65 years of the Belgian Air Force,  35 years service of the venerable Seaking and 40 years service of the loyal Alouette III, these  were the guidelines of the international airshow held at Koksijde at the beginning of the summer holidays.  It was certainly one of the most awaited shows by many aviation lovers and the announced program was one of the most attractive this season. Indeed, no fewer than eight military aerobatic teams and one civilian were present at the coast. All of them are worldwide renowned for their skills.. Should we still talk about the fame and glory of the USAF Thunderbirds,  the Red Arrows from Great Britain or the Patrouille de France? Do we need to explain what the Turkish Stars or the Polish Isky team are?  I do not think so. However, the real exotic note to delight the crowd of aviation enthousiasts at the Koksijde airshow were undoubtedly the Saudi Arabian Saudi Hawks team. Koksijde was certainly a unique opportunity to see them in action and we guess that this will not happen again soon. In addition to all present teams, including our national Red Devils, the main theme was the 65 year history of the Belgian Air Force which took its roots in the Royal Air Force and was declared as an independent force in October 1946. The program gave us the possibility to admire old glories
who once wore the black, yellow and red colors of  Belgium. Note the SV4, Harvard, Fouga Magister, Dragon Rapide, DC-3 Dakota and of course a Spitfire Mk IX, that brought us back in  time and allowed us to see  the Belgian Air Force as it was in the past. Other demonstrations were also on the list of events for example a Swiss Air Force F/A-18, that gave a powerful demonstration, in short, great art! The organizers had a great idea by programming the airshow on Wednesday between 13:00 and 22:00... This dusk airshow allowed to admire a glider with fireworks and our national "Mitch" with his faithful "Vortex" offering his demonstration at sunset underlining the lines of his plane and making the use of flares really impressive and magical.

The airshow was officially opened during a ceremony held in Koksijde town in the presence of city authorities and the Belgian Air Force authorities. At this opening ceremony a new book was presented about the 65 years of the jewel of our military history. The mayor of Koksijde was honored to receive the first copy out of
the hands of General Claude Van De Voorde . This official moment was followed by an open-air concert given by the Belgian Air Force orchestra, a fly by,
and as finale of the concert, a salute above the city performed by one of the guardian angels (Seaking) of Koksijde airbase.

In short it was a very successful airshow and we can say that the 70,000 visitors of the event surely agreed that Koksijde airbase was the place to be at the beginning of July.