OPEN DAYS ROYAL NETHERLANDS AIRFORCE 2014 

           'OPERATIE                LUCHTSTEUN'
OPERATION AIRSUPPORT
 

DUTCH OPEN DAYS - A PHOTOGRAPHIC IMPRESSION
'WELCOME TO OPERATION AIR SUPPORT' AIRFORCE DAYS 2014 GILZE-RIJEN 
Early in the morning already a lot of spotters and enhousiast people have entered the base Gilze Rijen
Good choice, because the 'Open days' are always a guarantee for spectacle, such as an airraid on 'terrorists' on the base or the Apache demo
OPEN DAYS 2014 
     
Who ever thought that 'spotting airplanes' is just a men's hobby...  Check & doublecheck, is it on ? Yes !! Shooting like rats in a barrel ;-)
A variety on subjects can be seen and visited, like to go outside the atmosphere ??
Then there was Billy Flynn, Canadian testpilot and working for Lockheed Martin. He showed us the JSF Cockpit (Lightning-II)
The weather was not exactly cooperating, we had preferred a more blue sky behind this Belgian F-16
Though the weather over the North Sea is something the Coastguard has to deal with on regular base....
Polish MIG-29 with shute
In spite of sometimes some tricky driving with his wheelchair and people standing in his way, this disabled man had a wonderful day he said !
Small transport plane Let L-410 from Slovakia
The 'Wild Bunch', a nest of Piaggio 'Miss Piggy's'
Here is one of my personal favourites, the KDC-10. So immense.... 
... so hughe and quitly approaching ...
It seems as if you only hear the wheels on the asphalt speeding up when they hit the ground. 
Quite a surprise was this brandnew Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, new 'Sky-interior', more quit, more comfortable,  more environmentally friendly !
To see this bird fly on a 'better-weather' moment was a real treat...
... it makes you almost want to fly it to a far vacation destination, doesn't matter where ;-))
OEPS, what is this... you want a competition ?  Huh ???
More down to earth there were so many airplanes to admire, such as this French Mirage 2000N twinseater
Characterising... in total 245.000 visitors, all in a good mood.
None of these 245.000 visitors had any serious problems, nor had the security.  In the middle: 'Pirate of the Gilze-ribbean'   
Another surprise, this MD-11 had its last flight and was parked right next to the public ! Thanks mate for all your services in the years !
Royal DutchAirlines KLM and Arke provided a spectacular fly-by.Arke's new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was intercepted and escorted by F16s. KLM has sent one of its last MD-11s to Gilze-Rijen to do fly-by's. Moreover at the end of the afternoon, disabled children were flown over Holland along with astronaut André Kuipers, a special foundation 'Hoogvliegers' organized this, using a nice detour over the Netherlands to Schiphol
Almost his last parkingplace....
Off course the Apache Demo was shown to the spectators
Some static planes like this Turkish F-4 Phantom...
...a French Epsilon and so many more we can't even show them all.
Then there was this FOB, which gave a small impression how such location looks in reality
Chinooks were parked here, also other armament as the CV90 (below)
...not only for kids very exiting such a heavy machine !
The AH-64D Apaches were to be seen from very nearby...
...this Boeing AH-64D 'Longbow' looks very threathning... and in fact it is ! Specially to enemy's...
How cool to be here with your dad when he's an Apache pilot ! 
The apache had a high cuddly content
A few badges, sometimes for sale to the public 
Hardly ever that you see a DO-228 Coastguard plane this nearby...
The NH-90 demonstrated a hoist action
The savior on the hoist presses you on the bottom of the helicopter and secures you outside until you're inside and safe.
No fear, you are secured and you won't fall out. Thanks guys !
Let's go to page 2 :

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