Trips 2012
Kleine Brogel - Steadfast Noon : 19/10/2012
Exercise Steadfast Noon 2012 is a two week exercise to train NATO cross
servicing crews in loading, unloading and employing B61 tactical nuclear
weapons on several different NATO partners. The following participants
came to Kleine Brogel: Volkel F-16's, Aviano F-16's, Büchel Tornado's
and Ghedi Tornado's. Off course the local F-16's participated in the
exercise too in larger numbers. This is a pictorial overview of the
activities on Friday 19 October 2012.
Ostrava - Nato Days : Flying display part 3
The last part contains some very special displays. For the first time,
Ramex Delta Mirage 2000N tactical display, performed outside France!!
Italian participation consisted out of the amazing C-27J Spartan and
the loud EF2000. Redbull sent the shiny B-25 Mitchell. The Czech armed
forces did an assault demo with 2 Mi-171Sh which were protected by a
Mi-35 Hind. This was very impressive demo to see and they flew very
low!
Ostrava - Nato Days : Flying display part 2
The second part of the review handles about the mighty USAF strategic
bomber, the B-52H. There were 2 B-52's on the show, one for flying display,
and one in the static show. There was a refuelling demo of a French
C-135FR and a CzAF JAS-39C gripen, which is a very special combination.
The Austrian AF sent its Typhoon display which flew from its homebase
Zeltweg, as well as the first blackhawk demo of the Austrian AF. We
hope to see this great display again in the future. Another very special
demo was the Polish police Mi-8!! Other displays were a CzAF L-159A,
the Turkish Soloturk, and a dogfight display from 2 Slovak AF Mig 29's,
as well as the solo display of one of the Mig 29's.
Ostrava - Nato Days : Flying display part 1
Displays were on the ground as well as in the air. We will only cover
the air displays. Most of the displays were solo displays or tactical
displays, but there was one displayteam: The Red Arrows. Other displays
in this part are Swiss Cougar, RNLAF F-16, RAF Hawk, Tucano and King
air 200 and the Slovenian PC-9. One of the main highlights of the show
were the very rare and impressive Polish SU-22 pair tactical display.
Ostrava - Nato Days : Arrivals
On Friday most of the participants of the Nato Days arrived at Ostrava
on a very sunny and warm day. A lot of interesting aircraft attended
the 12th edition of the Nato days. 2 B-52's , 2 F-15C's and a C-130
from the USA, a French C-135FR and 3 Mirage 2000N, Italian EF2000, P.180
and Spartan, 4 Dutch F-16's, Polish Mi-8 and SU-22's, 2 Slovak Mig 29's
and a Let 410 and many other interesting aircraft from the nearby countries.
Namest - Ramstein Rover : 20/09/2012
From 5 to 21 September, a major NATO Forward Air Controller (FAC) exercise
was held in the Czech Republic, organised by NATO’s Headquarters
Allied Air Command Ramstein. A lot of aircraft came to Namest AFB to
participate the large exercise. USAFE A-10, Slovak L-39 and Mi-17, Turkish
F-16C, German PC-9, Czech L-39, Mi-24/35 and Mi-171 flew 500 sorties,
some 1150 FAC control runs and an average 20 control runs for each of
the 51 international FACs. On the last day of the exercise we went to
this nice airfield and made this photographical report.
Lens - Meeting Aérien
On Sunday again great summer weather and it was a great airshow. There
were some nice helicopter demos from the French Navy Dauphin as well
as the Belgian Seaking, but also from a gyrocopter. The warbirds on
the show were 2 T-6, 2 Yak 18, Yak 52 and a Spitfire. No airshow without
military displays like 2 Mirage 2000D and the mighty Rafale. And to
conclude there were also 2 display teams: the British Aerostars flying
in their Yaks and the Polish Orlik team with their PZL130 Orliks.
