As the afternoon sun shone over Mindil Beach in the Northern Territory, the sound of beating rotors from a United States Marine Corps V-22 Osprey marked the beginning of the Mindil Beach flying display, an Exercise Pitch Black tradition.
Over 25,000 people filled the beach for an international display of more than 40 aircraft from most of the 20 nations taking part in the exercise which was also live streamed for the first time on the RAAF YouTube page.
Participating for the first time was a Papua New Guinea PAC-750 small transport aircraft, a pair of FA-50 Fighting Eagles from the Philippine Air Force and, as a highlight, a formation of Italian Navy AV-8B Harrier Jump Jets and F-35B Lighting II aircraft with a thrilling handling display.
The Aeronautica Militare, the Italian Air Force, was a first-time participant, with a flypast of F-35A and B Model Lightning II's, a KC-767A refueller, E-550 CAEW aerial surveillance aircraft and two Eurofighters.
Deputy Commander of the Italian Air Force detachment at Exercise Pitch Black, Colonel Anastasi, has enjoyed bringing the Italian aircraft to the exercise for the first time.
"We like it very much, the environment and the people are great and we're enjoying this period in Australia for sure," Colonel Anastasi said.
"Pitch Black is a great opportunity of sharing tactics and procedures to increase our level of performance. The airspace is huge; in Italy we dream of airspace like this."
Wing Commander Shabeena, a meteorological officer from the Indian Air Force, was watching the Darwin weather closely, with conditions perfect for its flypast of the SU-30 Flanker.
"The sunset makes it all the more perfect because of the flypasts. The winds are perfect, the visibility is just clear, so it's good for the audience to see, enjoy and take pictures," Wing Commander Shabeena said.
"I've met a few Indians who are here and they were all excited to see us and our aircraft."
There were many favourites, with the Darwin crowd cheering for the flypasts of the United States Air Force F-22 Raptor, Japan Air Self Defense- Force F-2's, Rafale's from the French Air and Space Force and the F-15K Slam Eagle from the Republic of Korea.
The RAAF showcased a number of aircraft, including the F-35A Lightning II, E-7A Wedgetail and a sunset handling display from a 1 Squadron FA-18F Super Hornet.
Weapons systems officer Flight Lieutenant Mitchell Langlands was excited to see the number of people lining the beach while he deployed flares from the back seat of the FA-18F Super Hornet during the high-tempo display.
"We had the best seats in the house, seeing everyone on the beach, it looked like a massive crowd of people," Flight Lieutenant Langlands said.
"We love putting on the Super Hornet display and, with the backdrop of that beautiful Darwin sunset, the Mindil Beach flying display was pretty special."
As the sun set over Mindil Beach and the Super Hornet flew past for the final time, it was a beautiful finish to the Mindil Beach flying display and thank you to the people of Darwin on Exercise Pitch Black 2024.
