Home | Reports | Archive | Portfolio | About | Contact |
Izmir is located in the west of Turkey and is the country's third largest city. In the city's metropolitan district Cigli lies the Turkish air force's jet training base, equipped with T-37 and T-38. It was at this base that the Turkish air force celebrated its centenary, attended by over 250000 spectators, under the motto “aviators from all over the world meeting in Izmir”. The airshow at Izmir Cigli was a rare opportunity for the Turkish air force to present its hardware to the masses. Apart from the Turkish air force, there were plenty of foreign star items, with plenty of display teams and among the cream of solo displays were 2 by the Pakistani air force. Display teams at the show were Team Iskry from Poland, Patrulla Aguila from Spain, Krila Oluje from Croatia, Frecce Tricolori from Italy, Patrouille de France, The British Red Arrows and the United States Air Force Thunderbirds, in addition to the Turkish air force's Turkish Stars. This was also the first major show for the Turkish F-16 solo display 'Solotürk'. Other aircraft at the show were Ali Ozturk with his Purple Violet, a former Turkish air force T-34 Mentor, Austrian Saab 105, Italian Typhoon, C-27 Spartan and AMX, Romanian IAR-99 and of course the Belgian and Dutch F-16 displays, in addition to the aforementioned solo displays by the Pakistani air force. Watch the complete report above (73 minutes) The show was blessed with gorgeous weather, a scorching sun, though dust from extended drought was a problem for photographers. Security was another issue at the show however with thousands of people crossing the crowd line, and worse still, getting on the taxy way when Soloturk passed by. The showground was also very noisy due to extremely loud music and overenthusiastic Turkish commentators, driving the crowd to such unacceptable actions. |
Report
by Chris Janssens
|