The Brisbane Festival is an annual three-week arts extravaganza in Queensland’s capital, traditionally ending with some military flyovers before a lot of fireworks are set off in an event called Sunsuper Riverfire. This year, like in 2018, that included a C-17A Globemaster, looking pretty spry as it made it’s way among the city’s skyscrapers.
If everyone seems pretty chill in that video, that’s because this flight is planned well in advance. As the C-17’s pilot explained in a video a few days before the flight, they practice the route multiple times in a simulator before practicing in the plane itself a couple days before the event itself, held Sept. 28.
And the route itself is planned carefully to give the plane escape paths should anything go wrong. Still! The images can be unsettling on first glance, especially if the perspective is a little deceptive.
Awesome shots of RAAF C-17 at Brisbane River Fire Air Show
The Mach Loop Aussie version /Star wars Canyon Kangaroo Ed pic.twitter.com/k1kE6aJH6X
— Harry Boone (@towersight) September 29, 2019
Here’s another vid from this year.
A flight like this doesn’t make the aircraft’s warning systems too happy, though. Count how many times in this video shot by the Royal Australian Air Force a computer voice says, “Obstacle ahead.”
The C-17 is shorter and can carry less weight than a 747, even though it looks absolutely giant here. It also wasn’t the only aircraft on display at the festival. Just after it, Brisbanians saw an FA-18 Super Hornet.