Air Power Zeltweg AB,  25 June 2005

Since I've never been to the Airshow at Zeltweg AB and the Austrian Drakens are about to retire from active duty I decided to go to Air Power 2005. On the evening of Friday the 24th me and some friends went to Austria by touring car. A quick look on the weather forecast learned that it should be a warm and sunny day on the 25th.

Around 7 o'clock in the morning we arrived at Zeltweg AB. The weather however was not as good as we hoped for. The sun was still behind a thin layer of clouds and there was still a lot of haze. Around 10 o'clock the weather was perfect, hardly any clouds and a nice temperature. Unfortunately the weather deteriorated very quickly in the afternoon, which resulted in some very heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Because of the heavy thunderstorms the show and the Red Bull Air Races were delayed by almost two hours. Therefore the organisation decided to cancel the helicopter air power display and delayed some of the displays. 

The main reason for me to go all the way to Austria was the helicopter air power  display with the participation of multiple Blackhawks, OH-58s, AB.206s and Alouettes and the display of the six Drakens. Unfortunately the six Draken performed their display during the heavy rain showers when we were taking shelter underneath the wing of a J-29 Tunnan. So for me the show was extremely disappointing after all. Anyway......what a way to say good bye to the mighty Saab Draken. Despite all this, I hope you will enjoy watching the shots taken at Air Power 2005.                                          (Click here for a full log)