It was time to head off to the airport for my flight.As we had to return our rental car at 12, I had a good 4 hours to roam around before I got on my plane. Once at the airport, a slight itch developed. The MIEC was a mere 10-minute walk from the airport.
You guessed it. I went back to the MIEC static display. I felt I did not get enough during the first day.
First up was the RMAF's helicopter workhorse. Under the scorching heat, the insides of it were relatively cool. Had a nice chat with the crew inside and came to know that the Nuri is a very reliable machine. Come good or bad weather, it still flies.
RMAF S-61 "Nuri" (M23-37)
Continued walking to the side of the Atlas. You can tell that it is going to be parked for a little while longer with the abundant "Remove Before Flight" tags.
RMAF A400 Atlas (M54-04)
Did not get a chance to visit the interior this time as the aircraft was already configured for "mission", which meant it was off limits to us civilians. There's going to be a lot of frontal shots of aircraft in this post.
Bulbous Nose of the A400
MMEA CL415 (M71-01)
Not many aircraft were open to the visitors this round. Like the one above. Stairs were there but the doors were closed. Barriers have been set up around the aircraft. Good and bad. The good is that the pictures will be clear of humans. Bad news, we cannot get close.
USAF F/A-18F Super Hornet (165892)
Next up, a few aircraft from Singapore. First we have the RSAF's Apache attack helicopter.
RSAF AH-64 Apache
Followed by their main combat aircraft, the F-15SG. These came with a barrage of armaments that could be fitted to the aircraft. If you look closely at the sides of the engine intake, you can also see their Conformal Fuel Tanks (CFT) which boosts their fuel capacity.
With the (inert) armaments on display
Side Profile of the F-15
Next to the Eagle was the Malaysian Army's A109LUH helicopter. One rather big movable contraption caught my eye.
Imagine the firepower
It was now nearing my departure time and I had one big thing to check off my list. One last one.
Il-76 (RA-78833)
More of the Il-76
Something which I missed during the last LIMA is now here in beautiful conditions. Just look at the beast. Next time, perhaps we can see it in the air.
This IL-76 was parked near the edge of the display area. Like 2 years ago, the helicopters were parked at the very end of the tarmac. As it was really hot and really out of the way, there weren't many people around save for a few avid photographers. Here's a Globemaster before the choppers.
C-17 Globemaster III (A41-209)
Although it is not visible, this photo was actually taken right above the barriers, which explains why the area in front of the aircraft was devoid of people. Anyway, here's a Lynx, and its location in relation to the Globemaster.
Malaysian Navy Super Lynx (M501-4)
Malaysian Navy AS555SN Fennec (M502-2)
Side Profile with the dummy torpedo
Time Check?? Really close to departure time. It was time to head back. Being me of course, anything along the way would be captured.
RAAF P-3 Orion
Airbus Helicopter H130 (HS-JCN)
EMC EC-135 (9M-DRA)
Now this (finally) ends the LIMA 2017 coverage. It was a great time there and I am glad that there were things that were here that were missing the last time, such as the Russian Knights and the Black Eagles, and of course the IL-76. Was hoping for at least an airliner to be parked and open for viewing.
Looking forward to the next airshow, Singapore Airshow 2018.
SSLee
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