After cancelling the 2015 edition of the Oldtimertreffen it was a pleasure to find out the 2016 edition would take place again. The air show at this small airport is always very friendly and there are over 350 vintage aircraft and aircraft attending. It reminds partly of the German Oktoberfesten where you can cosily drink a beer and eat sausages. But now while enjoying many beautiful aircraft.
In the evening of Friday 9 September our regular reliable coach travel partner Munckhof made her round through the Netherlands to pick up passengers for the OTT16 at different locations. At 23.00 we departed our last pick-up point in Eindhoven and set off for the trip of just over 500 kilometres to the airport at Hahnweide near Kircheim unter Teck. The trip went smoothly and after the planned stops, we arrived at the airport at 05:50.
At every other air show you then have to wait a further 2 hours, but here the ticket office was open at this early our already and we could visit the flight lines almost immediately to take some images in the dark. Some visitors to the event, which came with a private plane, then were still sleeping in a tent or in the open air near their plane. A funny sight. Slowly the sun came out for even more unique photo opportunities. Just before nine o’clock everyone was asked to leave the flight line. Then you could stay on the entire north side of the runway watching the many flight activities. Some aircraft still came in from the southeast which could be photographed with the beautiful valley as a background. After that the air show started and lasted well into the evening hours to be continued as a hangar party late into the night.
From about 10 in the morning the sun will turn in front of you. The photo opportunities are a little trickier, but still very doable. For the more active enthusiasts you can find a legal spot, with the sun in your back, on the south side of the airport. But that is a brisk walk for about half an hour. In the last edition there were more opportunities, but part of the south side is now unfortunately closed due to flight safety (no aircraft allowed above the audience).
The air show is characterized by a great variety of aircraft, from a Fokker triplane up to younger warbirds like the famous P-51 Mustang and Spitfire. From outside the field a Messerschmidt Me-262 and Fouga CM170 Magister came along for some passes. During the show, there is also the possibility to join sightseeing flights with An-2 (of which there were seven present) or Ju-52. The German warbird scene has greatly expanded in recent years, and many want to attend this show to proudly display their aircraft. They certainly succeeded again this year.
Our bus driver was again in time, like all our travellers so we departed at exactly 20.00 for our journey home. On the way one more stop and at exactly 05.00 the last participants were dropped in Tiel. This again was a very nice trip where everyone has enjoyed themselves a lot in beautiful weather.
