Air force day 20/21 June 2014 RNLAF - chit chat

[Mad Viper]

With the exception of the two Turkish F-4s, Slovak MiG 29 and the pair of UH-72s, this year's Open Dagen looks very, very poor.

After two days, I can say yes and no. I too had some less expectations then usual. Because of the cancellations I thought, well let see what it brings us. And again it were two nice days, maybe also the company which I was in helped. Enjoyed the Alouettes, Airpower Demo, Red Arrows, Mig demo, the BBMF and the Dreamliner. KDC-10 with MD-11 fly-by was a bit of downer because the height and distance between the two A/C's, but the MD-11 came in nice.

As for the static. Well to bad a lot of KLu stuff was not really good for photo's. The FOB exhibit was so crammed saturday that I gave up hope to shoot the Apaches and Chinook. But hey, a visit to the normal workday at Gilze can cure that. 50 years Alouette tent was also more for the daytrippers then for the spotters getting a change to shoot the old birds. Really wanted a photo of the White one inside, but gave up hope when I saw all the daytrippers. But still there were some nice aircraft at the static. Yes I too missed the UH-72's, better luck next time.

Didn't experience a lot of negative points this year, except for the usual ones that aren't really worth mentioning over and over (like the two puppets (especially JC) for commentary and the speakers at the flightline (please put some more on the terrain itself then only at the flightline)).

Never experienced a fast getaway at the parking as saturday, didn't expected that after waiting 1,5 hours on friday to get of the parking lot, but choosing another parking was the trick.

Only real point of attention for me was the parkingticket, paying 5 euro's for something that wasn't checked upon leaving with your car. Why?

All in all, still a nice show for me. No the trick to fill the gap next year.

[Ron C130]

A yes and a no for me too. Yes, all in all it was a nice visit and had a good time. Liked the demo (with the wanted sign), the QRA demo with the 787, de MD-11 and, as always, the Red Arrows. Why start the flying display early in the morning if there are gaps in the programma?
Due to a traffic accident at the A27, I arrived too late to see the Alouettes fly, pity.
And commentators who call upon everyone to leave early due to the heavy traffic jams, are a shame. After the Swiss demo of the F18, I walked to my car and could drive to the motorway without any delay.....
And talking about parents who are responsible for their childern and picking them up near a great green aircraft....

[ErwinS]

Please no more Cocheret and Van der Goot! What an 'onzin' they were talking.... as usual.

Green Hercules :-$......

They talk such bs that is to much to write down....

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[Richard from Rotterdam]

From a spotters point of view I have very mixed feelings. Very low turnout in visitors, but the ones that were there were very interesting. The Netherlands air force displays did show that the our air force is more or less bankrupt. The average visitor wouldn't have noticed it though as for them it was a decent day out, free of charge.

[Alpha Kilo One]

One last remark about those commentors, and then please let them go away...

Saying that children with terminal diseases have "the day of their life".
Pffff, please think before you say something.
Sometimes silence is better than their blabla....

[mr.foxhound]

does somebody have a complete log from the flying and static a/c ?

[Thermal]

First; this show is for the general public to let them see what the KLu does with their tax money. This is not a show for just spotters. Why is that so hard to comprehend for most people here.
Second; it's free, you get to see 3 F-16's demo's, an F-18, Mig-29, the Red Arrows and the BBMF. Look at the line up at RIAT this year. It's the worst ever but it will still cost you €55,-

True, the variety of aircraft has been better but the show it self was not bad at all. Only comment I can think of is a bit too many F-16's demo's in a short time period (I went on friday). No one was looking anymore by the time the 3rd (Greek) F-16 took off. And the Spanish team Aspa demo was so boring it made me want to stick forks in my eyeballs to stay awake.

But what really annoyed me (as every year) the whole day was the excruciating bad commenatary from these two 'commentators'.

Some gems:
"The Lancaster battled with Messerschimtts and Bölkows flying over Germany"
"Maybe the L-159 will use it's afterburner"
"This MiG-29 has no radar (?!?!?!?) and is a massive plane, much bigger than the Su-27"

Tell it right, that's what you are there for. Otherwise go away!

