Koksijde 2021

Koksijde : January

2021 started very good at Koksijde. In the first week of January there were 3 extra panther crash tenders at Koksijde so the fire and rescue category could be raised to CAT8! This means that each aircraft type in the Belgian Air Force can land. The extra fire capacity was needed for an exercise from 4 till 7 January to qualify some C-130 crews to fly NVG approaches. Due to the extra fire category the sole A400M from the Luxemburg Armed Forces made some touch and goes on the 6th, which was the first A400M to touch the ground at Koksijde. The start of the new year traditionally brings a lot of F-16's for IFR approaches, and this year was no exception. In the first week we got no less than 23 approaches of the Fighting Falcon which was a lot more than previous years! The rest of the month was a lot calmer with the usual Marchetti's and Agusta's. On the 25th Agusta H-27 arrived late afternoon and did a local night flight out of Koksijde, to depart back to Beauvechain after taking some fuel. On the 26th the commander of the Belgian Air Force, Thierry Dupont, visited Koksijde with Marchetti ST47. On the 27th C-130 CH13 made one low approach and continued its training mission to Ostend.

Koksijde : February

February was a short and calm month again. In the beginning of the month there was some snow which prevented flying activities, but in the second half of the month we got nice weather. On the 9th C-130H CH-11 made four low approaches in superb evening light which resulted in very nice pictures. On the 10th NH-90MTH RN-07 made an IFR approach. On the 22nd Irish Air Corps AW139 278 made a fuelstop on its way to the Agusta Westland facilities in Liege for maintenance.

Koksijde : March

The first visitors of the month were two QRA F-16s from Florennes which made each one low approach on RWY11 at the end of their training mission. On the 5th a Piper Super Cub from the Luchtkadetten made a low pass, an aircraft not often seen in our region. Later that day an Irish Air Corps AW139 flew over from Liege back home after maintenance in the Agusta Westland maintenance center. On the 8th an NH-90 from the Netherlands Air Force made a quick fuel stop on its way from Culdrose (UK) to De Kooy (NL). Later that week the same NH-90 made a fuel stop again back to Culdrose. From the 19th till the 26th Arizona Dream exercise was held at Koksijde which resulted in a lot of A400M activities. On the 25th the commander of the air component visited the exercise and came with Marchetti ST46. On the last day F-16 FA-129 made no less then 7 low approaches which is really unusual for Koksijde. They started with two PAR approaches followed by 5 visual closed patterns.

Koksijde : April

The first day of the month was a busy one with a touch and go of an SF.260 and a full stop landing of two other SF260's, three F-16's for a training approach and one A.109 for an IFR approach. For the rest of the month there were a lot of SF.260's for training approaches and full stop landings. On the 7th and 9th a C-130 came to Koksijde for exercises with the Belgian Pathfinders. On the 7th the Cessna Citation of the Dutch Aerospace center came to calibrate the navigation aids. In the morning of the 12th of April one Armée de l'air Rafale made a nice low pass over RWY11. The unit of the jet remains unconfirmed but most probably it is based at Saint-Dizier. On the 13th a NH-90MTH based at Beauvechain made a nice low pass during a navigation flight. They continued their journey along the coastline to Zeebrugge and went back to Beauvechain. The same day three UH-60M Blackhawks based at Wiesbaden in Germany flew over to Mildenhall in the UK after a fuel stop at Chievres. They supported the visit of U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd J. Austin III to London on the 15th of April. On the 16th the trio made the reverse journey. On Monday afternoon the 26th two Mirage 2000D's based at Nancy made a nice low and fast pass over RWY29 before leaving back to France. This was the second time this month French jets visited Koksijde, we hope to see some more in the future. On the 27th an MD902 from the Federal Police came to practice some emergency procedure and made a fuel stop in between. On the 29th an Irish Air Corps AW139 landed to take some gas on their way from Baldonell to Liege for maintenance. We were treated with excellent views as they landed at the very end of the runway and taxied close to the aeroclub. As this wasn't enough the helicopter was parked on the apron close to the fence and took off from its position. All this in sunny conditions.

Koksijde : May

The month of May started with a really nice visitor. A Mirage 2000D based at Nancy in eastern France made a nice low pass over the runway during a navigation flight over Belgium. Throughout the month a lot of F-16's made it to our coastal base for IFR approaches or only to pass overhead and brought the necessary jet noise. On the 24th A.109 H-24 wearing the old demonstration color scheme did some exercises at Lombardsijde and came to Koksijde to refuel a couple of times. On the 27th three Florennes based F-16's did a spectacular base attack coming from the west while two others simulated an engine failure. Very nice to see all this action in the timeframe of half an hour.

