Kecskemét – Fairford: 1700 Kilometers

Szöveg: István Tőrös | 2012. július 10. 10:02

In the morning of Thursday, July 5 the aircraft of the Hungarian Defence Forces left the HDF 59th “Szentgyörgyi Dezső” Air Base, Kecskemét for Fairford, England.

After a flight along the route Kecskemét–Esztergom–Brno–Frankfurt, the An-26 aircraft with tail number 603 landed at the NATO base in Florelles, Belgium to refuel. Seeing the Hungarian transport plane take off was a special experience for the soldiers of the air base operating F–16 fighters because the sound of the “roaring mouse" is rarely heard in those lands.

After the refueling we left the Belgian coast at 13:00 and after 55 minutes of flight landed on the tarmac of Fairford where the fighters, helicopters and formations from the continent and many overseas countries gathered to participate in the Royal International Air Tattoo, the largest military air show in Europe. As a nice gesture, during our taxiing the flight technician was standing in the emergency exit of the cockpit, flying the Hungarian Tricolors and the NATO flag to greet the earlier arrived aircrews and our hosts.

The Jas-39 Gripen, with Lt.-Col. Csaba Ugrik and Capt. Péter Tősér in the cockpit was able to fly the 1700-kilometer distance between Kecskemét and Fairford in two and a half hours. Having landed, it taxied to the static line-up to occupy its place among the best fighters in the world.

The first day was about making friends, while on Friday the aircrews were practicing so that like the choreography of ice dance, the “free dance" by the pilots and their aircraft in the sky can thrill the +100,000 visitors on Saturday.

The formation of 60 aircraft flying to salute the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee (60-year reign) has been a highlight of the air show. Contrary to expectations, it included only the planes of the Royal Air Force.

Brig.-Gen. Albert Sáfár, the Air Force Chief of the HDF Joint Force Command visited Fairford to watch the program of the military air show on Saturday.