But all in all I really enjoyed myself and it was a great show for the general public.

[Mats Egbutt]

Always irritatting. Those guys withe their stairs in front of you.

[Nilson]

Like to read all those comments , more more more

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[Thermal]

One more thing that annoyed me was the bad commentary that was given by people of the the Apache demo, the QRA and the air power demo and in lesser extent the KLu F-16 demo, Yes English is the aviation language but as a commentator it is your job to explain things in Dutch so little kids also understand. That is your job.

The amount of English words used is way too much. You want to keep it interesting for children as well. That is your job as commentator/presenter.

Especially this "Snek" guy from the Apache team takes the cake on this one.
"De Chinooks deliveren de supplies en wij zijn er voor de spierballen"
"Flares worden gedeployed om hitte zoekende missiles te decoyen"
.............eh wait.....what!??!?!

What can a 8 year old kid make of this?? Speak Dutch or English not Dutchlish

[Stafsels]

But what was TOP was that some of the storage Cougar's were vissable!
Sure for those who started late they had a change to catch these birds before they are sold or more likely scrapped.

The hull of the SH-14D in the survivalcamp however roared me into tears.... only one year out of service and only this remains.....

Greetings,

Stafsels

[ehusmann]

But what was TOP was that some of the storage Cougar's were vissable!
Sure for those who started late they had a change to catch these birds before they are sold or more likely scrapped.

Never thought I would get my last one anymore.... but I did last Friday! That one alone made my day, all the rest was a nice bonus.

Erwin

[Jan H]

Some more...... Here it goes.
I did some comparing with Soesterberg open days 1984.
Looking at this years open days they were not bad at all!!

In 84 there were some 9 foreign countries. Standard for that time.
This year revealed no less than 14 foreign countries. (This includes the "Italian" gem on the static)

For me as a number cruncher it is always nice to fill in the gaps. The F-18 J-5005. Wowww. And Alouette-3 3E-LC also a "dikke" Wowww.

In 1984 we had 7 German Phantoms. This year 2 Turkish Phantoms & 3 MiG-29s!

This year we had the Red Arrows. In 1984 they were allready flying the Hawk!
In 1984 we had de Patrouille de France. Nowadays they still fly the Alpha- Jet!

Seriously, because of the above time-span (thirty years) i think that the KLU open-days cannot be compared.
But the following do have 1984 & 2014 in common;
Beaver S-9
Harvard B-71
Alouette's A-275, A-301, A-253 & A-366


KLU organisation thanks!

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[Lex Nasa]

I was there on friday and must say:not bad at all. Arrived at 8.45 pm , no traffic jam. Good photo opportunities, static as well as the flying part. Static wad a bit small, as well as the amount of ac in the flying programme (e.g.: no Scandinavian and US ac. ) But many countries have large defence cuts and/or have ac deployed in 'hot' areas. Also less money can be spent on airshow participation. Despite all this, they succeeded to organise an overall good event. During the Reds Ik went home, again without any delays. Thanks guys!

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[mr.foxhound]

First; this show is for the general public to let them see what the KLu does with their tax money. This is not a show for just spotters. Why is that so hard to comprehend for most people here.
Second; it's free, you get to see 3 F-16's demo's, an F-18, Mig-29, the Red Arrows and the BBMF. Look at the line up at RIAT this year. It's the worst ever but it will still cost you €55,-

True, the variety of aircraft has been better but the show it self was not bad at all. Only comment I can think of is a bit too many F-16's demo's in a short time period (I went on friday). No one was looking anymore by the time the 3rd (Greek) F-16 took off. And the Spanish team Aspa demo was so boring it made me want to stick forks in my eyeballs to stay awake.

But what really annoyed me (as every year) the whole day was the excruciating bad commenatary from these two 'commentators'.

Some gems:
"The Lancaster battled with Messerschimtts and Bölkows flying over Germany"
"Maybe the L-159 will use it's afterburner"
"This MiG-29 has no radar (?!?!?!?) and is a massive plane, much bigger than the Su-27"

Tell it right, that's what you are there for. Otherwise go away!

But all in all I really enjoyed myself and it was a great show for the general public.

what about '' you can find your children by the green hercules''....