Koksijde : June

June was more quality than quantity. On the 14th the pilot of the F-16 which made some nice VFR patterns knew exactly what photographers wants. His closed patterns were perfect for some nice action pictures at the aeroclub. On the 22nd four Army Air Corps Wildcat AH.1 helicopters made a fuelstop at Koksijde on their way back to Yeovilton after a deployment of several weeks in Europe. It was nice to see a packed visitors ramp and to have some action of arriving and departing helicopters. Two days later an Irish Air Corps AW139 made a fuelstop on its way back to Ireland after having maintenance in the Leonardo facilities in Liege.

Koksijde : July

The month started with the annual Belgian Open Aerobatics Championship Koksijde (BOACK) which only brought the Red Devils to Koksijde this year. In static display the good old Alouette III could be seen for the very last time as on the 8th of July the two remaining airframes left the base for their new homes. On the 12nd the Pop-up Summer Expo from the Belgian Air Force started again and will last till the 13th of August. This is an exposition which explains the current and future jobs and equipment of the Belgian Air Force. Due to the lack of aviation events due to Corona, this expo is a welcome event to show the people what exactly is the Belgian Air Force. To make this more dynamic, IPR in cooperation with ATC, attracts all traffic in the neighborhood to make fly passes near the expo. The first day started excellent with four OCU F-16's which made a nice formation pass follow by some visual circuits and close patterns. The second day a C-130 made some passes with their cargo door opened. On the 20th an NH-90TTH from the 18th sqn in Beauvechain made a lunch stop and departed back home with a very low and spectacular low pass. On the 22nd IPR organized the Display day for the Pop-up expo. Vador Force and its beautifully painted Dark Falcon came to Koksijde for a display and full stop landing! It is always very spectacular and nostalgic to see an F-16 on the ground in Koksijde. Pilots Jo Jacobs and Stijn Soenens from the A.109 display team also came to Koksijde for a spectacular demonstration with their "wolf" painted A.109. On the 29th a Royal Netherlands Air Force AH-64D Apache from the 301 "Redskin" Sqn based in Gilze-Rijen made a fuel stop during a mission in Southern West-Vlaanderen. It was already a long time ago we could welcome a Dutch Apache at Koksijde. The same day an NH-90TTH from the 18th Sqn made two training approaches and joined up with an NH-90NFH to make a nice formation pass at the expo.

Koksijde : August

The Pop-up Summer expo made August a busy month again. Numerous aircraft made low passes near the expo or made a full stop landing. On the 3rd C-130 CH11 made three very low and spectacular low passes near the hangar, what a show! On the 6th two Royal Netherlands Air Force Apaches from 301 Sqn based at Gilze Rijen came to take some gas during a mission they flew in West Vlaanderen. On the 9th and 10th 301 Sqn came back with an AH-64D Apache for some low passes near the expo which was great to see. 17 Sqn MRH almost visited Koksijde daily with one of their A.109's to take fuel and they even brought their Razzle Blade on the 12th for the very first time. From the 16th till 20th of August A.109 H-35 was temporary deployed at Koksijde for paradropping's near the track of the "4-daagse van de Ijzer". This is a 4-day walking event "in Flanders fields" organized by the Belgian Army. On the 26th the first K-9 day was organized at Koksijde beach. This was a day filled with demonstrations of K-9 teams and their dogs. Among the demonstrations there were demonstrations with Police helicopter G-10 and NH-90MTH RN-08. On the same day 31 Sqn came to Koksijde with their tiger painted F-16 for the first time. Unfortunately nobody could catch its first visit, but we all hope they come back before the jet has been painted back in a grey color scheme.

Koksijde : September and October

The first day of September brought not less than seven different F-16's to our coastal base for training approaches. Some more visited during the rest of the month. On the 10th one Royal Navy Wildcat made a fuel stop on its way to Kleine-Brogel for the Sanicole airshow that weekend. On Saturday 18th Falcon 7X OO-FAE passed overhead Koksijde four times during the day. They performed pleasure flights for the annual families day for the 15W in Melsbroek. On Monday 27th most participants for the SAR-meet arrived at Koksijde in the afternoon. On the 29th former Royal Netherlands Air Force Alouette III A-301 arrived by truck to be put in static display for the Alouette III farewell party the next day. This party was organized to bring together as much as possible pilots and other personnel that worked on the Alouette III during its 50 years career in the Belgian Navy to mark the end of this famous helicopter which was already the 8th of July.

