Military Jets Photography

2013 06 14 and 15 Luchtmachtdagen Volkel

During 2013 the Royal Netherlands Air Force, otherwise known as the Koninklijke Luchtmacht, are celebrating 100 years of military aviation in the Netherlands. It was only fitting that one of the highlights of the celebrations would be the annual KLu Open Dagen which was this year held at Volkel Air Base near Uden. Held over two days, the annual Open Dagen is a free to enter airshow designed to show the public their air force together whilst acting as a valuable recruitment tool.
Volkel Air Base provides some unique challenges for photography that are rarely experienced at other venues. Due to the layout of the base, the static aircraft are parked together with some of the display aircraft directly in front of the main crowd line. Why does this provide a challenge? Well firstly everyone, including those wanting to look at the static aircraft, are jostling for position to get a good look making the entire crowd line very crowded. Secondly, getting effective photos of aircraft that are low or departing/arriving are virtually impossible due to the static aircraft being in the way. On the plus side, the sun is behind you most of the day providing ideal photographic conditions.
The static line up had a number of very special participants. Representing neighbouring Germany, the Luftwaffe sent a pair of Typhoons which were accompanied by the beautiful blue and gold 'Phantom Pharewell' F-4F. In addition, the Greek Air Force sent two examples of the rarest aircraft on the European airshow scene, the A-7 Corsair II. One of which was painted in a gorgeous black and silver scheme. Joining the special paint display was Norway's F-16 resplendent in its blue, white, red and silver scheme. Great to see but disappointing not to see it displaying in the air. Not to be outclassed, the home team displayed the specially painted F-16s from 322Sqn and 323Sqn.
The flying display consisted of no less than eight fast jet displays of various shapes and sizes. All the fighters used flares bar the superbly noisy Viggen and brilliantly dynamic Mirage 2000N "Ramex Delta" duo. Of the fast jet displays, the Viggen and Ramex Delta displays stood out as high quality acts. Sadly, the Polish Su-22 demo display seems significantly dumbed down compared to the 2012 display with a shorter, slower display and significantly fewer flares being used, a sign of the times? The European display teams were well represented with the presence of the Patrouille de France, Frecce Tricolori, Patrouille Suisse and the Red Arrows.
Of the modern international solo displays, by far the most surprising was a rare display by a C-130J-30 from the Royal Danish Air Force. The display would be deemed as boring with two circuits followed by a fast pass. However, it is the end of the fast pass that has the wow factor, the aircraft pulls up hard whilst deploying well over 100 flares in an arc. In addition, a much more subdued display than previous years was performed by the tiger tailed Czech Mi-24 Hind whilst a royal blue Hind sat in static.
The highlight of any Open Dagen is the air power demo sequence. This year taking part were 10 F-16s, a KDC-10, C-130H-30, 2 AH-64Ds and 2 CH-47Ds. The sequence involves lots of passes by all aircraft, plenty of explosions and plenty of flares. On the Saturday the air power demo ended with a very special flypast. The 10 F-16s performed a top side pass in close formation with a Boeing 737. Why was this so special? The aircraft was donated by KLM and the crew volunteered to fly a passenger manifest of chronically ill and handicapped children, giving them an experience they will never forget.
As this was a 100 year celebration, the history of the KLu was also displayed to the crowd. The lunchtime segment consisted of a number of formation displays by warbirds and transport aircraft that have been operated over the years by the different incarnations of the KLu. In order to mark the close relationship between the KLu and RAF, the BBMF flew one of their Spitfires in a formation display with the Royal Netherlands Historic Flights Spitfire. The finale to the flying display was a historic formation celebrating early jet aircraft in the Netherlands. Joining the Klu display F-16 was the Dutch Hawker Hunter and Classic Air Force Meteor T7 for a unique flypast. A rare photographic opportunity.
The Open Dagen 2013 was a huge success with a crowd of 220,000 visitors over the two days.

EF2000 German Air Force 30+81

F-104G Netherlands Air Force D-8114

L-39CM Slovak Air Force 5301

TA-7C Hellenic Air Force 156753

AB204B Dutch Navy 227/PH-UEY

NH.90NFH Netherlands Air Force N-227

Lynx Mk88A German Navy 83+20

Mi-24V Czech Air Force 7353

F-16AM Portuguese Air Force 15133

L-39C Estonian Air Force 10

Sk60E Swedish Historic Flight SE-DXG

An-26 Slovakian Air Force 2506

C-27J Romanian Air Force 2703

An-2 Estonian Air Force 41yl

F-4F German Air Force 37+01

C-130H Belgian Air Force CH-04

AJS37 Swedish Historic Flight SE-DXN

Mirage 2000N French Air Force 125-AG/350, 125-AG/369

Mirage 2000N French Air Force 125-AJ/350, 125-AG/369

Meteor T7 Aviation Heritage Ltd. G-BWMF

PC-7 Netherlands Air Force L-01, L-03, L-07, L-12

F-16BM Netherlands Air Force J-368

F-16AM Netherlands Air Force J-003, J-005

Boeing 737-8K2 KLM PH-BXB
F-16AM Netherlands Air Force J-003, J-005, J-014, J-016, J-055, J-513, J-616, J-643, J-870
F-16BM Netherlands Air Force J-368

