On june 19th and 20th the anual opendays of the airforce were held at Volkel airbase.
For the first time, i visited both days. The program for the opendays was one we did not have for some years. Especially on the friday. For the airshow there were a couple of highlights, like the Red Arrows, an Eurofighter demo, Patrouille de France, a Mig-29 and the one and only Vulcan! Below is the report of these amazing days, Enjoy!
The Static
First we started the day by looking at the static part of the show. This part of the show also had some very nice aircraft. As we entered the base, the first aircraft we saw was a C-17 from the USAFR. But that wasnt the only aircraft the americans send to the opendays. They also were present with a KC-135 and 2 A-10 Thunderbolts.
As usual at Volkel, the static stands in front of the audience, and the show is behind them. The result of this is that the demoteams, are parked on the static line. This way everybody can see how they prepare for theyr demo, and will see them taxiing about 6m in front of them. But not only the static was nice to watch, all over the terrain they had all different kind of stands, wich was nice to see. This way you can learn allot more about the airforce as well. Below you can find the photos of the static part of the airshow. Enjoy!
As the static was pretty similair on both days, the airshow was completly different.
For example on the friday we had the Patrouille de France, the Red Arrows but also an outstanding eurofighter demonstration. But these teams werent the only display teams that were present. Besides the teams that are always present (such as the historical flight rnlaf) the Turkish Stars, Patrulla Aquila were also present, and many others. This year there were some other very very nice highlights. For example the day started with a flying replica of the Wright Flyer, wich is absolutely amazing to see it airborne. But also a Polish Mig-29, wich gave one hell of a demonstration. Also during the airshow the Airforce showed everybody what they have got. This was done by solo displays by for example the F-16 Solo Display Team, this year in an orange colorscheme, with a dutch lion painted on the aircraft.
But also with a very nice Airpower demonstration, were an attack on the airfield is simulated.
But from all of the aircraft and demonstration teams that were present there was one absolute highlight for everybody. It's an aircraft thats roars, smokes and were you have to look twice if you see it flying by. Ofcourse i'm talking about the mighty Avro Vulcan. There is only 1 vulcan that's still capable of flying, and last year it had 2 airshows outside of the UK. We had the luck that we had the first display outside of the UK. And i got to say it was absolutely amazing! Below are the pictures of two incredible days, Enjoy!