On the first day of October Royal Netherlands Air Force C-130H-30 G-273 made two IFR approaches on its way to Eindhoven after having maintenance in Cambridge. On the 6th a Royal Netherlands Air Force PC-7 made two IFR patterns. As from the 4th of October till the 19th of November, three Panther crash tenders and extra firemen were based at Koksijde to allow C-130 and A-400M training as training on the other Belgian bases were impossible due to various reasons. On the 11th, 14th and 9 and 10 November an A-400M came to Koksijde for training approaches. On the 22nd, 26th and 8 November the 15th Wing had send a C-130 for training approaches. It was nice to see these heavies again in the circuit at Koksijde, which might have been the final time of the C-130 before retirement at the end of the year. On the 13th Sikorsky 76 M-LIFT owned by Historic Helicopters brought two test pilots for the test flights of Sea King RS02/OO-SEE the next day. It was so special to see our mighty Sea Kings back in the sky (where they belong) after more than two years of storage. The next week RS04/OO-KNG made its maiden test flight after its storage. On the 20th both helicopters left Koksijde for their new home in the United Kingdom where they will start their second life at Historic Helicopters. On the 26th the navigation aids were calibrated again by the citation jet of NLR. On the 28th C-130 CH07 flew over the airbase on its way to and from the dropzone for para droppings over St-Idesbald.


Koksijde : November

November was a very calm month at Koksijde. Some bank holidays and a lot of days with very bad weather kept the visitors away from our base. Till 19th November three Panther crash tenders and extra firemen were based at Koksijde to allow training of the aircraft from the 15th Wing. On the 8th C-130 CH07 made 8 training circuits, on the 9th A-400M CT04 made 6 training approaches and on the 10th A-400M CT03 came for 8 touch and go's. It was nice to have a busy week with these heavies. On the 17th an Irish Air Corps AW139 passed overhead on its way to Liege for maintenance at the Leonardo helicopters facilities.

Koksijde : December

Normally December is a very calm month, but not this year. A lot of movements came from a Danish Air Force CL-604 which was based at Lille-Lesquin airport in Northern France to fly missions for Frontex. Each day a lot of immigrants try to reach the British coast by crossing the channel from France in small boats. As this is a very risky business, a lot of people already died during the crossing. On 24 November 27 people lost their lives during another attempt to cross the channel, which makes it the worst accident until now. To try to prevent even more accidents Frontex chartered a Danish Air Force CL-604 which made a lot of flights along the French and Belgian coastline at low level to check the immigrants on the beaches. This month Koksijde was (re)discovered by the 131 EMVO Sqn at Woensdrecht. On the 14th two Royal Netherlands Air Force PC-7's each made two touch and go's, on the 17th another one made two touch and go's and on the 23rd two PC-7's even made a full stop landing to have lunch. On the 17th 20 Sqn said goodbye to the mighty C-130 and planned a 6-ship formation flight over Belgium. Heavy fog prevented this unfortunately but they did their utmost best to visit Koksijde that day. CH-05 made two IFR approaches and said goodbye after almost 50 years serving the Belgian Air Force. As the weather was a lot better on the 21st 20 Sqn send CH-07 for the very last passes over the base. In the morning they only overflew the base on their way to the sea, but in the afternoon they made two approaches on RWY11. The first time gear up with cargodoor open, the second time gear down. They will surely be missed.

C-130 Night Vision Goggle training

From the 4th till the 7th of January, three C-130H Hercules of the 20th Sqn/15th Wing in Melsbroek did night vision goggle (NVG) training at Koksijde. To fly tactical missions pilots are using night vision goggles to see in complete darkness. These goggles amplify the light so unlighted objects become visible. So all lights at the aircraft and airfield must be turned off to prevent being blinded by the excessive light. They did this training in Koksijde as most of the training in foreign countries are cancelled due to the COVID-19 virus. On Monday and Tuesday two C-130's did numerous touch and goes in complete darkness. On Wednesday and Thursday only one Hercules came to Koksijde to qualify the pilots after their training on Monday and Tuesday. We would like to thank the personnel and crews of the 20th Sqn for their excellent support so we could make superb pictures!

