International military exercise Pitch Black draws in aviation enthusiasts

Standing on a usually vacant block just off one of Darwin's busiest arterial roads, dozens of people point telescopic lenses towards the sky.For the thousands of motorists who travel along Bagot Road in the Northern Territory capital every day, it has become quite the spectacle.Until recently, many of these planespotters were strangers, with most travelling thousands of kilometres in the hope of capturing "the shot" of some of the world's fastest jet fighters participating in Exercise Pitch Black.Dozens of people are out in Darwin this month to photograph planes taking part in the military exercise. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)For Melbourne-based aviation enthusiast Brian Carr, photographing the biennial event has been a dream come true."It's been on my list for many years because you get so many aircraft from so many different countries that you're just not going to see anywhere else," he said.Brian Carr says attending Exercise Pitch Black in Darwin has been on his bucket list for a long time. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)"You could probably go to half these countries and get arrested if you started looking at aeroplanes."Whereas here, you can come here and join hundreds of others and take some great photos."Like most aviation nerds, Mr Carr's passion for big planes started at a young age with aspirations of ticking off serial numbers in collector books."I like my big things; ships, planes, boats," he said.Brian Carr will document a plane's serial numbers from its photo. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)"I like recording the serials on them, and you can't read them off; they're going too fast, and they're too far away generally, and they're very small."So yeah, take a photo, and you can look back at your leisure and work it out."For other retirees, chasing air shows has almost become a full-time job.Ian Rolfe has made the pilgrimage to Darwin all the way from the United Kingdom, "specifically for Pitch Black".Ian Rolfe travelled all the way from the United Kingdom to come see Exercise Pitch Black. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)"It's a massive opportunity for any aircraft enthusiasts to come out and see a variety of aircraft that you don't see in the UK or indeed in wider Europe," he said.Mr Rolfe said the highlight of the three-week exercise so far was watching the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) Super Hornet F/A-18 display at the Mindil Beach flyover.Having traipsed around the globe photographing military planes since the 80s, he said Pitch Black ranked "very highly" compared with training exercises in other countries."It's a tribute to the Australian Air Force for making the facilities available and the fact they've managed to attract so many high-quality air forces, bringing some really interesting aircraft to the event," he told the ABC."Long may it continue."While spotting interesting aircraft is the aim of the hobby, aviation enthusiasts say meeting like-minded people in their downtime is another drawcard.Quinn Stanfield and Ben Goldsby say they really value the tight-knit community of aviation enthusiasts. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)Perth teenagers Ben Goldsby and Quinn Stanfield became fast friends while watching planes take off from their local airport."It's a very tight-knit community, everyone knows everyone," Mr Stanfield said."We're all very nice to each other, giving each other tips."At just 14 years old, Mr Goldsby, a RAAF cadet, convinced his mum to miss a week of school to fly up to Darwin with his best friend to photograph the "sick" jet fighters for their social media followings.Quinn Stanfield and Ben Goldsby travelled from Perth to Darwin to see the military exercise. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)"We got friends, girls and boys, that come down and we just hang out in our group and just take the photos together, like check up on each other, you know, just hang out," he said."It's good fun as like a community, so somewhere where you belong."As for those who are not yet official planespotters, there is still time, with the exercise continuing until August 6.Recent aviation enthusiast Mary Chiron said she had become "obsessed" with taking her one-year-old son outside to look for jets for Pitch Black 2026.Mary Chiron has started taking her son outside to watch the jets taking part in Exercise Pitch Black. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)"I think this year I've just become really obsessed with them," she said."I'm always out searching for them because I want to get a nice close-up, but this is the first time that I've come and actually seen them a bit closer."We're pretty lucky to be able to see it for free, I know that in Victoria they pay big bucks to see this kind of stuff, so it's awesome."