Mindil roars to life with Pitch Black planes

MINDIL Beach will roar as fighter jets from Exercise Pitch Black show their moves over the popular markets tonight.

And the Royal Australian Air Force Head of Air Shows, Air Commodore Noddy Sawade, has promised quite a show. He said the handling display will start from about 5pm with Australian C130 Hercules flying “nice and low” over Mindil Beach.

“They’re quite impressive when they’re up close,” he said.

Not to be outdone, an Australian F/A-18 Hornet pilot will perform some aerial stunts from 6pm.

And as the sun sets, four fighter jets from different nations will fly together over Mindil Beach. “We’re going to have Singapore, United States and Australian aircraft out there showing some close formation fly-past at reasonably low level,” Air Commodore Sawade said.

The handling display is a prelude to the Pitch Black 2016 Open Day at RAAF Base Darwin on Saturday.

Exercise Pitch Black is an international military exercise that takes place in the NT every two years. Pitch Black 2016 will run till August 19.