In June 2013 I had the pleasure to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, held at Volkel airbase. This was my second visit to the Netherlands following my first visit to Leeuwarden air base in September 2011 for my first Luchtmachtdagen. As in 2011, the 2013 edition did not disappoint and the anniversary helped attract various star participants to the show, mainly in the form of Hellenic Air Force A-7 Corsairs, a Slovak an-26, and an Estonian An-2, to name a few.
As this was an anniversary celebration, the history of the Royal Netherlands Air Force took centre stage during both show days, with the lunchtime segment on both days consisting in a number of formation displays by warbirds and transport aircraft that have been operated over the years by the Dutch Air Force.
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Besides the historic segment of the show, as usual, the dutch put on an amazing show by means of its airpower demo in which practically all elements of the air force participate to create a war/conflict scenario that portrays to the public how the dutch air force responds to threats and upcoming conflicts within the local and global scenario. Prior to the demo, the Dutch also showcased their “Orange Lion” F-16 demo team as well as the Apache Demo team, two displays with plenty of dynamic and flares. This year’s demo comprised 10 F-16s (one with an AZ tail after recently returning from Arizona), a KDC-10, C-130H-30, 2 AH-64Ds and 2 CH-47Ds. The sequence involved 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. where the 10 F-16s performed a top side pass in close formation with a KLM Boeing 737 that had on board passengers (children) suffering with chronic illnesses, giving them an experience they will never forget.
(Include pictures of the Air Power Demo, the orange lion and the Apache demo team).
As expected, a wide range of countries contributed to help make the anniversary a special one, with several European countries sending multiple aircraft to the show. The countries that sent most aircraft included Germany, which sent two Eurofighter Typhoons as well as the mighty F-4 Phantom, that was going to be retired from German Air Force service 10 days later, and the French who contributed with two rafales, as well as Ramex Delta and Patrouille de France! Quite a strong support from the French. Strong support was also noted from the Polish Air Force, that sent a casa 295 transport aircraft and the Polish Air Force Su-22 Demo Team for the flying display and the Czech Air Force that sent their SAAB Gripen Demo together with an Mi-35 sporting tiger colours.
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My personal highlights included 2 Greek Air Force A-7 Corsairs, a long way from home and nearly on the brink of retirement. One of the two sported a special livery that I had only seen on pictures and I was so glad when I discovered it in the static park on Friday morning of the show. Another favourite of mine included the Slovak An-26 and the Estonian An-2, both very rare transport aircraft that I had never seen before and also edging towards retirement. Furthermore, I also was chuffed by the Germans who sent their “first in last out” F-4F Phantom II, only two weeks before the retirement of the type in German service. Its arrival on Friday morning was classic: loud and smoky! The static wasn’t just limited to fast jets, a myriad of Dutch and foreign transports were also on display ranging from a Romanian C-27J to a Slovakian AN-26 and from a NATO E-3A and a Hungarian operated NATO C-17A.
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With regards to the flying display, besides the airpower demo, my absolute highlights included the dynamic displays by the French Air Force Ramex Delta and the Polish Su-22 fitter demo. This was my first time seeing both demos and boy what a flying display they performed! Other highlights included the SAAB Viggen from the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight and the Danish Air Force C-130J-30, that put on a rare display with lots of flares towards the end of the display! An impressive sight indeed. Another interesting participant was also the PZL Lim-2 (local produced Mig-15) from Poland that performed in the flying display.
The flying display was complemented with not less than four major European display teams, including the Red Arrows, the Patrouille Suisse, the Patrouille de France and Frecce Tricolori. Other fast jet solo displays included the Belgian Air Force F-16 and Soloturk, the Czech Air Force Gripen Demo and the Finnish Hornet.
(Include images of the flying display teams)
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, despite the weather and light conditions that did not make photography easy.
To conclude, this show was one of the best in Europe in 2013, on the same level with greater events including Zeltweg, Radom and Keckskemet, and definitely had more quality for the aviation enthusiast than RIAT 2013. The static show was of very high level and saw a wide variety of Air Forces and Aircraft types, such as the Greek Corsair IIs, Finnish PC-12s and lots of aircraft from the East of Europe of which the Estonian An-2 and the Slovak Air Force An-26 were absolute highlights.
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