The problem was the opening ceremony at 0830- how to get there from JB? The answer- get on an 2300h coach from JB to the TBS which arrived by 0330h, then head for the LCCT by the KLIA Transit Raillink from there. To cut a long story short, I boarded the 0655 Air Asia flight to Langkawi from the LCCT, and arrived at Ground Zero at 0800. Rented a car, headed for Site A.
The weather in KL was rain with lightning. There was a transition zone as we flew north; suddenly, the plane broke out into clear skies. The flight landed at LGK at 0800, just in time to hire a car, and drive up to Bukit Cengkuan. (Site A).
Blue Skies,
3 Oktas of cloud,
A warm balmy day.
Several set-pieces during the Opening Ceremony, most involving multiship RMAF formations.
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| RMAF BaE Hawk 208 at LIMA 2013 |
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| RMAF Su-30 MKM and F-18 Hornet at LIMA 2013 |
Decided to go to Site B for the afternoon display, as heavy cloud was building from the east, and Site A was already shaded. It was also quite shady at Site B at the start of the display at 1230, and the cloud got thicker. You could see rain falling at the northeastern end of the runway, and some also came Site B's way. In fact, large globs came down just as the A380 was flying past.
Then the Weather God intervened, and the clouds started to dississipate, such that 20 minutes later the sky had essentially cleared to 2 oktas, leaving behind a clear blue sky. Absolutely amazing.
This is what everyone came for:
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| LIMA 2013- Russian Knights |
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| LIMA 2013- Russian Knights |
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| LIMA 2013- Russian Knights |
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| LIMA 2013- Russian Knights |
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| LIMA 2013- Russian Knights |
As I had expected, there was no way they could have fit the display into 1.5 hours. In the event, the display did not end till 1500h (2.5 hours long), and the C-17 and Smokey Bandits did not display.
I walked round the static display after the aerial display- and the photos were quite memorable. Blue skies.
The flight line was just impressive- there has not beeen such a collection of heavy metal at LIMA for a long time. There were the Russian Knights, of course, plus the other display teams. There was the Il-76, the Boeing Wedegtail, the Gripens and two Typhoons, which unlike the last LIMA, were overnighting at LGK.
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| LIMA 2013 Flight line |
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| LIMA 2013- Il-76 |
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| Typhoon looking like a raptor from Jurassic Park |
The PASKAU shooed everyone off the field at 1730h. Unlike previously, when they patrolled on foot, they now have acquired new mechanised transport.
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| The buggy looks really cute |
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| I chanced on this unique shot on the Net, probably taken from the ATC. I did not see any attrobution, but id this shot is yurs, please let me know. |
What's new about Site B:
They have erected the new perimeter fence to a height of 4 metres, including barbed wire at the top. Makes shooting the take-offs and landings that bit harder unless you ar at a level higher than that.
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| Keeping out giants. |
There are a lot of spectators at Site B, and the car parking is quite full!
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