National Airshow, Pori Finland 18-19/06/22
Discussion
Some pictures from last weekend's national airshow in Pori, Finland.
All shots are from the Friday before the show, as Saturday's weather was poor and I couldn't make Sunday. Fortunately I had an organisers pass so I was able to wander more or less freely without the crowds.
First up was the practice display of the Grob Tutor. I don't normally pay mush attention to these small training aircraft, but it was very well displayed, aerobatic and nimble and within range of my camera.
Then arrived the Finnish NH90 from Army aviation. The NH90 is built by an Airbus directed consortium and is used by many European forces. Norway notably can't get on with them and wants their money back. Everyone else seems to manage ok, there were examples from three nations at this show.
First fast jet display of the day was from 29sqn RAF, who bought over two jets, their display jet bedecked in the fabulous Blackjack livery, it really looked smart in Finnish skies. The Typhoon really is a excellent display aircraft, loud, full afterburner display as always.
The second NH90 to turn up, with a needlenosed radar, from the Swedish Armed Forces. The third example came from the German Heer.
Now to one of my big highlights from the show, the Patrouille Suisse. The Swiss national display team fly the venerable F5 Freedom Fighter jet. Designed as a budget plane in the early 60's for America to give away to it's allies, the F5 is still going strong in many airforces, but inevitably not for much longer. So it's great to enjoy this classic shape while we can. The F5 is such a pretty jet, so sleek and slender with a shapely "area ruled" coke bottle fuselage. I just love them.
The first shot is a busy composition showing all the comings and goings in the air and on the ground.
More to come shortly!
All shots are from the Friday before the show, as Saturday's weather was poor and I couldn't make Sunday. Fortunately I had an organisers pass so I was able to wander more or less freely without the crowds.
First up was the practice display of the Grob Tutor. I don't normally pay mush attention to these small training aircraft, but it was very well displayed, aerobatic and nimble and within range of my camera.
Then arrived the Finnish NH90 from Army aviation. The NH90 is built by an Airbus directed consortium and is used by many European forces. Norway notably can't get on with them and wants their money back. Everyone else seems to manage ok, there were examples from three nations at this show.
First fast jet display of the day was from 29sqn RAF, who bought over two jets, their display jet bedecked in the fabulous Blackjack livery, it really looked smart in Finnish skies. The Typhoon really is a excellent display aircraft, loud, full afterburner display as always.
The second NH90 to turn up, with a needlenosed radar, from the Swedish Armed Forces. The third example came from the German Heer.
Now to one of my big highlights from the show, the Patrouille Suisse. The Swiss national display team fly the venerable F5 Freedom Fighter jet. Designed as a budget plane in the early 60's for America to give away to it's allies, the F5 is still going strong in many airforces, but inevitably not for much longer. So it's great to enjoy this classic shape while we can. The F5 is such a pretty jet, so sleek and slender with a shapely "area ruled" coke bottle fuselage. I just love them.
The first shot is a busy composition showing all the comings and goings in the air and on the ground.
More to come shortly!
A few shots from a really lovely Patrouille Suisse display, showing off the shape of the F5 really nicely.
A Saab Gripen D model two seater came in for static display.
The home team, flying the F-18C Hornet. These Hornets are a terrific aerobatic aircraft, constantly pulling vapour. We are going to really miss them when they retire in a few years time.
They are being replaced in Finnish service by the F35A, the first Finnish examples due to be delivered in 2025. I have seen a few F35s of various nations, but these were the first i had seen from USAFE, and it seems so strange to see LH on the tail of anything other than an F15. Sadly these examples were sitting on static display the whole weekend so no flying display for us this time.
Then a graceful arrival by another star of the show with just a few years left in service, the Orion of the German Navy. Inevitably the first things unloaded were a picnic table and a few crates of beer!
At this point I was really battling with the sun right opposite us, really restricting photography opportunities, so I took a gamble and went for a drive to the other side of the airport to see if I could find a better veiwpoint.
More to follow!
A Saab Gripen D model two seater came in for static display.
The home team, flying the F-18C Hornet. These Hornets are a terrific aerobatic aircraft, constantly pulling vapour. We are going to really miss them when they retire in a few years time.
They are being replaced in Finnish service by the F35A, the first Finnish examples due to be delivered in 2025. I have seen a few F35s of various nations, but these were the first i had seen from USAFE, and it seems so strange to see LH on the tail of anything other than an F15. Sadly these examples were sitting on static display the whole weekend so no flying display for us this time.
Then a graceful arrival by another star of the show with just a few years left in service, the Orion of the German Navy. Inevitably the first things unloaded were a picnic table and a few crates of beer!
At this point I was really battling with the sun right opposite us, really restricting photography opportunities, so I took a gamble and went for a drive to the other side of the airport to see if I could find a better veiwpoint.
More to follow!
Edited by Jake899 on Tuesday 21st June 09:03
So a cheeky little shufty around the trading estate on the other side of the airfield saw me find a decent spot with the sun behind me, As demonstrated by this much better lit shot of an ex Finnish Saab Safir. However, I could only get shots in the air, despite a fun little trek through some tick-ridden bushes I couldn't see the runway. I sent a screenshot of my Safir catch to a mate, who sent me a better shot of it landing. Where on earth was he? Well he knew a local guy who had a key to a service gate which led to a great spot where you could see the landing area. I quickly joined him there!
Oh yess much better. Just in time to get my best shots of the day of the Hawk solo display.
Sadly arriving so late, it was just the Gripen display left to fly, and then I ducked back to the airport.
Last shots were taken with a friendly guide that let me down to the far end of the runway where the Czech choppers were sleeping away from prying eyes. Sorry I didnt get a chance to see them fly but it was nice to see them nonetheless.
All in all a good day out, nice to see some friends, sit in the sun, meet some new interesting characters and get some shots of some very nice aircraft.
Oh yess much better. Just in time to get my best shots of the day of the Hawk solo display.
Sadly arriving so late, it was just the Gripen display left to fly, and then I ducked back to the airport.
Last shots were taken with a friendly guide that let me down to the far end of the runway where the Czech choppers were sleeping away from prying eyes. Sorry I didnt get a chance to see them fly but it was nice to see them nonetheless.
All in all a good day out, nice to see some friends, sit in the sun, meet some new interesting characters and get some shots of some very nice aircraft.
take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey said:
Hind painted as Giger-esque bio-mech is cool as ****.
Yeah its one of the most effective special liveries around. Suits the nasty looking Hind quite well. However I've see this airframe fly a couple of times already, and as all the advertisements showed a Hind in regular camo, I was expecting to see an in-service example. So a little bit disappointing, but apparently it may be the only airworthy one the Czechs have at the moment. They are getting quite rare birds in the service of western nations. Even the more common Mil-8 is down to pretty much just Poland and Croatia and of course the brave lads flying them in contested airspace over in Ukraine.It's great to still have a bit of variety around. Even the Swiss F5s will not be in service much longer.
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