Arrivals & Rehearsals,  16/17 June 2004

As said before, on Wednesday the 16th the first aircraft arrived for the opendays at Volkel AB. I had to work all day at the local control bunker so was able to witness every single arrival from close by.

The first day started with the departure of fifteen F-16s to Eindhoven AB. From Eindhoven AB they will participate in the Airpower Display  during the opendays this weekend. Besides the arrival of the Italian aerobatic team Frecce Tricolori only two foreign aircraft arrived. One of them was a special painted Tornado of the German Navy.

The big arrival day was Thursday, when almost fifty foreign aircraft arrived to participate in both the static display and the flying display. Some of the highlights of today were the arrivals of the Bulgarian An-30 and of course the arrival of no less than ten Swiss PC-7s. The real highlights for today were the four Sea Harriers of the Royal Navy, two two-seat versions and two single seaters of which one whore a special blue paint scheme.