Category:Aviation
The Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye is a remarkable airplane. It is 17.6m long and has a wingspan of 24.6m. Its a carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning aircraft with a takeoff weight 26 tons. Try to park that on a 330m by 75m deck of an aircraft carrier at about a 100knots.
Me and my best buddy spent several days at Pensacola NAS and the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL when we visited it back in 2014. I thought the Hawkeye was just the coolest aircraft. The 1st day, I spent quite a bit of time photographing it. I could resist running my hand along the fuselage and engines. The next couple of days, I would first go see the Hawkeye before we did anything else. And every time, I would run my hand along the fuselage. Hence the phrase hug a Hawkeye was coined.
When I saw that a E-2C Hawkeye from the French Navy was on the flight schedule for the 2021 Sanicole Airshow, I was super excited. And even though I did get to hug that Hawkeye, it was one of the high lights of the show for me.
Nothing says airshow like the demonstration of the RAF Red Arrows. I always, always love their routine. They make my airshow experience complete. Their bright red BAE Systems Hawk T1 is a sight for sore eyes. I was thrilled to see they were coming to the 2021 Sanicole Airshow.
It wouldn’t be a Red Arrows demonstration without the spectacular crossing passes of the synchro pair. And I can’t resist trying to get a good shot of them.
I have seen the Red Arrows quite a bit of the years. And I have always tried to get those close up shots. That’s just one part of their show though. The big formations and the smoke is just as cool to see. I mean: how cool is it when they draw that big blue arch across the sky to thank healthcare workers for all their hard work. And how about that big heart the synchro pair does? I had planned to focus more on wider shots of the formation. I think I have a few nice ones.
#PHOONFRIDAY is a thing on Twitter and Instagram. I see a lot of aviation photographers posting their Typhoon shots on Friday. And after this year’s Sanicole Airshow, I’ll join the fun.
The Italian Air Force dispatched their Typhoon demo to Kleine Brogel AB and Sanicole Airshow for 3 days of demonstrations. It was especially cool to see the plane up close when it taxied a long the runway at the spotters day on Saturday.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a fighter of the 4th generation designed by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo. It is primarily used by the air forces of Germany, the UK, Italy and Spain. For a while it was a contender to replace the F-16’s of the Belgian Air Force.
The 2021 airshow season will be quite short and still full of uncertainties and complications due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, pretty much every airshow in Europe got cancelled. And this year is still uncertain. But I got to go to Florennes AB for their spottersday. The spottersday replaced the yearly Belgian Air Force Days that got cancelled due to COVID-19.
2021 will be the last year of Sr Cpt Stefan Darte callsign Vador as a demo pilot of the Belgian Air Force. He will be flying his F-16 Dark Falcon one last year to represent Belgium and the Belgian Air Force around the world.
It was a rather gloomy day when I was at Florennes AB. That usually is no recipe for good photos. But it is does create the possibility of vapor trails and vapor cones. Sorta likes this…
Before Vador started his solo display, he joined a Supermarine Spitfire mk.XVI for an historic commemoration flight. A remarkable display where the Dark Falcon is flying close to stall speed and the Spitfire at Vmax.
I am looking forward to meeting Vador again at the Sanicole airshow in September.
The Belgian Air Force is replacing their almost 50 year old Lockheed C-130’s with new Airbus A400M transport planes. The 1st few planes have already been delivered. Belgium has ordered 7 A400M’s. As you read this, the 1st few have been delivered.
The Luxembourg Armed Force also ordered an A400M which will be operated by the 15th Wing Air Transport of the Belgian Air Force under a binational agreement. That means that the transporter will be based at Melsbroek AB in Belgium. Both the Belgian Air Force and the Luxembourg Armed Force can use the plane.
We got a closer look at the CT-01 of the Luxembourg Armed Force at the spottersday of the 2W TAC at Florennes AB.
The Belgian Air Force is saying goodbye to these beautiful old ladies: we are replacing our trusty Lockheed C-130 Hercules with brand spanking new Airbus A400M Atlas planes. After almost 50 years of service–the 1st C-130 came into service in early 1970’s–it is time for the C-130 to retire.
The demo at the 2021 spottersday at Florennes AB may have been my last chance to see one of these birds up close in flight. I have grown up with seeing them everywhere. Not just at airshows, but also in daily operations. One of the coolest memories about the C-130 I have, is their demo of dropping cargo at low level in full flight. It was really spectacular to see them open up the cargo door at back, decent to almost on the deck and drop bags of supplies. Back in in the days, they used that technique to distribute food and supplies on humanitarian missions.
The President of the U.S.A. paid a visit to Belgium to attend a NATO summit. And that usually creates a little buzz among aviation geeks because that means Air Force One will be in town. I’ve seen Air Force One a couple of times before but I never had a chance to photograph it.
