In October 2016, I had the pleasure to visit two very interesting air bases in Poland, namely Swidwin air base, home to the Su-22 fitter fleet of the Polish Air Force and Malbork air base, home to several Mig-29s of the Polish Air Force.
Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate throughout these base visits and this resulted in no flying activities for me to photograph. However, I had the opportunity to visit the hangars as well as maintenance works being carried out on polish fitters in the new two tone grey livery, which was equally amazing.
The first day, I visited Malbork air base. At first, the person responsible for giving us a the tour of the facility seemed reluctant to let us see up close the mig-29s parked in their respective hangars, so by the time he went to get further approval from his superiors, we were allowed to take pictures of the historic collection of Malbork airbase, made up of past and present aircraft of the polish air force inventory.
Once we got clearance to take pictures of the Mig-29s, to our surprise the polish air force decided that in order to make up for the lack of flying, they would tow outside of the hangars a Mig-29 so that we could take pictures from any angle imaginable and get up close with the jet. Following an endless amount of pictures, both of the towed Mig-29 and the rest of the mig-29s resting in the hangars, we decided to call it a day, hopefully for a more productivity the following day.
The following day, we reported early at the front gates of Swidwin air base, only to discover that doe to the weather forecast, there would be no flying again on this day. Fortunately, the hosts were much more cooperative and we spent the day taking photographs of the various Su-22s parked in the hangars and on the flight line. Towards the end of the day, we were also treated to use the Su-22 simulator as well as take pictures of a Polish Air Force W-3 Sokol helicopter that was performing some training at Swidwin air base.
Despite the bad weather, it was a very enjoyable visit to two air bases that are seldom visited by aviation enthusiasts. I would personally like to thank the Polish Air Force for giving us this great opportunity to visit two of the most advanced and interesting air bases in the country.
alistairzammitphotography.com 