Austria (2015)

Austria 2015

In 2015 4Aviation was given permission to visit two Austrian Air Force bases at the end of the year. Awesome access for photos was granted at both Zeltweg and Linz-Hörsching.

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23 November 2015

The 4Aviation tour to Austria started on Monday 23 November. Since permission to visit Zeltweg and Linz-Hörsching was only obtained shortly before the group of participants had to be put together rather fast. Eventually 8 people participated in the tour, 5 of which gathered at Rotterdam very early on this Monday morning to be able to fly to Vienna with Transavia. We landed in Austria at 08.30 already and after some challenges we even managed to find the rental car location. There 2 other participants were already waiting and after the last participant had landed and joined the group we were able to hit the road. The visit to Zeltweg was scheduled for Tuesday and we wanted to use the Monday to see some wrecks & relics. Before that we started with the Austrian Aviation Museum at Bad Vöslau. This is located at the airport so you need to announce your intended visit before you go there. The reception was very friendly of course and after about an hour we continued our journey. Via Wiener Neustadt we headed for Graz and Voitsberg to end up at our hotel which was very close to Zeltweg. A nice and relaxed day with some very nice wrecks & relics obviously had to end with Schnitzel.

24 November 2015

Overnight the temperature dropped well below zero so the start was very cold on Tuesday (24 November). We reported at the main gate of Zeltweg at the agree time and met our two hosts. It turned out that they had well prepared our visit. The schedule of what we would do when was timed perfectly in line with the flight schedule for the day. That was a very good start! Furthermore, the forecast suggested that the sun would be out by the end of the morning. We started at the runway threshold with the take-off of two PC-7s and two Typhoons. Typhoons that make use of their afterburners are impressive, especially when you are so close to them. A third PC-7 took to the air and performed the major part of its demo for us. Awaiting the return of the aircraft we visited the PC-7 hangar. After that we went to the runway again to capture the recovery of the aircraft. The sun was present by now, as predicted. After lunch we went to the other side of the runway where a Typhoon and a PC-7 had been parked which could be photographed from every possible position. In the afternoon we went to several positions near the runway to photograph the active aircraft from different angles. Very nice! Then we quickly drank something warm before we went out in the freezing conditions to capture the take-off of two Typhoons in the dark. By then it was time to thank our hosts very much and drive a little for the next Schnitzel and a bed.

25 November 2015

On Wednesday 25 November we were expected at Linz at 09.30 in the morning, so we could cover the last miles to Linz at a decent time. At Linz-Hörsching they clearly also knew about our visit and here also two hosts were waiting for us. They also came prepared and before we know we were on the C-130 platform since one of their C-130s was about to leave for Lebanon. At Linz we were also helped with every wish we had and the morning was spent very well capturing the Saab 105s and the C-130s. Actually it was not a problem at all that the sun was not cooperating. The second C-130 also took off and we were even given an overshoot by a Typhoon (which apparently was very unusual). All in all we managed to make a good number of very nice photos. In one of the Saab 105 hangars we also found the Me 262 of the Flugmuseum Messerschmitt. After a tasty lunch we went to the hangars of the AB212s in the afternoon. Since (unfortunately) the choppers were not flying anymore in the afternoon we finally got and took the opportunity to get to know the chopper, the principle and the maintenance a little better. Again a very nice visit and we made sure that we thanked our hosts enough! Since we had the time for it we visited a preserved Saab J29 in Linz before we went to our last hotel of the tour.

26 November 2015

Thursday (26 November) was already the last day of the tour. While waking up we saw a fair amount of snow that had fallen the night before. A very nice sight, but also a bit annoying actually. Especially since apart from white, it was a bit foggy as well. We had hoped to be able to make some photos at Tulln-Langenlebarn from the outside today. But, when we arrived there it was all very quiet and foggy and showed no signs of activity for the next hour or two. We decided not to wait any longer and search for some wrecks & relics. After a MiG21 and an Mi-8 we ended up at the Heeresgeschichtliches museum in Vienna during the course of the day. After visiting this time had come already to say goodbye to the first participant. We then continued towards the airport to prepare everything for our return journey. We were there well in time to be able to get something to drink and eat at Wien-Schwechat before our flight to Rotterdam took off. It was the end of a short but very nice tour with a very warm welcome by the Austrian Air Force!

Austria 2015

Austria 2015

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Austria (2015)

Austria 2015

Austria 2015

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