moments before take-off
Open Dagen 2006 - Leeuwarden
Airbase
Text : Marc Arys - S.B.A.P.© - (and the Dutch press information service)
On June 16 and 17, 2006 Leeuwarden airbase was home of the Open Dagen 2006 of the Koninklijke Luchtmacht or Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF).
Leeuwarden Air Base, situated in the
northern part (Friesland) of the Netherlands, was officialy opened in June 1938
with a grass airstrip from 800 x 800 meter. Sadly the war started soon after and
the airfield was rendered inoperable by Dutch military. After the capitulation
of the Netherlands, Leeuwarden was, as were plenty of Dutch airfields,
used by the German Luftwaffe.
One German officer could have said : "Aus diesem Fussballfeldchen werden wir
mal einen richtigen Flugplatz machen" - out of this little football-ground
we will grow a sound airfield... and so it was to be.
Leeuwarden became one of the most important operational bases in the Netherlands.
After the war, Leeuwarden airbase saw the arrival of the Gloster Meteor followed by the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter and finally in 1979 the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.
In 1992 the 323Sq was renamed the TACTESS - Tactische Training, Evaluatie en Standaardisatie Squadron (Squadron for tactical training, evaluation and standardisation) of the Koninklijke Luchtmacht.
Besides serving as homebase for the integrated exercise 'Frisian Flag', Leeuwarden serves also as a testbase for new weaponsystems, i.e. de MLU (midlife update), the targeting pods and the F-16 night vision goggles. As such, the twinseat F-16BM 'Jolly Jumper' resides since 1999 on the base with the Kantoor Testvliegen - Flight Testing Bureau.
In 1977 Leeuwarden airbase became the home too of the Search and Rescue 303 Squadron wich flies the Agusta AB-412 SP since 1994.
During the latest airshow a great
variety of aircraft and helicopters, Dutch and foreign, were present and could
be seen in the static area as well as during the flight demonstrations with some
strong and beautiful flying displays. Just to summarize some : Christian
Moullec and his geese ; the Spanisch EF-18A Hornet ; the Belgian F-16 ; the
RNLAF F-16 , PC-7, AB-412 and CH-47 Chinook; the Czech Mi-24 ; the USAF
F-15 Strike Eagle : not to forget the simulated airfield attack involving eight
RNLAF F-16 and some pyrotechnics effects ended by a simulated air-air refueling
with a KDC-10 and one F-16.
The simulated airfield attack launch was a temporarely hampered by a little
deer taking the runway and surrounding grassfield as its own 'display' area, but
after a few minutes chose wisely to go back to its 'wooded' habitat.
Besides these individual items the public could also witness the
professionalism and mastery of various teams :
| Hunter Formation | Asas de Portugal |
Midnight Hawks - their name taken from the fact that much of their display flights are flown at midnight in Finland |
| Royal Jordanian Falcons | The Red Arrows | La Patrouille de France |
| La Patrouille Suisse | Fokker Four | The Heritage Flight |
| 2Excel | ||
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.... and last but not least
after 14 years since their previous visit to Europe the United States Navy Blue Angels |
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As June 2006 saw the 60th anniversary of the US Navy Blue Angels, a special tribute flight took place on Friday June 16, 2006 including the Red Arrows and the Blue Angels flying together in one formation (see our photoreport pages).
On Friday June 16, 2006 Blue Angel #5 encountered a little problem when the right main tire blew on take-off. The aircraft circled the airfield and made an arrested landing. The pilot was rushed to the spare aircraft # 7 and then took off to rejoin the rest of the team and perform a flawless display. Lcdr Ted Steelman explained later on that his speed was already to high, nearing rotation velocity, for a safe roll out on the runway So he elected to take-off after wich he made his succesful arrested landing.
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You can see smoke trailing from the
right main tire, moments before take-off |
Perfect arrested landing |
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| Lcdr. Ted Steelman taking of in the spare aircraft #7 | |
The members of S.B.A.P. witnessed all of these flying
beauties and more than words they
bring you a fabulous photoreport on this event. The photographs, taken by Serge
& Marc, are depicted by chapter and are presented in a mix of pictures shot on Friday and Saturday.
You will also notice that the weather on Friday was not as splendid as on
Saturday. This is clearly visible in the pictures. These were not altered nor
digitally improved, as to render the natural environment in wich the pilots had
to fly !
We would like to thank all the people of the 'Staf Voorlichting Vliegbasis Leeuwarden' in general and Major SIKKENS and his staff in particular as well as Major VAN HELVERT, RNLAF and Adjt. Chef Peter DEWAEL, Belgian Air Component for their dedication, care and obligingness to the members of S.B.A.P. regarding this event.