RSAF'S BIG SHOW
To celebrate its golden jubilee, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) put up its largest aerial display of the year. RSAF50@Marina Barrage drew about 45,000 people over the National Day weekend from 11 to 12 Aug. Here's a look at what went into putting the show together.// STORY Thrina Tham
// PHOTOS PIONEER photographers
How do pilots train to fly in a new formation?
MAJ Ho shares how the AH-64D aerial display team trained progressively for their first ever two-ship show.
END 2017 Design of flight profiles, or aerial manoeuvres. Training starts in the AH-64D simulator to see if the two-ship flight profiles can be executed.
FEBRUARY-MAY Single-ship training is done for the manoeuvres.
MAY-JUNE Once the aircrew is familiar with their flight profiles and parameters, they move on to two-ship training.
MAY The British Army Air Corps, who has stood up a two-ship helicopter display, is consulted on how to make the show more impactful to audiences on the ground.
JUNE Further rehearsals continue over the waters near the Southern Islands, where there is more airspace to train.
JULY The crew moves to Barrage to train for the actual show.