Kecskemet,
Hungary - 11/08/2007
The
first day of the 2007 Kecskemet
airshow saw us on the road
at 0600 from our hotel in
Budapest, approximately 100kms
away. We arrived at the petrol
station where press were asked
to register our vehicles just
after 0700. Already the queue
was quite lengthy.
Having
been issued with our vehicle
pass we were directed on to
the base and to parking. We
then had to work through our
personal registrations. We
were issued with badges and
asked to hand them in at the
end of the day (thus necessitating
the need for us to go through
the whole process again the
following morning).
Despite
the flying having already
commenced, we headed straight
to the press centre where
we hoped to have been provided
with a handout giving some
kind of idea as to the running
order for the event. There
wasn't anything, so we had
a light breakfast and made
our way out to the crowdline,
paying for a programme (in
Hungarian only) on our way.
We
knew there were two press
trailers for us to use and
we elected to go for the eastern
one of the two. It was positioned
a few metres behind a concrete
blast wall, and despite being
5' 10", I was unable
to get a clear shot of anything
on the taxiway without said
obstruction featuring in the
image. Still, it could've
been worse; The public had
a 1.8m high fence between
themselves and the action!
At
this stage the conditions
were hazy, but the sun was
at least trying to poke through
the murk. The first flying
activity we witnessed was
when the Red Bull DC-6 arrived,
accompanied by the special-schemed
Hungarian AF L-39ZO, the Aero
Vodochody L-159 in company
colours, and its Czech AF
brother.
The
show proper started with a
formation flypast by the Hungarian
AF. The first element saw
a Mil Mi-8 carrying the national
flag, together with a pair
of Mil Mi-24s. Closely behind
came a triumvirate of Yak-52s,
then an AN-26 flanked by a
pair of L-39ZOs. Shortly after
these came a further AN-26,
this time flanked by a pair
of MiG-29s, and finally bringing
up the rear were a quintet
of Gripens, including two
that had only been delivered
the week prior to the event
from the SAAB factory. Sadly,
by this stage the sky had
gone rather grey....
The
fixed wing elements (save
for the Yaks and AN-26s) having
broken and landed, the rotary
element came back through
with the Hinds taking part
in something of a fire fight
against targets on the ground.
Solo
performers on the rest of
the card included the Hungarian
AF L-39ZO, Slovakian AF L-39,
still sporting the colours
of the Biele Albatrosy, Aero
Vodochody's L-159, as well
as the Czech example, Gripens
from Hungary, Czech Republic
and Sweden, F-16 demos from
Netherlands and Belgium, the
home team's MiG-29, Red Bull's
AH-1, BO105 and DC-6, Slovakian
AF's Hind, as well as aerobatic
routines from Peter Besenyei
and Veres Zoltan.
The
highlights for many though
were the extremely rare, at
least in western Europe, performances
from the Serbian Super Galeb
and Orao aircraft, the latter
inparticular impressing.
Perhaps
the best reception of the
day was reserved for the Spanish
AF Hornet routine, prompting
clapping and cheers as the
aircraft taxied back past
the masses.
Several
display teams were also in
evidence, the Galeb Team,
Turkish Stars, Croatian Wings
of Storm, as well as the Danish
Baby Blues and the Patrouille
de France.
The
"OH MY GOD" moment
of the day went, undoubtedly,
to the Malev 737 who performed
an amazing low pass!
The
verdict? Fantastic line-up
let down by the weather. Fingers
crossed the following day
would be more like it!
My
sincere thanks go to Captain
Gyula HARNÓCZ, PIO, for his
assistance in arranging the
additional access, and to
Martin and Kirstin Keen of
Cottesmore
Aviation Group for doing
all the groundwork.
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