Lens - Meeting Aérien : Arrivals & rehearsals
55000 people visited the excellent meeting aérien at the airfield
of Lens-Bénifontaine during the very sunny weekend of 15 and
16 September. The organisation attracted very nice participants for
the 3rd edition. On Saturday most of the airplanes arrived and rehearsed
their display for Sunday’s meeting. Some nice warbirds arrived
like 2 T-6, a Beech D-17, 2 yak 52 and a spitfire as well as an ALAT
Gazelle. Among the rehearsals were the French Air Force Rafale and Aerostars.
Spangdahlem : 09/08/2012
As a result of budget cuts announced early 2012, the sole remaining
A-10 Sqn in Europe, 81st FS based at Spangdahlem AFB in Germany, will
be disbanded at the end of March 2013. This will be the end of A-10
operations in Europe. We decided to have a look at Spangdahlem to see
some activity of the remaining 20 A-10's based in Europe. We saw 6 A-10's
doing 2 missions that day, as well as 6 F-16C from 480th FS doing 1
mission in the late afternoon.
Brize Norton : 04/07/2012
After the arrivals at Fairford on Wednesday we left for Brize Norton
in the hope to see some VC-10 and Tristar action. Unfortunately there
were a lot of aircraft on the aprons, so almost nothing in the air.
Luckily the first RAF Voyager was busy doing circuits and we got to
see the recovery of a couple of Hercules.
Coningsby : 03/07/2012
After Waddington airshow we went to have a look at the nearby RAF Coningsby
to see some Typhoon action. In the morning we got flying activity from
all 4 RAF Typhoon Sqn's (3, 11, 17 and 29 Sqn). One BBMF Chipmunk was
doing touch and go's on the grass runway. 41 Sqn was very quiet unfortunately.
3 French Alpha jets came in to visit the station. Around noon it started
raining and we left for Brize Norton.
Waddington - Airshow : Departure German F-4F
On Monday we were invited by the German F-4F crew to witness their
start-up and departure. The plan was to start the engines with cartridges,
which is impressive to see. Unfortunately one of the cartridges was
not working properly and they had to start the second engine with the
airstarter. After departure they remained low and came back for an awesome
high speed low pass over the runway. Thanks guys!!
Waddington - Airshow : Flying display
This year’s flying display was again filled with great foreign
military displays like a New Zeeland B757, US RC-135, Swiss Hornet and
Super Puma, Austrian Saab 105, Czech L-159 and Dutch F-16. Off course
all RAF displays were present too (Tutor, Tucano, Beech 200, Hawk, Tornado
Role demo, BBMF, Typhoon, Chinook, Lynx, ...) as well as some of the
local birds like the Sentry and Sentinel. Some nice display teams like
Frecce Tricolori, Red Arrows, Saudi Hawks, Team Orlik and the superb
Black Eagles completed the show.
Waddington - Airshow : Static display
This year’s Waddington airshow which was being held over the
weekend of 30 June and 1 July was again a great edition with some very
special visitors. This first gallery gives you an impression of the
static display. Highlights were an Algerian Air Force C-130, Australian
Air Force B737, the very last German Air Force F-4 at Waddington and
off course a large RAF participation.
Cambrai - Final opendoor : 27/06/2012
For the very last time, BA103 Cambrai-Epinoy opened its doors between
11h and 15h. 4 Mirage 2000's (3 with 103 code), 2 rafales, 1 Mirage
F-1 and 2 alpha jets landed again at Cambrai for this occasion. A couple
of thousands of spectators visited Cambrai that day to see the airbase
for the very last time. After the open-door rehearsals from the rafale
and 3 M2000 + 1 F-1 were flown for the next day which was the official
closing ceremony.
Florennes - airshow : Flying display part 2
The most remarkable displays were some Eastern European fighter displays.
The Slovakian Mig 29 made a stunning display as well as the very special
display of 2 Polish SU-22 fitters. For the first time they performed
outside Poland. They only did 2 foreign airshows this year and luckily
Florennes was one of them... This part also covers the Dutch and Greek
F-16 display, which was also the first time in Belgium.
