2026 Sanicole Airshow

The Sanicole airshow in Hechtel-Eksel, Belgium is a staple in my schedule. It is so close to home, I consider it to be next-door. And they run a tight ship. One of the better organized airshows in Europe. I missed last year’s show ‘cause I was out of town. I was at the Joint Base Andrews airshow that weekend. But this year, I blocked the weekend in my calendar so I would not miss it.

Saturday’s evening display was a ball! We got a flying display of a P-38 and a Me-262 from the WWII era. And–oh boy–a MiG-17 and a F-86 from the Vietnam War era… Loved seeing those warbirds.

At dusk, acts with lights and pyrotechnics to over the skies over the airfield. It is quite special to see airplanes shoot fireworks from their wings. Totally awesome. Right up to the point when one of the acts set fire to the bush next to the airfield. Local fire department and the firefighters of Kleine Brogel AB swooped in and ended the party.

Sunday was a whole other ballgame. If it really would have been a ballgame, they would have called a rain delay. The cloud base was so low you couldn’t see any of the planes fly. And it was raining so hard from time to time, it would have been foolish to even get your camera out of your bag. I just left the airfield after standing in a downpour for 45 minutes.

There was one other plane that caught my attention: the Panavia Tornado. The Royal Air Force has taken it out of service a couple of years ago. The German Air Force has only a handful in service. I saw it often at airshows in the 1980’s. And then it dropped of the grid. Great to see it once more at Sanicole. It might have been the last time, who knows.