NH-90 Winching exercise @ Oostduinkerke

On Saturday afternoon February 27, the crew of NH-90NFH RN-01 did a winching exercise with the Belgian SAR vessel Brandaris in front of the beach of Oostduinkerke. This spectacular exercise at very low level and high speed (33 kts / 60km/h) attracted many people on the beach and was a great show of force of the crew of the 40th Sqn. This shows again how professional and well trained they do their daily job. Afterwards the crew made some great passes to greet the many spectators at the beach. Thanks a lot to the whole crew for this great demonstration.

Arizona Dream

From Friday 19th till Friday 26th of March, exercise Arizona Dream was held at Koksijde airbase in Belgium. The exercise was planned to be held at MCAS Yuma in Arizona/United States of America, but the corona pandemic forced Belgian Defence to look for a -closer from home- alternative, hence the name Arizona Dream. Arizona Dream was the very first exercise with the brand new Airbus A400M, this only 6 months after the arrival of the first aircraft. The aircraft detached for the exercise, CT-03 MSN109, was delivered to the 20th Squadron/15th Wing only on the 3rd of March! For the exercise three panther crash tenders and extra fireman were brought over to Koksijde.

The exercise was to set up a Foreign Operating Base (FOB) to fly operational missions. On Friday the 19th all the necessary cargo to support the missions and maintenance of the aircraft were flown over to Koksijde in only one flight. To inform the surrounding villages of the increased flying activities during the exercise, a small press conference was organized. During the weekend technicians installed all the equipment needed for the operation center. To operate this high-tech aircraft a connection needs to be made to the maintenance data server and strategic data links needed to be set up for the missions. To communicate with the aircraft UHF, VHF and HF radios and antennas needs to be installed. Finally secured mission planning computers were installed and cameras were set up at the operational zone to protect the aircraft from unwanted visitors.

On Monday everything was ready to receive the aircraft and the exercise could start. After a training mission from its home base in Melsbroek, A400M CT-03 arrived around noon and was detached to Koksijde for the rest of the week. The next days they flew training missions (which were normally flown out of Melsbroek) in Belgium and abroad. In between the flights the maintenance teams were busy keeping the aircraft ready for its next mission.

On Wednesday the mayor of Koksijde, the governor of the province of West-Flanders and the military province commander visited the airbase to have a close look at this giant transport aircraft. On the last day of the exercise General Major T. Dupont, commander of the Air Component, and other high ranked military personnel joined the last mission and were given a demonstration of the excellent capabilities of the aircraft. In the evening the aircraft departed back to its home base and this concluded this successful exercise. On Friday 26th all the equipment was flown over to Melsbroek, once again in one single flight.


C-130 exercise with Pathfinders

From 6 till 9 April the Belgian Pathfinders, based at Schaffen, practiced their tactics in West Flanders. Due to the Corona pandemic the Pathfinders were forced to practice their tactics in Belgium. The 15th Wing based at Melsbroek supported them with one C-130 Hercules. Due to technical issues with the 47 years old hercules, flying was limited to only one nightmission on Wednesday and a day mission on Thursday and Friday.

During the nightmission the Pathfinders selected, secured and guided the hercules to the landingzone which was on Koksijde airbase. The students needed to learn the specific procedures to guided the C-130 safely to the landing zone. At the end of the practice runs the C-130 landed and picked up a vehicule at the end of the runway. The -Blue hour- and the close distance to the fence resulted in great photographic conditions and pictures.

On Thursday and Friday the Pathfinders had to select, secure and guide the dropzone at Moorsele airfield to allow paradroppings at low altitude. After the paradroppings, which took one hour and half each day, the C-130 came to Koksijde again for some practice runs for the pathfinders at Koksijde which secured the landing zone again. It was nice to see our Belgian Pathfinders at work as they usually practice these tactics in countries far away from.


Alouette III at Ijzertoren

The days are numbered for the 50 year old Belgian Navy Alouette III fleet as the retirement will be in the beginning of July. Only two of the original three helicopters are still in operational service and the unit only has two pilots and three Flight engineers left for the final missions. On the 18th of February Alouette III M-1 left Koksijde for naval ship Leopold I. They will first head to the Mediterranean and join the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and will support operation CLEMENCEAU 21. They will do PEDRO missions (SAR) for the rafales based on the Charles de Gaulle. Thereafter they will continue via the Suez channel and the Horn of Africa to the Strait of Hormuz. Mid May the ship and Alouette III will be back in Belgium after a 3-month during mission.

