With COVID restrictions affecting the Global aviation industry negatively at unprecedented levels the airport of Las Palmas on Gran Canaria is a mere shadow of the usual hive of activity it normally experiences from the holidaymakers seeking sun and sangria on the Canary Islands.
The quiet countryside of Gloucestershire was reverberating with the sound of jet noise in July, as the annual Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) got underway in spectacular style at RAF Fairford for the biggest military airshow in the world.
Deep into central Turkey, with the seasonal hot summer weather in full effect, Konya sits in the southern part of the Central Anatolia Region. A major city, being the seventh most populous in the country, this vibrant economic and industrial bastion in the massive Konya Plain, which gives the city its name, has another noise to add to the soundscape – jet noise.
The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) celebrating 100 years of the formation of the Royal Air Force (RAF) was held at RAF Fairford over 3-days from the 13th-15th July 2018, with a scheduled full flying display on each day, which for the first time included the Friday as a public day.
Exercise Iniochos takes place at Andravida air base, in the Northern Peloponnese region of Greece, and the 2018 edition was visited by Mark Rourke.
Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton held its annual International Air Day on Saturday 8th July 2017. Always one of the highlights of the European Air Show calendar it provides a good mix of fast jet, helicopter and propeller action to delight the enthusiast as well as the local service and civilian families. Bases operated by the Royal Navy are given ship names as well as a base name and RNAS Yeovilton is no exception. Also known as HMS Heron it is one of 2 active Fleet Air Arm flying stations in the United Kingdom, the other being RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk).
Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th September 2017 saw an airshow return to Lincolnshire, though at a different venue to the last one at RAF Waddington in July 2014. Royal Air Force (RAF) Station Scampton opened its doors and skies to visitors far and wide, hosting an airshow for the first time since 1991.
Imagine a couple of F/A-18 Hornets flying in close formation, with afterburners screaming through a valley, vapor forming over the wings and fuselage, dispensing flares, with snow-capped rugged mountain in the background. That is one image that was etched in my memory for a long long time – after seeing it for the first time on an online watering hole for aviation photographers called Fencecheck.com. I never imagined myself traveling internationally to air shows around the world, but I had put that on my bucket list anyways.
Anti-ship capabilities provided by Greek Dassault Mirage 2000s are a vital NATO asset in the increasingly contested waters of the Mediterranean. Few squadrons in the alliance are assigned this over-water mission, making the jets a prized component in the defence of Europe’s southern flank. The French-built Mirage 2000 has been in Hellenic Air Force (HAF) service since the late 1980s, but upgrades are doubtful because of the country’s continuing financial woes.
Malmen has a long military history dating back to the 1600’s but we fast forward to 1912 when the first military flying school was established on the base. The initial complement of aircraft was 3 and this developed over the course of that year.
