Australian Aviation photographer Craig Murray captured these incredible shots of a RAAF C-17 Globemaster III performing its planned flyover of the Brisbane CBD.
The display formed part of the Sunsuper Riverfire event, which wrapped up the Brisbane Festival on Saturday evening.
The aircraft flew “not below 300 feet” for its planned flypast of the Brisbane river during the event, according to the RAAF, which saw audiences watch the C-17 dip well below the skyscrapers of Brisbane’s CBD and traipse along the river.
As planned, the Globemaster flew over Mt Coot-tha and Suncorp Stadium, then headed south along the river at South Bank to the Goodwill Bridge, before repositioning to fly east along the Kangaroo Point cliffs toward the Storey Bridge.
Along with the C-17 flypast, Riverfire attendees also enjoyed a display of Army ARH and MRH-90 helicopters, with this aerial display returning for the first time since 2017.
Videos of the 2018 Riverfire Globemaster display went viral earlier this year, after they were posted to Reddit.
Viewers were fascinated – and some horrified – as the angle of the imagery made the mighty aircraft appear as if it were weaving in and out of the skyscrapers themselves, as opposed to simply tracking along the river.
The Boeing C-17A Globemaster III is a four-engine heavy transport aircraft that can accommodate huge payloads and land on runways just one-kilometre long.
That flexibility comes from its design, which mixes both high-lift wings and controls requiring just three onboard (pilot, co-pilot and loadmaster).
Cargo is loaded onto the C-17 through a ramp system at the back, while its floor has rollers that flip from flat to handle wheeled vehicles or pallets. RAAF owns eight, all operated by No. 36 Squadron and based at RAAF Base Amberley.
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