The remaining crew at Koksijde is still training hard with the second Alouette III M-2 to remain current for deployments in the future. On Monday morning the 26th of April they had a very special mission in Diksmuide. The crew made some fantastic passes near the Ijzertoren to allow us making some very nice simulated Air-to-Air pictures. Several passes in each direction and even some hover work resulted in incredible nice pictures of this old lady. I would like to thank everyone involved so much to make this happen!


Alouette III - Last return back home from the Godetia

On the 25th of June Command and Logistic ship A960 Godetia arrives in the harbor of Zeebrugge for the very last time after 56 years of service. The ship did its last international mission in the Baltic Sea as head of SNMCMG1 (the first mine countermeasure fleet of the NATO) with one of the two remaining Alouette III helicopters on board. After more than 50 years of loyal service, these helicopters will end operations as well on the 8th of July. For the last embarkment a second Alouette III flew to the ship and both helicopters guided the ship into the harbor of Zeebrugge. After this ceremony both helicopters returned to Koksijde in formation. They first did some formation passes over the Squadron hangar and they got a water salute of the fire brigade upon landing. This event is another important milestone in the service life of the helicopter. Only two weeks left now until the end of the Belgian Navy Alouette III...

Belgian Open Aerobatics Championship 2021

This years edition of the Belgian Open Aerobatics Championship in Koksijde brought some nice participants to Koksijde again. Although the number of aircraft were less than the previous edition -some pilots shared their aircraft- they could attract a Yak 55, some Pitts aircraft and some Extra aircraft. To make it more attractive to the public, a static display was set up with the R44 and Bell 47 of Topcat Helicopters, the MUG Helicopter from Bruges, some other light aircraft from the West Aviation Club and pleasure flights could be made in a Bell 206. The Belgian Air Force supported the event with a static Seaking, an Alouette III both in static and flying display, the NH-90 SAR Demo and the Red Devils with their shiny Marchetti's. The weather on Saturday was cloudy, on Sunday morning there was a lot of rain, but the sun appeared again in the afternoon and the event could end with bright sunshine.

Alouette III - visit to hospitals

In the morning of the 5th of July one of the two remaining Alouette III helicopters made some landings on the helipads of the hospitals AZ St Jan in Brugge and AZ West in Veurne. As this navy helicopter is not an emergency helicopter, this is very unusual. From the 8th of July till the 2nd of August 1976 Alouette III OO-PCB of the Civile Protection Service was not available for rescue missions and a Navy Alouette III was deployed to the hospital in Brugge to cover the absence of the Civile Protection Service Alouette III. After its retirement in 1986, the helicopter was stored at Koksijde and in 1989 it was exchanged for spare parts for the Alouette III fleet of the Navy. So the landing in Brugge was very symbolic. The landing at AZ West in Veurne was surprisingly the very first (and last) time the helicopter touched ground, even its so close to its home base. Unfortunately the weather was really bad in Brugge with heavy rainfall, but luckily it got a lot better when they came to Veurne. We would like to thank both crews for their superb cooperation to give us this very special photo opportunity.

Pop-up Air Display Day

Each year the Belgian Air Force displays its aircraft on several airshows or events in Belgium and abroad. These pilots and their aircraft are the ambassadors of Belgium and need to attract people to join the Air Force. Due to the corona pandemic most of the events in Belgium were cancelled, so the occasions to show the Belgian people what the Air Force stands for were very limited. Therefore, for the second year in a row, the Pop-up Summer Expo was organized in Koksijde from 12 July till 13 August. To add an extra touch to the expo and to show the Belgian people the 2021 Belgian Air Force display teams, a display day was organized on the 22nd of July. In the morning Captains Jo Jacobs and Stijn Soenens of the A.109 display team arrived with their special painted "wolf" agusta and gave a superb show in the afternoon. Also Commander Aviator Stefan 'Vador' Darte brought its awesome Dark Falcon to Koksijde to give an amazing demonstration in perfect weather conditions. As this is his final year, it will be the last time we saw the beautiful Dark Falcon at our airbase. Furthermore the home team gave a very nice SAR demo with its NH-90NFH and in the static display we could see two marchetti's. All this led to a very enjoyable afternoon full of action.

