Trips 2007
Florennes - TLP 2007-6
On 22 November and 13 December, we went to Florennes to see some fighter
action. The 6th session of the TLP had a strong Italian participation.
Highlights were the 5 AV-8B+ harriers of the Italian Navy Wolves squadron.
Other highlights were 2 German F-4F phantoms both from JG-71 Wittmund
and 2 USAF F-16C from Aviano.
Oostende - Noordzee Helicopters Vlaanderen : Opendoor
For the occasion of "Open Factories day" on the 7th of October,
three companies at Ostend airport opened their gates to the public.
Noordzee Helicopters Vlaanderen was one of them to show their daily
tasks to the many visitors that day. To entertain the visitors they
did 2 demos during the day with one of their yellow Dauphin helicopters.
Pleasure flights in the EC-120 Colibri could be purchased as well.
Oostende - Operation Octopus
Project Atlas is a cooperation treaty between several European countries
and the main goal is to prevent terrorist attacks. In this exercise
named "Octopus" which was held in the harbour of Ostend from
24 till 28 September, 6 of these specialized teams combined their teams
to "free passengers who were held hostage on a ferry". The
helicopters were based in Zeebrugge, but used a platform near the harbour
of Ostend to operate from on 25 September.
Lens - Meeting Aérien
For the first time an airshow is being held at the beautiful aerodrome
of Lens, and it was immediately a big success. The weather was perfect
with lots of sun and the organisation managed to fill a 5hr programme
full of nice displays. Runway 09/27 was used and the crowd was really
close to the action. Many old-timers were present, as well as some aerobatic
airplanes. Display teams were Breitling Jetteam, Royal Jordanian Falcons
and Tango Blue. Some nice helicopter displays could be seen, but the
most special one was the Mi-2. Off course the highlights of the show
was the Mirage 2000 display, which closed this great day.
Ghyvelde - Fly-in
Traditionally the last Sunday of August, the aeroclub of Dunckerque-Les
Moëres opens its doors to the public and this year this was on
the 26th of August. In the previous years the organisation team always
managed to get some nice displays to perform. With the ever growing
insurance fees, the organisation had to cut in the programme and this
year a Fly-in was organised. Although they still managed to present
a 2 hours long display containing the Sea King, Cartouche Dorée,
T-6 harvard, Cap 232 and some lighter aircraft.
Calais - Festival de Voltige Dunkerque
For the second time, Dunkerque town together with Groupe Tranchant
organised "Festival de Voltige" at the beach of Dunkerque,
this year on Sunday the 19th of August. All the aircraft fly from the
airfield of Calais-Marck and on Saturday 18 August we went to have a
look to the arrivals and rehearsals for the show the next day. Again
some nice participants came to Calais, like the French Air Force Alpha
jet, a Corsair and Spitfire and a Paris jet. Of course Patrouille Tranchant
flying with 3 Fouga Magisters were also present. Unfortunately the airshow
was cancelled on Sunday due to the bad weather...
Moorsele - SV-4 flight : 04/08/2007
On this beautiful Saturday afternoon we visited the airfield of Moorsele
near Kortrijk. As the weather was good, there was a lot of flying activity.
SV-4C OO-PWA Cn.279 build in France by Nord in 1946 was taken out of
its hangar to enjoy the sunshine. Here is an impression of a unique
flight Tom did with this nice biplane.
Beauvechain : 31/07/2007
As there was a deployment of 4 French Alpha Jets based at Tours at
Beauvechain, so we went to have a look at the main training base in
Belgium. The local marchetti's were busy with training flights, and
the vintage fouga magisters also came out to play. Hardship Red formation
team of the Belgian Air Force did a rehearsal flight in the afternoon.
Mildenhall : 27/07/2007
Nice weather in the UK led us to RAF Mildenhall to see some USAF activity.
The based tankers were very active with lots of touch and go's, as well
as a NATO E-3A making some approaches. There were some other nice visitors
as well: a C-12U of the US Army based at Wiesbaden in Germany, a U-28A
of the 319th SOS. But the 2 most special visitors that day were a USAF
E-3B AWACS and a US Navy E-6 Mercury.
Evreux - Meeting Aérien
BA105 Evreux is located on the western side of Paris and is home of
2 Sqn's of C-160 Transall transport airplanes. Besides the C-160's,
some Twin Otters and Super Puma's in the transport role are based in
Evreux as well. The line-up for the airshow was good, but unfortunately
the weather was not on Sunday 8 July. As the airbase was a USAF base
in the cold war, there was a strong USAF participation to the show.