I had a business meeting in the Brussels area today. And I had carefully planned the meeting so it would end right around the time President Biden would be leaving for Geneva. So I packed my photo gear and found me a spot at Brussels airport after my meeting was finished. Since I didn’t know from which runway Air Force One would take off, I choose a spot near the Skeyes control center to cover both sides of the Brussels airport.
I was fortunate: I captured a decent pic of Air Force One skipping of the trees as it left the airport.
This plane is actually a Boeing VC-25, the military version of a Boeing 747 and only 2 of this type are in service. Did you know that the plane only carries the call sign Air Force One when the US President is on board?
Shortly after Air Force One took the skies and headed for Geneva, a US Air Force C-32A took off. I believe that is the plane that took the 1st Lady of the U.S.A. back home. I’ve read somewhere she would not be joining the President at his meeting in Geneva. It took US Secretary of State Antony Blinken back to home to Washington D.C.
I am used to the sound of military jets flying over the house. Living close to the Air Bases of Volkel, Gilze-Rijen and Kleine Brogel, there are F-16’s in the skies quite often. But when I hear, the sound of multiple jets coming and going my aviation brain is automatically put in a state of alert. Some of the jet noise did not sound familiar so I decide to go and have a look outside. As I step out on to the back porch, I gasp and run back inside to grab my camera.
“There is a Lightning in the sky! There is a Lighting in the sky!” As I grab my camera, I still can’t beleive it, but there really is a F-35 Lightning II of the Royal Dutch Air Force in the sky. A very rare sight in the skies over Belgium and the Netherlands. There really was a Lightning in the sky and it was doing flyby’s over my home.
On top of that, I saw a couple of Vipers hiding in the tree line. First 1, then 2, then even more F-16 Fighting Falcon of the Belgian Air Force appeared over the treeline behind my house. Not in the regular combat formation–about 2km apart–but much closer. I knew something was up.
I keep watching and in true Top Gun style, I exclaim: “Holy sh*t! It’s Vador!” as I see the Dark Falcon skipping over the trees too. In case you don’t know: Vador is the 2020 F-16 demo pilot for the Belgian Air Force. His F-16 is nicknamed Dark Falcon.
I know that these aren’t the greatest pics but you can just about make out the 2020 paint scheme of the Dark Falcon.
He was part of a 12 ship formation performing a flyby at Kleine Brogel Air Base with the Dutch F-35 and an Airbus A330-200 MRTT as a farewell to the commander of the Belgian Air Force I learned later.
The A330-200 MRTT of the Royal Dutch Air Force is rare sight in the skies over Belgium. Stationed at Eindhoven Air Base, these A330-200 MRTT will serve as air-to-air refueling planes for NATO. I watched as a number of F-16 Fighting Falcon of the Belgium Air Force lined up with it for a formation flight.
Once a year the skies over the small airfield of Sanicole fills with the thunderous noise of airplanes of all shapes and sizes. Supported by their friends of BAF airbase Kleine Brogel they stage a great airshow on Friday and Sunday. And in most cases a spottersday on Saturday.
Obviously, there is displays by the components of the Belgian Air Force like the Red Devils–one of my personal favorites–and our F-16 solo display.
But you also get to see airplanes that you don’t get to see often in the skies over Belgium, like this Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet and Sukhoi Su-27. And one of a kind formations too.
Armed forces all over Europe are commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Europe. Our own Belgian Air Force his painted liberation stripes on F-16’s of 349 SQN and 350 SQN and a C-130. It is real nice to see those Fighting Falcons of 349 SQN and 350 SQN–2 squadrons that originate in the RAF–in liberation stripes.
We should never forget that we owe 75 years of peace, freedom and prosperity to the gallant men and women that fought in WWII. They were the soldiers on the beaches of Normandy and in the dessert of Africa, the nurses in shimmy little field hospitals, the sailors at Pearl Harbor and across the Pacific. And they were the pilots and bombers that manned Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress like Sally B on bombing raids over Germany.
And certainly don’t forget the little fighter buddies that escorted and protected the bombers en route to their bombing raids. The English build Supermarine Spitfire reigned the skies over Europe, and the North American P-51 Mustang definitely helped win the war in the Pacific theater.
But to me, the absolute highlight of the show was the flypast of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. It was the 1st time that this mix between an airplane and a helicopter visited a Belgian airshow. And I happen to think that it is an amazing airplane.
Sanicole airshow spans over 2 days. Since about 8 years they have a 2 hour show on Friday night next to their long running Sunday show. One of the coolest participants on Friday night, is Otto the Helicopter. His show is like New Year’s Eve and the 4th of July rolled into 1.
The air show of the Royal Dutch Air Force are always something to look forward to. Their Luchtmachtdagen are a perfect organization and usually have a great line up.
This year was particularly exciting as it was the 1st air show since the Dutch brought the F-35 into service. I had high hopes that they would display their newest birds. And I was not disappointed. Not only did they display their F-35, they also put together a fighter heritage flight with a Spitfire, an F-16 and the new F-35.
Here’s a little impression with the best of the rest:
