Leeuwarden Airshow 2006
This year, the airshow of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, to show the tax payers what they are paying for, was held at Leuwarden Air Base in the North of the Netherlands on 16 and 17 June.
Underneath an impression of the highlights.
The pilots somehow reminded me of "The Thunderbirds"
(for those who remember this great tv-series of the past)
Always impressive is "Fat Albert" performing a JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off)
(although it should be called a rocket assisted take off)
The Swiss were definitely not bad either
Some more American hardware in the form of an F-15E Strike Eagle. Please note the condensation of air above the wings
And the Dutch F-16 had an impressive performance as well
Including flares, normally used to mislead heat-seaking missiles
Also the Belgian F-16 gave a good show, but not as good as the Dutch one of course
Hunters from the sixties
Feared during the cold war (and it is still impressive); the Russian-built Hind
Dutch Chinooks. The orange "bambi-bucket" is used for fire fighting
"Tweety" showing a Rescue Operation
The Royal Jordanian Falcons
Shortly, the show had to be interrupted due to this visitor passing by...
The "Midnight Hawks" from Finland
A Dutch KDC-10 showing how an F-16 would be refuelled during a long trip
Another highlight, albeit a relatively quiet one, was the French guy Christian Moullec and his goose
| And here are the American Blue Angels flying together in formation with the British Red Arrows, one of the best teams in the world. This picture is rather unique, because they never flew together before. Just a pity about the bad weather the first day of the show (and during the second day, when the weather was great, the Red Arrows had other obligations). |
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Highlight: The Blue Angels of the US Navy |