Best of old and new take to the skies at International Airshow

Flying buffs, aviation historians and those simply after the buzz of a knife-edge F-111 fly-by will all find satisfaction at this weekend's Australian International Air Show at Avalon Airport. The Centenary of the Wright Brothers' first powered flight is the backdrop for a spectacular line-up of aircraft, from the Sopwith Camel to the fearsome B1 Bomber.The Show opens to the public at 2pm today and 18 hours of flying displays are planned over the weekend. On the ground there's both high-tech hardware and a historical journey through 20th century aviation. Aircraft used in World War Two, Korea and Vietnam are featured along with older planes, and Royal Australian Air Force warbirds like the Mustang, Spitfire and Hudson, are joined by famous Australian civil and commercial names like the Stinson, Stearman and DC-3.Major international aviation manufacturers are represented including Lockheed Martin, Boeing Northrop Grumman along with Defence Forces and an array of civil aircraft.The big guns like the earth shattering F-111 fighter, B-1 Lancer long range bomber and the huge Airbus helicopter transport plane (which looks a bit like a massive flying dolphin) are hard to ignore, but some fantastic aero gizmo's can be found. Among our picks was Northrop's Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) - the RQ-4A Global Hawk - the 2-seater fixed wing Cirrus SR-22 which includes a parachute that supports the entire airframe plus some innovative ultra-lights and kit planes which we'll cover in detail over coming weeks.