National K-9 day

On the 26th of August the first WVL4 National K9-day was held at the "ster-der-zee" beach of Koksijde. WVL4 is a collaboration of four police zones (PZ Polder, PZ RIHO en PZ Vlas) in the province of West-Vlaanderen and K9 means dog. So on the international day of the dog you enjoy all day long spectacular demonstrations of the several dog teams of the police, customs, civil protection and the Belgian defence. In the morning and afternoon there was a spectacular demonstration with boats and the MD-902 of DAFA (the helicopter unit of the Federal Police). With the help of the dog some armed bad boys could easily being caught. In the afternoon an NH-90MTH from the 18th Sqn in Beauvechain gave demonstration together with the special forces teams and their dogs.

Galileo International Sarmeet 2021 - arrivals and departures

Five years after the previous edition of the famous SAR-meet in Koksijde, a new edition was organized from Monday 27th September till Friday 1st October. Three very dedicated 40th Sqn members (Major Aviator Ken De Feu, Senior Captain Aviator Valerie Verkeyn and Warrant Officer Brecht Vandecasteele) joined forces to host 13 lifesaving teams and 7 rescue helicopters from 12 European countries making the event the largest SAR meet in history. On Monday afternoon most flying participants arrived in glorious sunshine. Participants were a Royal Norwegian Air Force EH-101 SAR Queen, German Armed Forces H-145, German Navy Sea King, Czech Air Force W-3 Sokol and an AW169 from the Leonardo factory. The last one will not participate in the flying part of this exercise. On Tuesday there was a SAR symposium, the technician challenge and the teambuilding competition. On Wednesday the flying day of the SAR-meet was held under the watchful eyes of 300 aircraft enthusiasts, VIP's and press. The teams had to perform a navigation exercise, a precision landing, a bombing run and a precision winching contest. Agility and teamwork were keywords during this contest. On Thursday the crews could enjoy social activities. Friday morning all teams left Koksijde again after making some nice passes to thank everyone for this great SAR-meet.

Galileo International Sarmeet 2021 - Spottersday

The only flying day during the Galileo International Sarmeet 2021 was on Wednesday 29 September. The organizers invited 300 aircraft enthusiasts, VIP's and press to have a day at the airbase packed with helicopter action. The aircraft spotters were located in an area west of the SAR-platform. Luckily the rain stopped during the morning just before flying activities started and we got a nice mix of sun and clouds combined with a strong fresh breeze. The teams had to perform a navigation exercise, a precision landing, a bombing run and a precision winching contest on the SAR-platform. As we were close to the SAR-platform, we could witness the winching contest from very close by which was very nice to see. After the contest the Czech team of 243.vrlt SAR with their magnificent W-3A Sokol performed a spectacular demonstration. The overall winner of the Sarmeet 2021 was the German Navy Sea King crew of MFG-5 based at Nordholz, congratulations!!

Sea Kings depart to Historic Helicopters

Sea King RS02 made its last operational flight for the Belgian Air Force on 13 January 2019, RS04 did the same thing on 15 February 2019. Since then, both helicopters were stored in excellent conditions at their home base and were put up for sale. Former Sea King flight engineer Brecht Vandecasteele has put all his energy to save both helicopters from being demolished. In 2020 the British charity organization 'Historic Helicopters' bought the helicopters to fly them again at airshows in the UK and abroad. With some delay due to the COVID pandemic and after completing all the necessary paperwork, some former Belgian Air Force Sea King technicians, together with some Historic Helicopters technicians, started to restore both helicopters back into flying conditions in the beginning of October 2021. 600 working hours later both helicopters made a successful test flight and obtained their certificate of airworthiness again as Belgian civilian helicopters. RS02 was renamed as OO-SEE, RS04 got the registration OO-KNG for the ferry flight to the United Kingdom. On 20 October both helicopters were prepared for their channel crossing to the Whitehouse Farm in Chard, Sommerset. At 13h15 both helicopters started up and taxied close to the aero club to the active runway. Several hundred people along the fence came to say goodbye to the very beloved and popular helicopters of Koksijde airbase. Both helicopters were joined by an NH-90NFH on the runway and the formation took off for a very last 3-ship formation pass over the squadron hangar. The formation continued their journey over the channel, along the British coastline to Yeovil. In Yeovil the Westland helicopters plant (now Leonardo Helicopters) is located where both helicopters were 'born' in 1976 and both helicopters say hello again before continuing to their new home. After bringing both helicopters into the British register, we all hope to see them back in Belgian skies again. Enjoy your second life beautiful old lady's!

Alouette III - 2021

This is a selection of pictures taken in 2021, the final year of the Belgian Navy Alouette III helicopters based at Koksijde. All these pictures were taken during normal training missions at Koksijde. We would like to thank the crews for the many flyby's or photoshoots.