Beauvechain
air day, or BaB Day, is a small local event at the base itself, with
the primary aim of raising awareness of the base's activities among
local residents and especially young people as part of defence
recruitment campaigns. The last similar event took place in April
2019 shortly before the health crisis.
This year, the sun shunned the event and it were the grey clouds, a
strong cold wind and a few drops of rain that took possession of the
base.
But let's not hide the fact that for the last two years, the most
frustrated aviation enthusiasts and photographers had made an
appointment on April 6th to come and picture military equipment and
aircraft.
As this was a
purely local event, it was not to be confused with an international
airshow, which is why the static display was limited to aircraft in
service on the base, except for the presence of an Embraer Xingu of
the French Navy.
It was the same for the very limited dynamic presentations, with a
few passages of the future F-16 demonstration pilot, which could not
give us a full demonstration, as his program had not been validated
yet.
The Agusta A109 also flew a limited demonstration, but due to the
weather conditions this time and finally the "Red Devils"
who gave two demonstrations throughout the day with the n°4, fully
raging and in yellow, his plane still being painted.
Fans were also able to see a few passes of the Airbus Military A400M
CT-01 with Luxembourg markings as well as an Airbus A330 MRTT,
unfortunately resulting in some grey on grey shots.
The highlight was certainly the "Rotary Wing Role Demo"
allowing the visitors to see the A109 and NH-90 of the 1st Wing in
action in a crisis scenario, giving an idea of their various
missions. This part of the show was very dynamic and I think the
public appreciated it.
This open day will unfortunately be one of the only major events
organised by the Air Force this year, apart from the spotters day at
Kleine Brogel on the sidelines of the Sanicole Airshow.
No BAF Days,
no international airshow or other events are on the agenda. But if
this changes, it will certainly be appreciated. |
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A
small open door with recruitment as background |
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Meet
the survival team
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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(Serge
Van Heertum©) |
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Material
and equipment
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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The
future, 4 MQ-9 SkyGuardian drones built by General Atomics
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Loving
to fly does not prevent loving beautiful bodywork
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Royal
Belgian Air Cadets with a Grob G-103A Twin II Acro
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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30
years of service, a political scandal and still attractive to
visitors
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Rotary
wings and tactical Transport
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Only
9 year of duty and already obsolete for the authorities...
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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The
offensive and defensive capabilities of the Belgian Caiman, the FN
M3M machine gun (.50 cal)
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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You
just have to follow the blue light
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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A
single and only foreign visitor from French Navy
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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We
all have a bench, a tree and a Piper....
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Controllers
on duty
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Normal
mission of the day
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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An
open door need organisation and material
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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The
air demonstrations |
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The
Royal Air Cadets showing the Piper tractor and the glider
capabilities
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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The
"Red Devils" team with the number 4 still in yellow
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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(Serge
Van Heertum©) |
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The
A109BA " Razzle Blade" solo display, bad weather demo, but
flares festival
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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(Serge
Van Heertum©) |
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The
new transport aircraft, the Airbus Military A400M "Atlas"
making couple of passes and that above the "Mighty
Hercures" remains (CH-08)
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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(Serge
Van Heertum©) |
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Some
passes from the F-16AM solo display, "Vrieske" is waiting
the authorities allowance to show the full extent of his Fighting
Falcon expertise
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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1
Wing Rotary Role Demonstration
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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The
area is secured by an armed Agusta
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Troops
arrives
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Fast
roping
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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The
last one and time to clear the danger zone
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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TTH
for Tactical Transport Helicopter
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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The
enemy appears
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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The
fire exchange is quite hard
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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A
man is hit by enemy fire
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Meanwhile
the enemy vehicle is destroyed
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Arrival
of the Medevac Agusta
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Coming
for the wounded soldier
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Landing
as short as possible near the injured but under the supervision of
the troops
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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The
evacuation stretcher
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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The
injured is secured
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Boarding
in any few seconds
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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And
take off heading the shortest possible medical antenna
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Recuperation
of the soldiers
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Landing
under loadmaster supervision
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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The
shortest possible ground time
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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(Serge
Van Heertum©) |
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(Serge
Van Heertum©) |
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Delivery
of a 120mm mortar hide
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Clearance
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Preparing
the hide for sling recovery
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Caiman
pair for the general setbacks
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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The
first Caiman will recover the troops after the mortar evacuation
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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An
impressive task the attachment under sling!
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Impressive
control of the machine by the pilot
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Ready...
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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...and
lifyt off
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Troops
on board
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Everybody
back in a secured area
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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Prancing
like a wild horse
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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(Serge
Van Heertum©) |
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(Serge
Van Heertum©) |
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To
conclude a couple of fly passes by an Airbus Military A330 MRTT from
the The "MRTT Multinational Fleet" (MMF) bades at
Eindhoven Airbase
(Serge Van Heertum©) |
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