Best air show so far in 2011 AIRPOWER11 – ZELTWEG, AUSTRIA

The biannual Austrian air show was held in Zeltweg, in the beautiful province of Styria, the green heart of Austria, on July 1 and 2. The Friday and Saturday air show draws large crowds every 2 years, but this year a record 290,000 visitors were in attendance. For hardcore enthusiasts the show really starts a few days earlier. One could get a five-day package for 180 Euros and be at the airbase from the arrivals day on Wednesday through Sunday, departure day. There were also other spotter packages: Friday and Saturday for 90 Euros or 1-day package for either airshow day for 60 Euros. For enthusiasts, it is strongly recommended getting one the spotter packages since it has many benefits that only this air show provides. It has no less than 13 spotter zones throughout the air show grounds, affording excellent opportunities to view and photograph the aircraft in action. Transportation to these zones are provided from the Spotter/Media Center, since some of them are not very close to the Spotter center, and at least one is not reachable by foot because it is located on the other side of the runway. There is also excellent food and beverages being served all day at the Spotter’s center, the only problem was that it was very difficult to leave the spotter’s zone to go eat since no one wants to miss any of the flying action.

Being in or around an airbase before an airshow, gives the opportunity to see many aircraft in the air that will not be flying at the airshow. On Wednesday two Saudi Arabian Typhoons came in, still with their British numbers on the fuselage since they were on their way to be delivered to Saudi Arabia and were being piloted by British pilots. The Saudi Hawks had arrived before Wednesday, but unfortunately the 2 supporting Saudi C-130s did not come to Zeltweg until Sunday. They stayed at the base in Hoersching. Other aircraft that arrived on Wednesday and Thursday, but did not fly at the show were: Dornier Do 27, Red Bull Cessna CE 208 Amphibian Caravan, Swiss Air Force Beechcraft 1900, Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) DC-2, Croatian Mil MI-117 , Turkish Air Force Transall C-160 in support of the Turkish Stars Demonstration Team, two Casa C-295M, one from the Polish Air Force and the other from the Czech Republic, Serbian Soko G2 Galeb owed by the Serbian Galeb Flying Club, Belgian SF 260D, French Air Force Mirage 2000, Irish Air Force Pilatus PC-9M, German Air Force 2-seat Eurofighter, USAF C-21 Learjet, USAF C-130, Embraer ERJ-145 from the Belgian Air Force, Antonov An-2, Hungarian Air force 2-seat Saab JAS 39 Gripen fully loaded with Sidewinder and Maverick missiles and LANTIRN pod, Soko G4 Super Galeb from Serbia, German Air Force F-4F Phantom II, Serbian Air Force Antonov An-26, German Luftwaffe Tornado ECR, 2 Royal Air Force Tornado GR.4.

In total there were 222 aircraft representing 22 nations at the show and 8 flying display teams. The organizers did a terrific job in keeping the action moving in the air and on the ground there plenty of aircraft to see. Food vendors were distributed around the grounds and there were plenty of bathroom facilities.

The base is also home of the Fliegermuseum, which is located in Hangar 8, housing two specially marked Drakens, a Saab Tunnan and a Shorts Skyvan among other historically important Austrian aircraft.

The event cost about 3 million Euros and it was sponsored by the energy drink producer Red Bull. This has been the best airshows so far in 2011 seen by the AirshowsReview staff that was present in Zeltweg. It truly deserves a 10/10 rating.

AirShowsReview would like to thank Vzlt. Gross in getting the spotters and media accreditation for the AirshowsReview staff members that were able to attend the airshow. Also a special thank you for the organizers who put together this memorable air show.

Report & photography by Ricardo von Puttkammer for AIRSHOWSREVIEW LLC. For a complete review of the event, please visit http://airshowsreview.com

To B-2 remember 2010 and years gone by

To B-2 remember 2010 and years gone by. Images of aircraft through my lens... by Laszlo Nyary

A book for any aviation enthusiast who enjoys looking at great photographs of aircraft from various air shows in North America and Europe. From WWI to current generation that uses stealth technology. Makes an excellent gift any time, but especially for Christmas. Order yours today for Holiday delivery from here, soft or hardcover versions available.

