Aerofestival 2016 year.
Ławica Airport.
On May 28-29, 2016 (Saturday, Sunday), an international air show called AEROFESTIVAL 2016 was held in the capital of Wielkopolska in Poznań at the Ławica EPPO Airport. It was the second event of this type after AEROFESTIWAL 2015, and the third if we add the 1991 shows (25 years ago) .
It is worth recalling that Ławica Airport is one of the most important places for the revival of the Republic of Poland in 1918. It was here that the decisive fight for Greater Poland for Poland took place. Here is the monument to the Greater Poland Uprising. The first Polish aviation units were also organized here. The Wielkopolska Aircraft Factory "Samolot" operated here, which built very good Polish training and training planes.
AEROFESTIVAL 2016 was organized in a professional manner and it should be counted among very successful aviation events. Who knows, maybe it was the best this year’s air show in the Republic of Poland, although the season has just started. Once again, the organizers managed to combine the show with commercial air traffic, which takes place at a civil airport (although the Polish Army still uses this airport). It is worth noting that the weather was good and the showers did not interfere with the program.
As a lover of Polish Aviation, I am pleased to note the wide, much larger than before, participation of the Polish Air Force. It is very happy.
I’ll start with what’s in the air. The organizers have planned two large blocks for each day; noon 10; 50 – 13; 45 and noon 15; 10 – 18; 15. A total of 750 minutes of air shows. Most of the planes took off from Ławica Airport, some from Krzesiny Airport, and Polish Su-22 came from Świdwin Airport. The air show was opened by a drop of parachute jumpers, and then with each hour the dynamics of the show went up.
SoloTurk.
Personally, I consider the SoloTurk show to be the star of the festival. This is not the first time the Turks have visited Poznań. Last year, the band Turkish Stars performed. This year, a single F-16 with the inscription Turk Hava Kuvvetleri – Turkish Air Force on the fuselage. The plane was painted very interestingly. Most of the airframe is dark blue, and in the back of the fuselage and tail was a stylized golden eagle. There were Turkish signs on the underside of the airframe – moon and star. The pilot gave a crazy, dynamic show, as if the machine did not have electronic control and were taking figures off the set. The dynamics of the show was created by the commentator, who spontaneously described the sky-high evolutions in English, inserting sentences in Polish. Fantastic effect.
Two more F-16 planes took part in the show. One F-16 Fighting Falcon from Belgium (already seen in Poland) and one F-16 Hawk of the Polish Air Force (with conformal tanks and new gray tiger paint).
Sweden
The Swedes made a huge surprise for aviation enthusiasts. They demonstrated two of their planes: SAAB JA-37 Viggen and SAAB-105 (Sk-60), both in the static display and in the air. These are airplanes that have already been withdrawn from military service and have civilian registrations. The SAAB 37 plane is known to aviation enthusiasts in Poland to reach it well, because MLP Czyżyny, since 2005, has a SAAB AJSF-37 Viggen plane, donated by the Command of the Air Force of the Kingdom of Sweden to the Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow. In Poznań, the JA-37 fighter plane could be seen not only at the static exhibition but also in the air. In subjective opinion, the Viggen’s maneuverability is actually 60 years. The plane is gaining altitude efficiently. It accelerates well and can quickly reduce this speed. It is maneuverable at high angles of attack (20-30 degrees). It is weaker in combat turns and barrels. But it is a attack and a fighter plane, not an acrobatic one. Thanks to the thrust reverser, it can roll backwards and turn around on a narrow runway in three, like a car. The plane can be compared with the Su-22, against which it fares better. But this is only my subjective assessment.
The second SAAB-105 aircraft has already been presented in Poland in Radom. The aircraft, thanks to its compact design, is long-lasting, and the relatively quiet turbojet engines make the machine appear unexpectedly. Let us remember that the Swedish planes during the Earth War were specific. Their service had to be performed in difficult winter conditions, and the soldiers had gloves on and goggles on their eyes.
Baltic Bees.
The star of the festival was also the Latvian band Baltic Bees (Bałtyckie Pszczoły), which was founded in 2008 by Walery Sobolev. The group flies Czechoslovak (now Czech) L-39 C Albatros aircraft, which have been properly prepared for the role of aerobatic aircraft. As the name suggests, the planes received an impressive navy blue and yellow paint. The band has already presented in Radom, Poznań and Kraków.
Grumman G-164 Ag-Cat – Wingwalking.
Grumman G-164 Ag-Cat – Wingwalking is an acrobatic group from Sweden, which already presented in Poland in 2007, in Góraszka. The group uses an agricultural aircraft built in the USA by Grumman in 1957. The plane is a biplane powered by a piston, radial engine. As the name suggests, two ladies walk on the wings during the show. The presentation takes viewers to 20 years, when this type of show was very popular. The acrobats performed various performances. They moved from one plane wing to another. At the beginning of the era of turbojet-powered planes, acrobats stood on the fuselage of planes flying at 500 km / h.
Other participants of the shows.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman