Den Helder Airshow(Heldair in short)
was held on 15 september,fairly late in the year but the date had been
changed earlier in the year because it would conflict with the Helidays
at Bierset (BE). The big eyecathers from this show were to my opinion
the brandnew dutch NH90 and the polish SH2G super Seasprite. Lucky for
us the weather was very nice and the sun was shining beautifully and the
temprature was around 22 degrees celsius. Due the short runway(1200m) at
Naval Air Station De Kooy you won't be seeing much fighters cause they
prefer a much longer runway. Nevertheless there was a nice mix between
historic and present day aircraft present.
Cristian Moulec opened the displays with his ultralight aircraft flying with his geese and big cranes in formation. The dutch hunter also flew a demo but he flew from Soesterberg airbase. Around the airfield you can find several preserved aircraft. When you enter via the maingate you see the newly restored AB205 mounted on a pole and to your left you will see the Neptune which came from the closed down NAS Valkenburg. Inside the Traditionroom you will find a Seahawk(real identity English) and a Wasp (also english I think) and behind the building a fully restored Grumman Tracker who flew in its glorydays from the carrier Karel Doorman.
The historic flight from the airforce was present with several aircraft from Gilze-Rijen airbase and the Fokker 4 team flew its usual demo but instead with 4 Fokker S11 they flew with 3 and the Saab Safir because 1 of the aircraft had minor problems. team Excel flew a rasorsharp demo as ever,those boys are former Red Arrows and it shows. The navy itself demonstrated a search and rescue and after that they showed a demonstration of the BBE(Bijzondere Bijstands Eenheid)(special forces) who had to free hostages from a bus occupied by terrorists and did so by air dropping in via fast rope method. All in all a nice airshow and looking forward for the next edition.
Cristian Moulec opened the displays with his ultralight aircraft flying with his geese and big cranes in formation. The dutch hunter also flew a demo but he flew from Soesterberg airbase. Around the airfield you can find several preserved aircraft. When you enter via the maingate you see the newly restored AB205 mounted on a pole and to your left you will see the Neptune which came from the closed down NAS Valkenburg. Inside the Traditionroom you will find a Seahawk(real identity English) and a Wasp (also english I think) and behind the building a fully restored Grumman Tracker who flew in its glorydays from the carrier Karel Doorman.
The historic flight from the airforce was present with several aircraft from Gilze-Rijen airbase and the Fokker 4 team flew its usual demo but instead with 4 Fokker S11 they flew with 3 and the Saab Safir because 1 of the aircraft had minor problems. team Excel flew a rasorsharp demo as ever,those boys are former Red Arrows and it shows. The navy itself demonstrated a search and rescue and after that they showed a demonstration of the BBE(Bijzondere Bijstands Eenheid)(special forces) who had to free hostages from a bus occupied by terrorists and did so by air dropping in via fast rope method. All in all a nice airshow and looking forward for the next edition.
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Jan Eenling© 2006-2010