIL exclaimed and asked how it could make itself invisible.




The RSAF helicopters static display.








RSAF Pavilion and Exhibits


The RSAF Pavilion showcased the RSAF’s history and achievements over the past 45 years. Aviation enthusiasts got to see the display of 17 types of aircraft and weapons systems, including the RSAF's fighter, helicopter and transport aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and ground-based air defence systems.




The hubz was manning a booth as he had a segment there. Hence instead of wasting time at the static display area, my MIL and I made a beeline for the RSAF pavilion. It was so difficult locating the hubz as his booth was all the way at the exit of the exhibition hall. His booth was about the 2011 OPS Blue Sapphire anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.




My hubz was one of the Super Puma helicopter pilots in the 2011 deployment who was involved in the foiling of pirate attacks when he first spotted a white pirate's skiff in the sea of blue.




Even though 2011 seems far away, this would always be a notable entry sealed in the history of RSAF as it was the first time Singapore foiled a pirates' attack in international waters. (I'm not too sure if phrasing it this way is accurate.) Anyway, I wrote two brief posts on the mission here and here.




When the crowd dispersed, we made kh do silly things like posing with his picture...




Posing with his picture with us...




And posing with the screen once his airtime came on. When I say "we", it was more of my MIL. She made him pose with the screen so many times just to catch the exact moment of his airtime!




This was the very machine gun used to sink the pirate's skiff.




Kh with my MIL and the machine gun. Kh wasn't the one doing the shooting. It was his colleague on the left (on the board).

A funny incident happened last week when the Air Show was officially opened to the public.
Kh texted me: "Wah... somebody just came up to me n say ur wife is a blogger right"
which was followed by: "................................"
and: "Shit.. I got no privacy!!!"

All these before I could even reply... Anyway, BIG HI VERON! Next time if you ever see me, do say hi to me ok? =D

Another of my long-term forum-friend/ blog-friend who eventually became friends also messaged me on Instagram saying that she saw kh and wanted to say hi to him, only that she was wondering if that would be awkward. Hahaha... why do I not meet all these lovely ladies in real life?

[Disclaimer: I'm not a blogger. Just someone who pens my thoughts on my blog.]




It was so difficult to capture a shot with no people at all.




While kh continued manning the booth which got increasingly crowded as the day went by, I walked alone to view the other exhibits.




The 2004 Boxing Day tsunami left an indelible mark in the history of South East Asia. Kh and I, together with his colleague and then girlfriend were holidaying in New Zealand at that time. Far away down south of the globe, we followed the news of the disaster which happened so close to home. If they were in Singapore at that time, they might had been deployed to bring relief to these tsunami-hit regions.




Providing aid to other countries.




The various wings.




The history of the air bases.






The Air Force was first established in 1968 as the Singapore Air Defence Command (SADC).




1st Generation uniforms looked kinda odd. A fashion critic would holler, "Remove that blue band!"




2nd Generation and beyond.




The new pixelized blue camoflage uniform.




Kids were able to try their hands at flying an F-16 jet.




Kh bluffed my MIL that people could have a go at sitting on this and she was really keen to try out!








RSAF Black Knights Aerial Display

One of the major draws at the Singapore Airshow was the aerial display of Singapore’s very own RSAF Black Knights. It was last seen soaring the skies at the Singapore Airshow 2008.




The Black Knights is not a full-time aerobatics team. They are operational ready pilots.




The F-16 Fighting Falcons now wear the Singapore flag's crescent and stars on its fuselage.




"Fireworks"




A heart to end it all.




After Kh's finished his shift, he toured the exhibits with us.




Kh flies the Super Puma.






This totally reminds me of Om nom nom nom in the Pareidolia post I wrote not long ago.

With kh being our guide, a lot of exhibits were made clearer with his explanations.




For example, what I thought were just flags on display had a rich story behind them.






Just like a movie poster.




My favourite booth was the one where little kids could dress up in the various Air Force uniform for photo-taking.




This little girl sure knows how to pose. How cute is that!




All the little kids were so cute! They were really well-behaved. Nobody was seen screaming and shouting to don or not to don the uniforms.




 I even overheard grown men in the crowd cooing, "Soooooooooo cute...".




I lurve it whenever the kids wore the helmets that looked a little too big for their heads.






Kh was so excited to make fun of his friend's board. He asked me to tag his friend if I upload this on Facebook.




The food pack!




BMW for Singapore Airshow!