As a result of a couple of cancellations, a relatively small group of 6 people gathered at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at the start of the 4Aviation Malaysia tour on the early morning of Wednesday 30 November. Five out of six had just been on a direct flight from Amsterdam with Malaysian Airlines (departing on 29 November) , while the sixth came from Singapore. Just a couple of days before our departure the official ‘no’ from the Royal Malaysian Air Force had arrived in response to our request for visiting a couple of air bases. This was not going to spoiling the fun, since we were still looking forward to the LIMA-show at Langkawi and some visits to the other sides of the fence. After collection our rental car we directly headed for Sungai Besi. Just before we arrived there we were treated to a large formation of helicopters taking off. Assuming that we would not see these helicopters again, we starting capturing the inmates of the museum. Much to our surprise, we then saw the formation of choppers at the horizon, before landing at Sungai Besi again. From the museum a large part of these helicopters could be photographed. In the afternoon we drove to Subang. At this airport / air base the transport and VIP-fleet of the air force is based. We were lucky to see many different aircraft types operating, and they can be captured here very well. On our way to Ipoh, for the night, fellow drivers pointed out a flat tire ‘in progress’. While on the emergency lane it became apparent that also Avis sends off cars with insufficient tools. Some of the tools to change the tire were missing. Fortunately, 20 metres from where we were another car stopped to change a tire. That one was also missing some tools… combining the 2 sets of tools it was possible to replace the tires and we could continue our journey.
On Thursday (1 December) we still had to drive for about 1.5 hours in the morning. The perfect breakfast was therefore enjoyed rather early, before heading for Butterworth. At Butterworth we found a spot in the runway approach, in the middle of a residential area with only friendly people. While continuously waving and nodding to all that were passing by, we photographed several types while they were landing. Apart from the based Hornets, F-5s and Hawks, we also saw MiG-29s and Flankers practicing their demo. These aircraft would later move on to Langkawi. Around noon we got into our car again and drove to Alor Setar. A little over an hour later we arrived at this training base and looked for a spot in the approach. The weather had become a little worse in the meantime, but we managed to picture a number of PC-7s anyway. We had planned to spend the night in Alor Setar and we arrived in the hotel relatively early. The dinner was enjoyed on the streets. Despite the cloudy weather and occasional rain showers the temperate was very comfortable (tending towards very hot).
On Friday 2 December we had a look at Alor Setar again during the morning to see whether it was active. That appeared to be the case and we ended up at a busy spot on the other side of the runway than the previous day. After a fair number of PC-7s and a visiting Global Express, we called it a day and drove back to the city for some tourist time in Alor Setar. Around 3 PM we drove a bit further North and parked our car in Kuala Perlis for a number of days, before boarding the ferry to Langkawi. From Kuala Perlis it takes a little over an hour to get to Kuah at Langkawi. It was still light when we got there. In Kuah a similar rental car was waiting for us and we went to the hotel where we would be spending the next 4 nights.
Saturday (3 December) started off with choosing a breakfast at a Petronas petrol station. After that, we drove to Langkawi airport in no-time. This is the airport where LIMA 2011 was being organised. LIMA is short for Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition, an event that is organised every 2 years. This year the event itself (at both the airport as well as the harbour) would take place from 6 to 10 December. We had scheduled our visit in such a way that we would be able to witness the arrivals and rehearsals for a couple of days and be there for the first day of the actual event. While arriving at the airport it appeared that part of the participants had already arrived. The atmosphere on the venue was very relaxed and within a matter of minutes we had collected our passes and were walking close to the aircraft of the static display and air show. The airport of Langkawi offers several spots to capture the aircraft from very close by on the runway. The rest of the day we enjoyed the rehearsals, some arrivals, some visitors and the beautiful weather. The success was celebrated during the evening at a restaurant.
On Sunday 4 December a similar ritual occurred. After asking we found out that the opening of the show was going to be performed by a pair of F-5s (we were caught by surprise by a single F-5 the day before) at 11.30 AM. We made sure that we were prepared for this act. After the opening the weather deteriorated for a couple of hours and a number of demos was not rehearsed on this Sunday. The same Chinese restaurant as the days before could welcome a group of Westerners.
For Monday (5 December) a walk-about was scheduled. This would take us, amongst others, to the static area and the flight line. This was an ideal opportunity to photograph all aircraft from a different position again. The arriving Malaysian Air Force aircraft completed the picture for us. During the afternoon we were outside again at one of the fantastic spots and were able to capture the arrival of the Thai Gripens and accompanying C-130. The Saudi HS125 made a very welcome appearance. At the end of the day we headed for the static and flight line again to picture the new participants on the ground. This day we chose a restaurant in the tourist area, above the one we were used to. Not a wise decision, as we soon discovered.
On Tuesday 6 December we drove to the airport again during the morning. Today the show would officially be opened. This occasion resulted in a visiting Republic of Singapore Air Force Fokker 50, amongst others. The weather was perfect again this day and the many participants of the air show, with the Malaysian Su-30 and MiG-29s being the highlights, were once again captured on the runway and in the air. The air show was over by 1 PM and that was also the trigger for the hundreds of people, joining us at the fence, to start leaving. After the dust had settled again we said goodbye to a very fine location and drove back to the ferry terminal. There we checked in for our return leg by boat towards Kuala Perlis. Later that evening we checked in at a hotel in Alor Setar again.
At first, the plan for Wednesday (7 December) was to start the day at Alor Setar. But, since we had photographed enough aircraft there the previous week, we chose Butterworth as the first stop on Wednesday. During the couple of hours we spent in the approach of Butterworth we saw a number of additional aircraft again. The visiting Flanker was appreciated, as was the rest of the aircraft of course. We would be boarding our place the same evening (very late in the evening) and the plan was to visit the Petronas Twin towers in Kuala Lumpur before that. Unfortunately, delays on our way to Kuala Lumpur (because of bad weather and the police making a funnel [when speeding you are pinpointed and fined on the spot]) made that we had to skip that part. We therefore drove straight to KLIA for the return flight. This departed at midnight. The Boeing 747 was as empty as it was while flying to Malaysia so everyone was able to choose a good spot to spend the night (sleeping the major part of it). We could all look back at, again, a very fine tour with lots of highlights!
