I went to Asian Aerospace today. Now, I'm not a fan of planes, but I do love watching spectacles of any kind, and that includes flying displays. And while I'm not an expert, today's flying display was definitely a lot of fun to watch.

Among the planes and pilots doing their things were the US and the F-16C Fighting Falcon, India and their Sarang helicopter squad, as well as the Indian Sakarang Aerobatics Team, and my favourite, the Rafaele Dassault Aviation Team. I don't know aviation terms, but managed to catch some of them from the commentary such as the Passole Drive, barrel rolls and all that kind of thing. It's hard to describe the maneouvres that were performed, but one of the most common was definitely the upward climb (to unbelievable heights for some of the planes) and then the heart-stopping downward dive. Another one I enjoyed was by the Sakarang Aerobatics Team, with two planes from the team performing the 'near-miss' maneouvre.

All I can say is - wow. And now, I'm like such a pilot groupie. Like most females, I do have a thing for pilots. I'm not saying that I'm dying to go out with them but just that I'm a little in awe of them and that I do think their jobs are among the coolest in this world.

The musical accompaniment to the flying display was quite good. Among the tracks played were Sasha's Xpander (Yay!! This song was for the F16C Fighting Falcon), Chemical Brothers' Star Guitar and It Began In Afrika and Safri Duo's Bongo Song. It concluded with Beethoven's Ode to Joy so I think everyone enjoyed the music very much. It just seemed to match whoever was flying at the time.

I didn't just go for the flying display though. The static display was pretty good, and my haul included a Post-It pad and a Rafaele cap. I took photos of (mock-ups of) the Joint Strike Fighter and the Eurofighter Typhoon, apparently two of the most advanced aircrafts around. I also saw the Silver Arrow, the unmanned aircraft, and its wingspan is huge.

Oh yes! I got my photo taken with an American pilot! *grins* A pilot by the name of Eric Oster-something. We were queuing up to get a photo with a Marine but then I saw the pilot and decided he was much cooler. Heh.

Additional bonus: While at Tampines, there was a Lord of the Rings promotion going on for the LotR exhibition taking place at the Science Centre in mid-March. I managed to get a photo with a Ringwraith on stilts! Heh.