One of the BEST air shows at Kecskemet, Hungary!

Kecskemet International Air Show-- Hungary, August 7-8
Reviewed by http://www.airshowsreview.com/

Location: Kecskemet AFB, Hungary
Admission: Less than $20
Parking: FREE
Value: Excellent

The Hungarian Air and Military show is held at the Kecskemét AFB, in City of Kecskemét, about 1 hours drive south east of Budapest by car. It was also possible to take trains and buses to Kecskemét, and if arriving by train, a direct bus service was available to the AFB.

The air show is held every two years, and it is one of the best air shows in Europe, if not in the world. Due to the huge success of the 2008 air show, organizers decided to make it an annual air show but due to economic downturn experienced in Hungary and the rest of the world the 2009 show was cancelled. Therefore the 2010 was eagerly awaited.

Things did not look good on Friday before the air show. Scattered thunderstorms throughout the day made difficult for aircraft to go up for rehearsal. Most of the participating aircraft had arrived at the base by Thursday thus avoiding the horrible Friday weather. By Saturday morning the heavy rains had stopped but the skies over Kecskemét were overcast with low ceilings. The gloomy weekend forecast called for showers on Saturday and Sunday. That did not stop people from coming to this very popular air show.

The venue has plenty of food vendors and sanitation facilities. It is also a good place for families since there are many activities for children.

The gates were open around 7:30 AM. It is best to arrive as early as possible to avoid heavy traffic jams and to secure a good viewing spot on the field. For photography a 300mm lens or a zoom covering this range will give excellent results. The best entrance point is by the main gate and there are several buses stopping at this location, where the walk to the main grounds is much shorter than from the parking lot gates. Once inside the airbase one notices how big this place is. By 8 AM there were already hundreds people walking around the many vendors, static aircraft and open hangars. For several hours it was unclear if the flying display would start at all, but finally by 1 PM the skies cleared, the sun came out and the best air show in recent memory was allowed to start. And what a show it was! The flying did not stop until well after 7 PM. This air show has such a packed flying schedule that is best to bring your own sandwiches and water and hit the toilet before the show starts so that you do not miss any flying action. One should also plan to attend both days, one for the flying display and the other to walk around. Due to the late start on Saturday not all the planned air displays took to the air.

Sunday’s weather was hot and sunny with occasional dark clouds. It was another full day of air displays starting at 7:45 AM and over at 6:15 PM.

The stars of the static displays were the Israeli F-16I Sufa and an Ukrainian Su-27. Among other on static were 2 Eurofighter Typhoons from Germany, USAF F-15E and a Romanian MIG-21 Lancer. Both days had terrific flying displays. There were no less than 6 different flying display teams, with the highlight being the Frecce Tricolori from Italy celebrating their 50th anniversary. The best individual performance was by the French air force Rafale with a fast and loud routine. The Dutch and Belgian F-16 Demo teams also had a fantastic display. Some of the flying aircraft deployed flares during their displays making them very dramatic. This is something that we do not see at air shows in the United States. The grand finale was a demonstration by the Hungarian air force Mig-29s, Grippens, Mil-24s and a fly over by an AN-26.


Major Aircraft/Performers Presented:

Frecce Tricolori -- Italian Team flying MC-39
Patrouille Suisse F-5E Tiger II Swiss Air Force
Turkish Stars Team flying NF-5A/B
Red & White Iskras -- Polish Team TS-11 Iskra
Wings of Storm -- Croatian Team
Breitling Team -- French Team L-39C
F-16AM from Holland
F-16AM from Belgium
JAS39C Gripen Hungarian Air Force
F/A-18C from Switzerland
and too many others to list. Over all we highly recommend the Hungarian air show at Kecskemét for any serious military aviation enthusiast, due to the variety and the number of countries represented and of course due to their flying display.

Rating: 10 out of 10

The Hungarian Air Show will be a featured article in the next issue of The Magazine by AirShowsReview with exceptional photographs.