Highlight was the Thunderbirds which were on a European tour.
Le Bourget - Salon
The 47th edition of "le salon du Bourget" was being held
from 18 till 24 June, but we visited the show on Sunday 24 June. Highlights
of the static display were an EC-225 intended for the Chinese rescue
services, an IAI upgraded Mi17 and a lot of US hardware like an F-16,
F-15, F-18 and HH-60. In the flying display the highlights were the
Russian Mig 29OVT and the US Navy F-18F super hornet. But the most impressive
airplane was the A380 super jumbo, which flew around like a fighter
jet.
Volkel - Opendagen
On Friday 15 and Saturday 16 June, the yearly Dutch Air Force open
days were being held again, this year on the Dutch Brabant airbase of
Volkel. As Volkel is an F-16 base, some foreign F-16's came to the party.
Other highlights of the static display were 2 Aeronavale Super Etendards
and a Rafale M, as well as a US Navy P-3 Orion. Poland had sent an impressive
SU-22 fighter and an AN26 transport plane. For the last time in the
Netherlands, the Belgian Fouga Magister was being displayed by Lieutenant-Colonel
Paul Rorive. The most popular part of the airshow is the Air Power demo
where the Netherlands Air Force shows to the public what they actually
do in operational missions.
Biggin Hill - Air Fair
Over the weekend of 2 and 3 June the yearly Biggin Hill Air Fair was
organised again. The organisation attracted the full RAF display line-up
which was being supplemented by some great civilian displays. Highlights
were the beautifully painted Hawker Hunter "Miss Demeanour"
as well as the many warbirds flying on the airshow. The biggest airplane
was undoubtedly the B747-400 from Oasis Hongkong Airlines which made
some impressive passes.
Cranwell : 18/05/2007
The RAF College Cranwell in Lincolnshire is where all RAF officers
and airmen aircrew are selected and trained to become the leaders of
tomorrow. The RAF College Cranwell not only selects and trains the RAF's
future leaders but has responsibility for all RAF recruiting and initial
training. On Friday 18 May there was a graduation day, and for this
occasion a 4-ship Beech King 200 and 4-ship Dominie formation flew over
the station.
Coningsby : 18/05/2007
On our second day we were luckier with the weather as this time, it
was a mix of clouds and sun. Flying activity of the local Typhoons was
good, and in the morning, 3 Jaguars made a flight. Later on that day,
3 departed to Cosford for their final landing.
Coningsby : 17/05/2007
Although the Jaguar is officially retired from operational duty, some
flew their last flying hours they still had left on the clock. As all
the Jaguars had to be flown over to RAF Cosford, they had to train to
use their braking chute, as the runway is too short in Cosford for conventional
braking. One of the Jaguars even thrown out his chute before touch down!!
2 EF2000's from Spain departed after a nightstop in Coningsby. 4 Lossiemouth
Tornado’s were based in Coningsby to fly with the based Typhoons.
Coningsby : 01/05/2007
Operational duty of the Jaguar force was ended the day before, but
flights continued till the end of May so all remaining flying hours
left on the airframes were being used. We saw 3 Jaguars making a local
flight and returning in a nice formation pass over the airbase because
the prince of Wales was visiting the airbase. Also a formation flight
of 3 Typhoons and the Typhoon demo we saw, besides the many flights
of the based aircraft.
Coningsby : 30/04/2007
6 Squadron has the longest continuous history of any RAF Squadron.
It was the only one of the original seven RFC Squadrons never to have
been disbanded. After many years at RAF Coltishall they moved up to
RAF Coningsby in April 2006. Sadly the Squadron ended operational flying
on April 30th. For this occasion they flew a 12-ship formation in the
shape of 6 over Coningsby airbase.
Mildenhall : 05/04/2007
In the late afternoon we move to Mildenhall to see some Special Operations
Squadron (SOS) action. We saw 2 C-130’s and 2 MH-53 of 7th SOS.
The local KC-135 tankers were busy flying as well. The special RC-135
Rivet Joint unfortunately stayed on the ramp during our stay.
Lakenheath : 05/04/2007
Unfortunatly the day started rather slow at Lakenheath, but around
noon the airbase woke up and many Eagles and Strike Eagles flew for
the rest of the day.
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