Open Door 15th Wing Belgian Air Force

The 15th Wing Air Transport of the Belgian Air Force turns 75 this year. And they’ve celebrated their anniversary with an open door. They’re based at Melsbroek Air Base. That is basically the north east corner of Brussels airport. So next time you catch a flight to your holiday destination, walk down to the end of the A pier. You may actually see some of their A400M transporters on the tarmac.

That right, the 15th Wing Air Transport currently operates 7 Airbus A400M Atlas aircraft, amongst others. We said goodbye to the might Herc a couple of years ago. All our C-130’s have now been replaced by brand-spanking-new A400M’s. And this was one of the 1st opportunities the public had to meet those new A400M’s.

Airbus A400M of 15th Wing Air Transport Belgian Air Force

The 15th Wing saw actions in the days before the open door. Just before their open door weekend, they aided in the repatriation of Olivier Vandecasteele after his imprisonment in Iran. This A400M of the 15th Wing met Mr. Vandecasteele in Oman and brought him home.

Melsbroek Air Base is also the home of the air support group of the Belgian Police. Since 1997, they are equipped with MD Helicopters (formerly a division of McDonnell Douglas) MD900 Explorer and MD902 Explorer. The MD900 and the MD902 are so called notar helicopters. The aircraft does not have a tail rotor but instead uses the airflow from the engines’ exhaust to stabalize the aircraft.

Belgian Police uses their helicopters for al sorts of activities ranging form surveillance over transporting their special forces to assisting the fire department with water drops. It was very spectacular to see them demonstrate how the aircraft is used to drop the special forces and their attack dog to arrest suspected criminals.

In the week after the open door weekend, an MD902 of the Federal Police assisted the fire departments to put out a fire at the Hoge Venen National Park.