Florennes - airshow : Flying display part 1
The flying display was concentrated on solo fighter displays. There
were some really nice items in the programme. Photo gallery part 1 of
the flying displays covers Belgian and Turkish F-16 and Swiss F-18.
Some other displays like a Dutch hunter, Belgian Seaking helicopter
and French Colibri made the airshow a varied show. Off course no airshow
without display teams: Baltic Bees, Croatian Wings of Storm and the
Belgian Red Devils are also shown in the first picture gallery.
Florennes - airshow : Static display / OPS zone
In the static display there were a lot of tiger painted aircraft, all
lined up on the TLP platform. Also a lot of cargo planes were lined
up on the secondary runway. Thanks to IPR we could go to the other side
of the airfield to see the display teams from up close.
Florennes - airshow : Arrivals
The annual BAF airshow was held at one of the F-16 bases, Florennes
over the weekend of 23 and 24 of June. Some really special aircraft
as 3 Polish SU-22's, 2 Slovakian Mig 29's, Turkish and Greek F-16's
came to Florennes for the airshow. As the Tigermeet was only finished
a couple of weeks before, there were a lot of tiger paints present in
the static display. To give all the photographers the opportunity to
make nice pictures of the arrivals, on Friday an excellent spottersday
was held.
Geilenkirchen - 30 years NATO base : Spottersday
30 years ago, the first E-3A AWACS landed at the NATO base in Geilenkirchen.
To celebrate this, the NATO base organised a jubilee event. All the
NATO partners were invited to take part in a large static display during
the weekend of 16 and 17 June. On Friday all the participating aircraft
arrived and the base organised an excellent spottersday for the aircraft
enthusiasts. In the morning there was heavy rain, but in the afternoon
it got dry and everyone had a nice day. Most of the participants first
made a low pass before landing, and passed in front of the 400 spotters
before taxiing to their parking spot.
Abingdon - Air & Country show
This year we participated this nice show again with Bronco Demo Team,
already for the third year in a row. On Saturday evening there was an
excellent night shoot, which produced in really nice pictures. On Sunday
the 6th of May again a nice show was organised with a mix of military
and civilian displays. This was also the first show that the new and
striking display scheme was shown from the RAF Tucano.
Meiringen : 27/04/2012
On our last day in Switzerland we stayed in Meiringen for the first
day of the repetition course. Flying was very good with 4 waves of tigers
and hornets. Weather was sunny and warm. As Meiringen offers a lot of
different photo spots we changed a lot, to have as much as possible
different angles. Luckily we could use some bikes at our apartment which
made it very easy to ride to a different spot very fast.
Alpnach : 26/04/2012
As there was a repetition course going on at Alpnach, we also stayed
a day at this nice helicopter base. Weather was perfect with 23°C
and sun all day long. Flying activity was good with a lot of cougar
and EC-635 flights. Unfortunately the German Army CH-53 that was detached
didn't fly because of the strong winds in the mountains. Luckily the
German Army BO-105 did a flight in the afternoon.
Payerne - Epervier 2012 : 25/04/2012
On our third day the weather had been changed as was the wind. In the
morning it was perfect sunny weather. One big mission was flown in the
morning and at the end of the morning PC-7 team arrived after performing
a first demo rehearsal overhead the airfield. In the afternoon again
2 missions were flown as well as another PC-7 team rehearsal. Again
we tried to photograph from as many as possible spots around the airfield.
Payerne - Epervier 2012 : 24/04/2012
On our second day at Payerne the weather in the morning was again a
mix of sun and clouds but with strong winds. 2 short missions were flown.
In the afternoon it started raining, so we decided to have a look at
the nearby Bellechasse for a rehearsal of Patrouille Suisse. Unfortunately
due to the bad weather conditions the display was cancelled and we returned
back to Payerne, where we saw arrive the afternoon mission again in
sunny weather.
Payerne - Epervier 2012 : 23/04/2012
Epervier is a joint exercise between EC.1/2 Cigognes based at BA116
Luxeuil and FlSt 17 Falcons based at Payerne. This year the exercise
was held at Payerne AB in Switzerland. They fly 3 missions per day for
2 weeks long. On the first day of the second week the weather was a
lot better than predicted and flying was good with 2 smaller missions
of 8 aircraft and one big mission of 12 aircraft.
Ramstein : 22/04/2012
When we departed to Switzerland for one
week, we stopped at Ramstein again on Sunday afternoon. The weather
was still challenging with a mix of sun, clouds and one heavy shower,
but that resulted in pictures of the aircraft with great clouds in the
background. We saw some C-17's, B-747 and a Metro between 13h30 and
17h00, so not bad for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Cambrai : 30/03/2012
In the morning there were still some visiting aircraft coming in, and
then, the weather was still nice and sunny. Around noon, the clouds
came in, and in the afternoon the ceremony started. First a flypast
of the special decorated M2000 with 2 Mirage F-1's. After that, there
was a flypast with 4 M2000 in different configurations. After the flypasts
there was the demo of the Rafale and Extra 300 of Equipe de Voltige.
In the evening 3 alpha jets from Patrouille de France came in to say
goodbye...
Cambrai : 29/03/2012
On the 30th of March there was a ceremony of the disbandment of EC.1/12
Cambrésis, the last flying sqn at Cambrai. EC.1/12 consisted
out of 3 flights (SPA 89 Guêpes, SPA 162 Tiger and SPA 166 Tarn).
SPA 162 was transferred to EC.1/7 Provence at St Dizier and for this
occasion some aircraft visited Cambrai for the very last time. As the
next day a display of the rafale and Equipe de Voltige Extra 300 was
planned, they did a rehearsal in the afternoon.
Cambrai : 23/03/2012
To thank all the surrounding villages for all those years of support
to the base, EC.1/12 performed a 4-ship formation over all those villages.
When the aircraft started to taxi, we were totally surprised to see
there were 3 special painted aircraft in the formation. They all taxied
by on the taxiway near the fence in perfect light conditions. Another
nice surprise was the visit of the 35F Navy dauphin based in Le Touquet.
This one also took the taxiway next to the fence to taxi to the active
runway. So it was again a great day at the fence of Cambrai.
Cambrai : 20/03/2012
Flying started late in the morning with a launch of 4 aircraft. After
take-off on RWY10 they came over in box formation to practice. In the
afternoon they launched 5 aircraft, but now on RWY28. Again after the
mission they came over in box formation which is very impressing at
low level. Before they landed, they did some nice low passes to entertain
us.
Cambrai : 14/03/2012
In the morning the weather was misty, but in the afternoon the sun
broke through the clouds so again nice pictures could be made at BA103.
Flying activity was very good with 7 different airframes flying 14 missions.
We also got 3 visitors: a rare TBM700 from EAAT, a Casa 235 and a Rafale
C made a low pass.
Cambrai : 20/02/2012
Another beautiful and sunny day leads us to Cambrai for some mirage
action. This time we tried some spots near the fence. Flying was very
good that day with 6 different airframes flying 12 missions. Around
noon we had a visit of 2 St Dizier rafales, but unfortunately we couldn't
photograph those.
Cambrai : 16/01/2012
With the closure of BA103 Cambrai coming really close now, Cambrai
was already long on my "to do list". Waiting some months now
for some cold but sunny weather with eastern wind, 16 January finally
was a day I was waiting for. Flying activity was pretty good for Cambrai
standards with 4 different planes that day and 10 missions. Light was
just perfect as you can see on the pictures. Enjoy one of the last pictures
of the beautiful M2000C with 103 codes.
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