Category: Aviation

31 Oct

2023 Belgium Airforce Days

Belgium Airforce Days

2023 Belgium Airforce Days

Finally, an event for which we have waited so long, and this year, it was the 2023 Belgium Airforce Days.

Last year, we had the Sanicole Airshow, which was always a pleasure to visit. But this year, we had an Air Force base open for the public.
Thus, Airforce Base Klein Brogel was the destination to travel on the 8th, 9th and 10th of September.

I acquired a Spotters Day ticket for Friday the 8th, tailored for genuine military aviation aficionados.
These events are organized each year exclusively for a specific group.
Obviously, during these days, you’ll be able to take photos of aircraft and helicopters, which can be pretty special.

The second ticket was for the 9th of September because the Airbase was open to the extensive public.

Specials

For example, 2 Panavia Tornados from the German Air Force. The Tornado is one of my big favourites.
Of course, we could see more common fighter planes, but I had never seen one from the Portuguese Air Force. They showed up with the F-16 Falcon.
The fun factor was that one of their planes just made 100 flight hours compared to the 8000 flight hours of the Belgium Air Force F-16, FA-95.
This plane had its final hours this weekend and will retire afterwards.

100 flighthours
8000 flighthours
Swedish Friends

During the Sanicole events, Sweden was at the party every year.  This year, we were fortunate enough to witness two vintage fighter planes at the 2023 Belgium Airforce Days. These were the Saab 35 Draken and the Saab 37 Vigen.

Saab 35 Draken was an interceptor fighter from the Swedish aircraft factory Saab. This fighter plane was operational in Denmark, Finland, Austria and Sweden air forces. Its first flight was on 25 Oktober 1955.

As a successor of the Saab 35 Draken, the Saab 37 Viggen was showing up. This aircraft was crafted with versatility, serving various purposes such as assault, pursuit, aerial defence, intelligence gathering, and instruction. Its maiden flight took place in February 1967.

In the gallery of November, you’ll see some photos of these beasts.

The weather

During this weekend, we were fortunate to have good weather. It was excellent.
On Friday, I was on the airfield from 09.00 to 16.30 hours. The temperature was 30 degrees Celsius.

Unfortunately, not all stands and exhibitions were open this Friday, making getting drinks or food difficult.
Of course, you have water and food with you during such an event, but with these temperatures. I did not have enough.

The organization made arrangements, but it was not close to where I stood.
I was completely done.
I decided not to go the next day due to the high temperatures.

Instead, I went sightseeing in Hasselt with my girlfriend, Sylvia. Later that Saturday, we had dinner in Genk.
Of course, it was still hot that day, but at least we could sit on a terrace in the shade with a cold drink.
The cities are worth it to look around for a day.

On Sunday, when we returned home, we passed the air base very close by.
Guess what?
We arrived at 11.30 hours to view the shows from the other side of the airfield! It’s a different view this time.
Awesome!

We finally went home, late in the evening, with many more photos too.

What’s next

After this September adventure, I have loads of photos.
I’ll show the best of the 2023 Belgium Airforce Days in November and December. At the end of the month, you’ll be able to see the complete galleries.

Please keep an eye on my social media channels and enjoy!!

You all take care for now!

31 May

All galleries are back online

All Galleries are back online

All galleries are back online.

It took a while to find all photos of the last few years, which I posted and showed in a gallery. But I made it.
The first galleries from July 2018 and onward are available again. Last year in October and November, something went wrong with my provider.
Attempting logins from non-existing users, galleries no longer available, actually a total website breakdown.
But all galleries are back online, and the 2023 May gallery is online too.

In the meantime

In the meantime, everything went on as usual. After having the site back functioning, I could go on as if nothing had happened.
I started making more back-ups of everything to make sure this is not happening again in the future.
Maybe I’ll change my provider and move to one with a cloud solution.
Anyway, that’s something for later.

Taekwondo

My son Edze is practising Taekwondo, and I’ve been asked to take photos during training sessions and tournaments.
Because of some privacy issues, I’m not posting them on my site and have them available for everyone but only for the Taekwondo participants.
Making indoor sports photos is something I’m not used to. So some experimenting is in order. I recently bought a new Fujifilm body. The X-H2…..
What a beast of a machine that is!!

The Fujifilm X-H2

I’ve been using the Fujifilm X-T3 for years and am very happy with it. Compared to the Nikon D7200 I bought in 2016, it is a fantastic camera.
I was orienting myself on a full-frame body, but in the end, it became the Fujifilm X-H2.
This decision was made because of the lenses I already owned for the Fujifilm bodies. To have more benefits from a full-frame body from Nikon, I also needed to look for other lenses with an F 2.8.
Of course, a full-frame body has advantages, but after reading some tests, I think the X-H2 will be fantastic to work with indoors.

And after doing some photography with the X-2H, I’m very impressed!

I’ll tell you more about the gear I use. Keep on the lookout 😉

What else?

This week I received the drone I ordered recently.
I’ll go with this bit of bird as some good weather is coming.
The drone has a 4K camera. I’m curious what that will give me.

Anyways, I hope to show some footage soon.

All galleries are back online, so look at my galleries and let me know what you think.

For now, take care and happy photographing!

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