The Aviation Magazine No:46 September-October 2016 | Page 64
This year's Belgian Air Force Days at Florennes Air Base were to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Belgian
Air Force. A big air show was set up on June 25‐26, both days filled with flying displays of the finest. The show
was a good mixture of current military aircraft and warbirds.
As Belgium had not yet decided which aircraft is to replace their ageing F‐16, the Belgian Air Force Days also
provided a forum for the aircraft manufacturers Dassault with the Rafale, Eurofighter with the EF2000 Ty‐
phoon and Saab with the JAS39 Gripen. While the spectators enjoyed impressive flying performances of
these jets, another competitor, Lockheed only showed a mockup of its F‐35 Lightning II in the static display.
Other fast jet displays were performed by F‐16 Solo Display teams of the Belgian Air Force and the Hellenic
Air Force. The heavy and powerful Mig‐29s from Poland and Slovakia along with Swiss and Spanish F‐18s con‐
tributed perfectly to the noisy part of the air show. Not as loud as these jets, however likewise fascinating to
watch, were several warbirds like the Spitfire, P‐51 Mustang, North American T‐28B Trojan, North American
Harvard AT‐6 or the B‐25 Mitchell and, rarely seen, a Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAS)
"Boomerang". The good old times of biplanes came to life with a formation of three Stampe SV‐4, a training
aircraft in the early 1930. Despite being a military air show, one of the highlights was a civilian aircraft: the
Lockheed Super Constellation, the only airworthy one in Europe.
The Belgian F-16AM Solo Team left, Italian Eurofighter EF2000 Typhoon top right, and Swedish Saab
JAS39 Gripen mid right, performed with lots of smoke.
No international air show is complete without top aerobatic teams – the Patrouille de France on Satur‐
day and the Red Arrows on Sunday. Two small but nevertheless excellent teams showed their expertise
in formation flying – the Red Devils of the Belgian Air Force with the Marchetti SF‐260 and the civilian
team The Victors with the Piper PA 28. The smallest team with only two Mirage 2000N nuclear strike
aircraft was the French Air Force's Ramex Delta team. They provided a stunning and noisy role demon‐
stration of various tactical maneuvers as they are used in combat situations. Three weeks after this air
show, the team flew their last official display at the Royal International Air Tattoo.
The display of the Ramex Delta team was a worthy end of a varied and manifold program on a cloudy
and rainy Saturday.