Happy Birthday, „Ancsa”!

Lt.-Gen. Dr. Zoltán Orosz, the main patron of the meeting and the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff was watching with nostalgic memories the aircraft appearing in the misty grayness, as he himself had first-hand experience, at the start of his military career, of this heavy-lift aircraft nicknamed “roaring mouse".

“As a chief flight controller on duty, I directed this type too at Szentkirályszabadja a lot of times. The An-26s often returned from transportation missions late in the night. Afterward, as an airborne observer, I myself flew aboard the «Ancsa». It is a reliable, stable, robust aircraft which can endure and forgive a lot", the lieutenant-colonel told us.

CW2 (Ret.) István Horváth – or, as he says, “just one “Ancsa" fan among many –, a main organizer of the meeting told us that besides marking the 40th anniversary, the members of the old “Ancsa" community had wanted to meet each other as well.

“In my whole life, I’ve been very proud of belonging to their community. An «Ancsa » crew member will never surrender", István Horváth said. He took a conversion course for this type in the Soviet Union in 1975, and on the first encounter, he was watching this aircraft close by with awe while munching a poppy seed roll. Six months later, he joined the airlift squadron…

There was a moment of silence, when the participants of the meeting paid tribute to their dead comrades. Then they continued with telling stories of the past, to make the 40th anniversary memorable for themselves.

Photos by the author