C-130H-30 Netherlands Air Force G-275

F-16AM Netherlands Air Force J-196

F-16AM Netherlands Air Force J-643

Su-22M-4 Polish Air Force 8309, 3920

Su-22M-4 Polish Air Force 8309

C-47A Battle of Britian Memorial Flight ZA947

PC-7 Austrian Air Force 3H-FG

C-130J-30 Danish Air Force B-358

Hawk T1 Royal Air Force Red Arrows

AH-64D Netherlands Air Force Q-17

F-16AM Netherlands Air Force J-015

C-130H-30 Netherlands Air Force G-275

KDC-10 Netherlands Air Force T-235

F/A-18C Finnish Air Force HN-452

MB.339A Italian Air Force Frecce Tricolori

Jas-39C Czech Air Force 9235

F-5E Swiss Air Force Patrouille Suisse

2013 06 13 Spottersday Luchtmachtdagen Volkel

400 spotters were invited the day before the public to witness the arrivals and rehearsals for the Luchmachtdagen 2013 at Air Force Base Volkel. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate that day. We left the base in the afternoon with still a lot of participants that needed to arrive.
Highlights of the day were the arrivals of the Portuguese F-16s and one of the last appearances of two Hellenic Corsairs.

O-2A Postbellum Foundation N590D

PC-12/47E Finnish Air Force PI-05

F-16AM Portuguese Air Force 15108

TA-7C Hellenic Air Force 156753

A-7E Hellenic Air Force 160616

Mirage 2000N French Air Force 125-AL/348

Mirage 2000N French Air Force 125-AG/369

Jas-39C Czech Air Force 9235

F/A-18C Finnish Air Force HN-434

2013 05 26 Cold War Jets Open Day

It had been nine years since I last visited an open day at the Cold War Jets collection. They restored some of the aircraft already in their collection or they received new exhibitions. So it was then time to pay them another visited. These events always deliver a different experience to an airshow, and I’m not referring to the aircraft staying on the ground when I say that. It has always been a relaxed affair with a real ‘club event’ feeling to it. At previous events it hasn’t been unusual for timings and even the running order to change as the day went along.
My first port of call was the VC10 packed up on the hard-standing closes to the entrance. The aircraft was one of many that had been flown into Bruntingthorpe after being withdrawn from service by the RAF. Unlike the others, this particular example won’t be stripped for parts. The Cold War Jets collection is in the process of acquiring it for taxi runs in future events.
As I walked down to the crowdline, located close to the side of the runway, I noticed things had changed since my last visit. The crowdline, rather than stopping at the first taxiway, had been extended beyond the taxiway and into the next section of grass. A
The event started on time with a pair of Jet Provosts. Like previous events, the aircraft slowly taxied down the far side of the runway and then performed a 180 degree turn to taxi back to the ‘start line’, giving the crowd plenty of chances to get a good look, and photos, of the aircraft from both sides. Once they have completed their parade they line up again and then perform the fast taxi run down the one mile runway before slowly taxing back again.
Running this time were the Jet Provosts, Buccaneer, Lightning (the second Lightning had only recently finished an overhaul, but without enough time to complete testing to make it), Canberra, Comet, Nimrod, Hunter, Victor, Iskra and Delphin. The Iskra teamed up with the Delphin which was making its first run. For this reason, the pair appeared twice in the day. The entire operation looked very slick and the amount of thought that had gone into the day was apparent when it was announced that the Nimrod MR2 had been given an earlier running slot to allow it to be repositioned back on the public side of the airfield so that visitors would have a chance to have a look inside.
Thankfully the winds were within limits to allow a BBMF Spitfire to put in a couple passes on its way back to RAF Coningsby and this wasn’t the only flying aircraft for the event. A surprise visit by a Jet Provost Mk 52 in the form of G-PROV from Swords Aviation landed after a quick flypast and departed after the event. This particular Jet Provost is an interesting aircraft as it was one of only a few JPs that were armed, but not classed as a Strikemaster! The aircraft spent much of its life serving in the South Yemen Air Force, coded 104, and since 2006 has been back in those colours.