Military Jets Photography: 2013 07 31 till 2013 08 02 Kecskemét arrivals and rehearsals

Wednesday July 31
We left Belgium on Tuesday evening to arrive at Kecskemét before the planned arrival of the Russian Knights. A time was given put we weren't sure if it was local or Zulu time. This meant a difference of two hours. So, we took no chance and made sure that we arrived in time for them. The ride went smoother then anticipated and we were even on time to catch the arrivals of the Turkish Stars. Not much later the Hungarians started flying with some Gripens and some Antonovs 26. The Baltic Bees also rehearsed their display before the skies were controlled by the Russians. The flew straight into their display. While the Knights were practising their display the massive Ilyushin landed in between. Seeing the Russian Knights perform after seeing them more then 20 years ago at Ostend gave me a great feeling and made the trip to Kecskemét already a success.

NF-5B-2020 Turkish Air Force Turkish Stars

Jas-39C Hungarian Air Force 35

Jas-39C Hungarian Air Force 40

L-39C Baltic Bees

An-26 Hungarian Air Force 603, 407

Il-76MD Russian Air Force RA-78831

Su-27, Su-27UB Russian Air Force Russian Knights

Su-27UB Russian Air Force Russian Knights

Su-27, Su-27UB Russian Air Force Russian Knights

Su-27UB Russian Air Force Russian Knights

Su-27 Russian Air Force Russian Knights

Su-27UB Russian Air Force Russian Knights

Thursday August 1

Today was the first day of the spotters package. And although the day wasn't great, both flying as organisation wise, we had high hopes for tomorrow.

MB339A Italian Air Force Frecce Tricolori

Jas-39D Hungarian Air Force 42

C-130J-30 Italian Air Force MM62193/46.59

NF-5A-2020 Turkish Air Force Turkish Stars

MiG-29B Hungarian Air Force 06, 11

MiG-29B, MiG-29UB Hungarian Air Force 22, 27, 28, 29

Il-76MD Russian Air Force RA-78831

Friday August 2

And our hopes were grounded as the organisers listened very well to our suggestion from the day before. Of course not all our wishing could be materialised as they were still an external company on a military base. But there effort in providing us the best experience possible was certainly high on their list.

Today was the busiest day at Kecskemét for arrivals and rehearsals. Due to a miscommunication we were guided to the wrong end of the runway. While waiting on the "bus" we heard people shouting, Frogfoot. So I quickly jumped out and was able to shoot some backlit taxiing shots of the Bulgarian Frogfoot. After that we all went to the other side of the runway to see the touchdowns. Serbia, Ukraine, Slovenia, Slovakia,... the list goes on, all arrived. In between we had some rehearsals were the Romanian MiG-21 gave a very impressive display. Blessed with great weather the day couldn't be better.