Arrivals & Rehearsals,  18 June 2009

Today is the main arrival day of the Luchtmachtdagen 2009 at Volkel AB. As I had to work an evening shift at Eindhoven Tower later that day I wasn't able to visit the spotters area today. At the end this didn't matter at all, as I was able to visit the area of the "Onze Luchtmacht" organization. From this area you have a nice view on the runway.

I arrived at Volkel AB around 10 o'clock in the morning and the first aircraft already arrived a few minutes later, the USAF C-17. This mighty cargo bird was follow by two Belgian F-16s and two very nice A-10s from Spangdahlem AB.

Besides the arrivals also some rehearsals were done. There was one rehearsal which really made my day, the solo display of the Spanish Air Force Hornet. Especially the high speed pass was very impressive, as the Hornet almost reached the speed of sound. Some other highlights of today were the arrivals of the Polish AF MiG-29, the Slovak Albatross, and the Greek Block 52 F-16D.

For the arrival of the Polish MiG-29 the Dutch F-16 solo display jet took off to welcome and escort the MiG to Volkel AB. After a holding hands approach together with the MiG the nice orange F-16 made a very impressive banking low approach which resulted in some very nice shots.

Today we also saw a first time visit of a military Moroccan aircraft on Volkel soil. The CN-235 arrived as support aircraft for the Royal Moroccan Air Force demonstration team Marche Verte, which arrived later today.

In between the arrivals the Turkish Stars also performed their rehearsal. As the weather was pretty good during the day this also resulted in some very nice photo opportunities. After the arrival of the USAF KC-135 from RAF Mildenhall, the Polish 295 and some nice helicopters it was time for me to leave Volkel AB and drive towards Eindhoven AB for my evening shift.

Thanks goes out to Mike, Niels and Hans for again a very nice day together!!