The RoKAF Black Eagles Arrive Back into Rockhampton Airport After Avalon Airshow - 9 KAI T-50B Jets and 2 C-130 Hercules

On Friday 10 March, The Republic of Korea (South Korea) Air Force (RoKAF) "Black Eagles" aerobatic team arrived back into Rockhampton Airport for another overnight stop while heading home to South Korea after participating in the Australian International Airshow.

A total of nine of the team's KAI T-50B trainers landed at Rockhampton Airport after flying up from RAAF Base Williamtown.  They had flown into there from Melbourne (Avalon) the previous day.

The T-50B jets travelled in three flights as "Bravo Echo 01/04/07" and carry the military serial numbers of 10-0052, 10-0059, 15-0084, 10-0053, 10-0055, 10-0051, 10-0058, 10-0060, and 10-0057.

The aircraft will depart Saturday morning for Mount Isa and then Darwin before then continuing home to South Korea over the coming days.

UPDATE!  On Saturday 11 March, the Black Eagles departed Rockhampton Airport for Cairns, RAAF Base Tindal (Katherine) and Darwin.

Meanwhile, arriving into Rockhampton Airport late on Thursday 9 March, was RoKAF C-130J-30 45-750 "Argo 102" after flying up directly from Avalon.  It was photographed still parked in the rain early on Friday 10 March.

And during the early evening, also on Friday 10 March, RoKAF Lockheed C-130H-30 Hercules 55-030 as "Argo 101" also arrived into Rockhampton Airport, also directly from Avalon.

It is expected that both Hercs will also depart on Saturday 11 March, with one possibly following the Black Eagles to Mount Isa Cairns and Tindal while the other is expected to fly up to Darwin.

The Black Eagles Aerobatic Team originally left an air base in Wonju, 130 kilometres east of Seoul, midway through February. It is the first time they have travelled to Australia to participate in the biennial Australian International Airshow and Aerospace Defence Exposition which has just been held at Avalon Airport in Geelong.

For the show, the Korean Air Force has mobilized some 120 personnel, including 11 pilots, as well as the nine T-50B supersonic jets and three C-130 transport aircraft.

Of interest, The Republic of Korea Air Force aerobatic team was formed on December 12, 1994, and flew six Cessna A-37B Dragonfly airplanes.  It disbanded temporarily after the 2007 Seoul Air Show and reformed upon the arrival of the new T-50 Golden Eagle aircraft, codenamed T-50B, in 2010.

Sincere thanks to the local plane spotters for providing us with such a great coverage of the arrival of these awesome visitors to the region!

Photos taken by Scott Harris, Trevor Hardsman, and Jake Wallace  ©