The annual Sunsuper Riverfire will conclude the Brisbane Festival with a spectacular fireworks show, highlighted by the magnificent F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jets.
Flight Lieutenant Jasper McCaldin, 28, is the lead fighter pilot involved in the arial displays at Riverfire. Recruited into the Australian Defence Force and gaining a technology degree in aviation, he began training in 2005. In 2007 he was selected to fly jets, and was posted to fly F1-11s for three years. He started flying the Super Hornet — larger than the classic model, with many detail improvements — at the beginning of 2011, and was selected to fly the aircraft for Riverfire this year.
This is only the second year the Super Hornets have scorched the sky for Riverfire, after the retirement of the F1-11's and their famous Dump And Burn in 2010. “[The F1-11's] would basically dump fuel out the back of the aircraft and ignite that with their after burner,” Flt Lt McCaldin explains. “The Super Hornet will be using after burner for the flightpath at night this year. So there's still a flame coming out the back but it's nowhere near as big; the hot exhaust is what you can see.”
Though he's used to flying under pressure, Flt Lt McCaldin admits there's a different type of stress that comes with performing in front of a crowd. “The flying we do tactically every single day is a lot more harder,” he explains, “a lot more complex, so that's a different kind of stress to perform wherever the government needs us. But you do know there's tens of thousands of people watching you when you do something like Riverfire so you want to make sure you give those people a good show.”
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Flt Lt McCaldin admits there are moments of excitement in his job and it is always rewarding, but it's ultimately just what he does everyday.
“I've been doing it for a while now, so day-to-day it is a job; it is a lot of hard work, actually, and most of the flying we do is very intense so it's actually quite stressful at the time. But there's definitely moments where you can kind of sit back and look around and realise you're flying a fighter jet, going pretty fast and high and seeing some pretty awesome things.”
For Flt Lt McCaldin, performing at Riverfire is a way to give thanks to the people of Brisbane. “We've been working really hard and the whole reason we enjoy doing Riverfire is to make sure Brisbane knows the Super Hornet is their jet. It's not based anywhere else in Australia. It's just our way of saying thanks and showing them their aircraft.”
Riverfire takes over South Bank Saturday 29 September. Running times are as follows:
12noon Australian Defence Force Open Day at South Bank Piazza, featuring military equipment, drills and live music
3.30pm Super Hornet ADF aerial display
4.30pm ARH Tigers and Black Hawk helicopters ADF aerial display
5.40pm Super Hornets ADF aerial display
6.30pm ARH Tigers and Black Hawk helicopters ADF aerial display
7pm Sunsuper Riverfire featuring Super Hornets
