An airshow in a spa town? That seems to be a highly unlikely combination, but it can be possible as proved recently in Slovakia. The 2. Národné Letecké Dni (National Air Day) was held on June, 14.-15. 2008 and attracted quite some people at this former Slovak Air Force training base.
Piestany is located nearly a one hour drive north-east of Slovakia's capital Bratislava and the NLD can be seen as the replacement of the highly successful SIAD (Slovak Int'l Air Display). SIAD had to be moved from Bratislava airport due to the increasing traffic there, but never really revived once it was cancelled for the first time.
In the second edition of the NLD the emphasis was clearly based on 'National', as the flying consisted nearly exclusively of Slovak Air Force (SlAF) aircraft and a Czech Gripen and L-159A aircraft. Adding to this only one foreign jet, a Hungarian L-39, could be found in the static display. On the first view kind of disappointment, but the great flying and the smoke of some MiG-29s in the air nothing but a distant memory.
The morning began with a massive - at least it was a huge part of the inventory of the SlAF - fly-past of 3x Mi-17, 3x Mi-24, 3x L-410, 3x L-39 and 3x MiG-29 that performed a nice split at the end of the runway. The missing type in the inventory of the SlAF, an An-26 served some parachutist shortly afterwards.
Fly-By of the Slovak Air Force - Helicopter Mi-17 & Mi-24
------ ------ ------
------ ------ ------
3-ship formations of L-410 & L-39
------ ------ ------
3-ship of MiG-29 & An-26 with parachutists
------ ------ ------
The Slovak MiG-29 was seen later on in a Solo Display with a lot of turning&burning around the airfield, though missing the flares that I was still used from my last visit to the SIAD in 2004. Another jet display was the one of the L-39, making the most out of its performance during the display.
MiG-29 - Solo Display
------ ------ ------
------ ------ ------
------ ------ ------
------ ------ ------
L-39 Solo Display
------ ------ ------
------ ------ ------
At the end of the day the MiGs arrived once again from their homebase Sliac in order to present an Interception Exercise. The intruder was provided by a SlAF An-26, which was forced to land at Piestany after a fly-by in formation with the two MiG-29s, including the Tiger MiG-29UB(S) '1303'. While is was coming in to land the MiGs continued to circle around and make some noise:
Radom Airshow 2018 had the Polish Air Force’s 100th anniversary as a main theme. Concluding from past events the expectations were very high, and the event attracted highlights such as the Ukrainian Suchoi Su-27 Flanker or the JF-17 from Pakistan for the flying display. In…Read More
This was another plane spotting trip to Taiwan. Even though it has a vivid aviation photography scene, it’s tropical climate and a military on high alert do not make it an easy country to pursue this hobby. With the aim to photograph some aircraft of…Read More
10.000ft above Belgium the howling sound of the Lockheed Martin’s F-16AM Fighting Falcon F100 jet engine could clearly be heard. No wonder, as the Demo Pilot for the Belgian Air Force, Sr. Cpt Darte, callsign „Vador“, knows how to place his jet only meters behind…Read More
This airshow was held to celebrate 100 years of aviation in Pilsen / Plzeň. Even though this fourth most populous city in Western Bohemia, Czech Republic, is undeniably better known for the type of blond lager beer to which the city gave its name, it also…Read More
Nice week-end, good weather forecast, so why not heading to an Airshow in the beautiful Alsace, France...? The show has been held at the Base Aérienne (Air Base) 132 at Colmar-Meyenheim, which is not far…Read More
Every year at the pentecost week-end the Cerny airfield near La Ferté-Alais, which is located around 90km south of Paris, is the big meeting point for the French and European Warbird and Oldtimer-scene. This year…Read More
Duxford’s Flying Legends 2018 was a show to remember. Not only was the legendary warbirds airshow blessed with stunning summer weather and deep blue skies on Sunday, it also featured many impressive warbird formations, amongst…Read More
The TaktLwG74 celebrates its 55th anniversary in 2016. At the same time the German Luftwaffe is looking back at its foundation 60 years ago in 1956. Both events were a good reason to celebrate one…Read More
Where? Piestany, Slovak Republic
Piestany is located nearly a one hour drive north-east of Slovakia's capital Bratislava and the NLD can be seen as the replacement of the highly successful SIAD (Slovak Int'l Air Display). SIAD had to be moved from Bratislava airport due to the increasing traffic there, but never really revived once it was cancelled for the first time.
In the second edition of the NLD the emphasis was clearly based on 'National', as the flying consisted nearly exclusively of Slovak Air Force (SlAF) aircraft and a Czech Gripen and L-159A aircraft. Adding to this only one foreign jet, a Hungarian L-39, could be found in the static display. On the first view kind of disappointment, but the great flying and the smoke of some MiG-29s in the air nothing but a distant memory.
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
------ 
