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.
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.
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| EF2000 German Air Force 30+81 |
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| F-104G Netherlands Air Force D-8114 |
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| L-39CM Slovak Air Force 5301 |
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| TA-7C Hellenic Air Force 156753 |
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| AB204B Dutch Navy 227/PH-UEY |
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| NH.90NFH Netherlands Air Force N-227 |
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| Lynx Mk88A German Navy 83+20 |
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| Mi-24V Czech Air Force 7353 |
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| F-16AM Portuguese Air Force 15133 |
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| L-39C Estonian Air Force 10 |
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| Sk60E Swedish Historic Flight SE-DXG |
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| An-26 Slovakian Air Force 2506 |
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| C-27J Romanian Air Force 2703 |
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| An-2 Estonian Air Force 41yl |
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| F-4F German Air Force 37+01 |
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| F-4F German Air Force 37+01 |
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| F-4F German Air Force 37+01 |
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| F-4F German Air Force 37+01 |
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| F-4F German Air Force 37+01 |
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| C-130H Belgian Air Force CH-04 |
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| AJS37 Swedish Historic Flight SE-DXN |
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| AJS37 Swedish Historic Flight SE-DXN |
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| AJS37 Swedish Historic Flight SE-DXN |
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| Mirage 2000N French Air Force 125-AG/350, 125-AG/369 |
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| Mirage 2000N French Air Force 125-AJ/350, 125-AG/369 |
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| Meteor T7 Aviation Heritage Ltd. G-BWMF |
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| PC-7 Netherlands Air Force L-01, L-03, L-07, L-12 |
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| F-16BM Netherlands Air Force J-368 |
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| F-16AM Netherlands Air Force J-003, J-005 |
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| 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 |
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| C-130H-30 Netherlands Air Force G-275 |
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| F-16AM Netherlands Air Force J-196 |
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| F-16AM Netherlands Air Force J-643 |
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| Su-22M-4 Polish Air Force 8309, 3920 |
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| Su-22M-4 Polish Air Force 8309, 3920 |
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| Su-22M-4 Polish Air Force 8309 |
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| C-47A Battle of Britian Memorial Flight ZA947 |
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| PC-7 Austrian Air Force 3H-FG |
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| C-130J-30 Danish Air Force B-358 |
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| C-130J-30 Danish Air Force B-358 |
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| Hawk T1 Royal Air Force Red Arrows |
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| AH-64D Netherlands Air Force Q-17 |
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| AH-64D Netherlands Air Force Q-17 |
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| F-16AM Netherlands Air Force J-015 |
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| F-16AM Netherlands Air Force J-015 |
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| C-130H-30 Netherlands Air Force G-275 |
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| KDC-10 Netherlands Air Force T-235 |
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| F/A-18C Finnish Air Force HN-452 |
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| MB.339A Italian Air Force Frecce Tricolori |
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| Jas-39C Czech Air Force 9235 |
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| F-5E Swiss Air Force Patrouille Suisse |
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