Gallery

Giornata Azzurra, Pratica di Mare

Blue was a colour in very short upply at Italy's premier airshow this year, so perhaps the name was a bit unfortunate given the dull grey weather on September 17.

The show enjoyed international participation from, among others, Great-Britain, Hungary, the United States and Switzerland. Italian aircraft obviously turned up in great numbers, with the navy, coast guard, fiscal police and air force all showcasing their assets, including tactical demonstrations and solo displays. A great opportunity to see some aircraft seldom seen outside Italy!

Kleine Brogel photo-call & Sanicole 30th International Airshow

At the occasion of its 30th anniversary, the Sanicole airshow pulled out all the stops trying to get a nice varied programme together. As most of the aircraft for the airshow are parked at the airbase at Kleine brogel, the base was opened to the public 2 days earlier to allow pictures of the participants to be taken at close quarters.

The Belgian air force F-16s did a mass-launch to fly over Brussels for the national parade during the photo-call, while other Belgian aircraft on show remarkably carried the new logo of the Belgian Defence. Other airforces present included the French, Portuguese, British and even Czech airforce, who not only sent 3 Alcas but also 2 Gripens, including a rare double-seater.

Royal International Air Tattoo, Fairford

The world's biggest military airshow according to the Guinness Book of World Records was once again blessed with glorious sunshine and feaured quite a few interesting items.

Listing all highlights would be a long list indeed, but some noteworthy on display were a Pakistani C-130, a British Alpha Jet, Swedish Gripen, 2 separate Typhoon displays, the US Navy Superhornet, Russian thrust-vectoring Mig-29M OVT, US Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey with its tilting rotors, USAF F-15C Eagle and Swiss FA-18 are just some of the eye-catchers in this pictorial impression. Fairford also marked the final public appearance of the RAF Canberra Pr9 in active service, so hopefully you enjoy these images from a Saturday at the Royal International Air Tattoo.

TLP2006-4, Florennes
The main story at this year's fourth TLP-session was the first-ever participation of a former Warsaw-pact nation, more specifically the Czech Republic. However, the Italians disagreed.

Spain, France and the US all sent assets to participate in TLP2006-4. During the final week, it was the Italians that claimed all the attention after winning the World Championship football though. Also striking was the large number of Tornados in various guises, apart from the Czech L159 Alcas who were the first new NATO-member to take part in the tactical Leadership Programme.

Koksijde International Airshow 2006

Possibly the last airshow at Coxyde was blessed with scorching weather and a varied programme. This report will show some of the highlights of 4 days at Coxyde, including arrivals and departures.

As always, there were quite a few helicopters present at Coxyde. However, contrary to previous years, a large part of the flying display was dedicated to classic aircraft, both piston and jet-powered. Training aircraft from France, Denmark and Holland were also present. Part 3 also shows some of the support aircraft which visited the base during the weekend. The Czech airforce made made quite an impression with an L-159 Alca and JAS-39 Gripen display. Other fast jets included the Belgian F-16, French Mirage 2000C, Spanish Mirage F1M and Swiss FA-18C. The Swiss also sent their national display team for the show.

Open Dagen Koninklijke Luchtmacht, Leeuwarden

Every year the Royal Netherlands air force organizes one of the biggest military airshows in Europe and 2006 is no different. Wheels Up joined a coach trip to the north of Holland and had a very pleasant day out with no hassle and plenty of highlights.

Past and present aircraft of the Royal Netherlands air force were obviously heavily featured heavily in the programme with very different types of demonstrations. Foreign demonstrations were equally exciting and included many highlights: Swiss Hunters, Belgian F-16, Asas de Portugal flying an impressively tight display, Finnish Midnight Hawks, Spanish EF-18, Patrouille suisse, USAF F-15E Strike Eagle and the US Navy Blue Angels all brought exceptional quality to this show.

The highlights of the Saturday-display can be found in this 72-picture impression of the Open Days at Leeuwarden.

Biggin Hill Air Fair 2006, Biggin Hill

The first trip abroad for Wheels Up this year, to the ever-popular Biggin Hill near London, enjoying glorious weather.

Classic aircraft are always present in abundance at Biggin Hill and this year was no different, albeit with a twist. This year's show at the legendary Battle of Britain airfield featured some rare German classic aircraft, in addition to the Hurricanes and Spitfires that used to fly from this location. In part 2, there are some classic transport aircraft from the Air Atlantique fleet, and the theme continues in part 3.

Part 4 has some more modern jet-aircraft, with part 5 showing a classic jet-fighter on display. The main theme of part 6 is a moving tribute to airshow-legend Ray Hanna.

Antwerp Harbour + Stampe Fly In 2006

After a long cold winter, Wheels Up is ready for another exciting airshow season. Welcome to the first of hopefully many 2006 show-reports.

The first report, using the new gallery-system, is something a little different: 18 pictures taken in Antwerp early April during a port visit by some NATO-vessels and at the Stampe Fly in on May 28. Part 1 concentrates on various classic aircraft attending the event at Deurne while part 2 is dedicated to the stars of the show: The SV4 and the 2 Spitfires that did several passes.