Open Day At Mont De Marsan

[Archibald]

Great pics, Archibald!  Thanks for sharing them with us.  Now, forgive my ignorance, but can you please tell me what this intriguing little airplane is?

No ignorance at all, the plane itself is rather obscure
It's a Max Holste (MH-can't-remember-the-number, think it was MH-521) Broussard. Max Holste was a great ingenier of the 50's which built various models of light transport aircrafts used by the Armée de Terre aviation (ALAT).
More infos here (this website is great for photos, less for text)

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php

Max Holste section
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?...UCTEUR&MOTCLEF=

I've just discovered (thanks to you JHM ) that in 1960 Max Holste become Reims Aviation , famous here for its licence-build Cessnas 172 and Caravans, later changed into cheap MP and Elint platforms.

Yeah, F-16s can be noisy beasts as I well know. In full burner, a F-16 on takeoff will trigger car alarms all over Lockheed's parking lot here.

good thing is, the F-16 is so noisy you won't  heard those car alarms (at least, at the beginning   )
I just trying to imagine the thing, the F-16 thundering (BRRROOOOOOOOAAAAAMMMM) then climbing rapidly, leaving behind  panick stricken alarm cars "toooyiiii-toyiiiiiii-toyyyiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-toyiiiiiiiiii"

Hmmm I don't know much about french camos, you should ask Pollux which is much well-informed than I on this topic. I'll PM him if you want

[elmayerle]

Actually, the Reims-built Cessna that's really hot, though only for a single-pilot, is the FRA-150.  It started as a standard Cessna 150 Aerobat and then replaced the O200 engine and fixed-pitched prop with an IO240 engine and a constant speed prop; a significant gain in power and performance.

[B777LR]

F-16s make a horrible sound...you can hear them from miles around! The afterburner sound is bearble, but without it.. ouch

[Archibald]

F-16s make a horrible sound...you can hear them from miles around! The afterburner sound is bearble, but without it.. ouch

Maybe, but two Mirage 2000 are even noisier  

I mean, when we arrived at 10H20 on the morning, (the show had started 20 mn before) there was a show with two Mirage 2000, basically a 2000-5 interceptor chasing a 2000D at low level... unforgivable!!    
I've made some videos of the low-level bypass of the 2000s, but it is rather short    

The F-16 demo happened at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, we were seated in front of hangar (sun was rather harsh this day) and there was a family with a little boy... the guy went to the barriers (just before the F-16 took off) to see aircrafts parked there.
This damned F-16 then surprised everyone with a short take-off, climbing hard, trailing smoke and thundering loudly... and this poor little boy ran to its parent arms, shouting of terror... he'll probably never forget its first contact with the Viper        

[Mossie]

F-16s make a horrible sound...you can hear them from miles around! The afterburner sound is bearble, but without it.. ouch

Maybe, but two Mirage 2000 are even noisier  

And the Harrier in hover has them both beat - together!!!!      

Thanks for the pics Archie, they're great.  I was hoping to go to Waddington airshow here in the UK at the end of the month, but the main reason was for the return of the Vulcan, I only managed to see it once before it retired.  I probably won't go now, as it's not going to be ready in time.      Ah well, I'm sure thery'll be plenty of chance to see it again once it's ready!  

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Great pics, Archibald - thanks for sharing them.
Noise - I will never forget 12 V-bombers scrambling at Farnborough Air Show in the early 60's!
 

[B777LR]

F-16s make a horrible sound...you can hear them from miles around! The afterburner sound is bearble, but without it.. ouch

Maybe, but two Mirage 2000 are even noisier  

And the Harrier in hover has them both beat - together!!!!      

Never heard a harrier, but the Gripen is more nasty than a F-16.
Mig-29s arent as bad as you would think. Its more of a roar, than a whine like western jets
On the other end of the noise scale, the C-17 and Challengers are the most quiet jets ive ever heard, more quiet than a Dash-8    

[Archibald]

Great pics, Archibald - thanks for sharing them.
Noise - I will never forget 12 V-bombers scrambling at Farnborough Air Show in the early 60's!

Lucky guy!!      I've missed the Mirage IV by only two years - I'm quite sure that there was some of them at the last MdM open day in 1998...

There was a C-17 at the extreme corner of the base, this explain why I have been scorched by the sun   (my nose was as red as the nose of an alcoholic tramp next morning, something like that =  :zzz:  )

I'm glad you enjoy the pics guys, this was not my first meeting but it was my first open day...

Stephanie has family near Evreux (west of Paris)... Evreux air base is the heart of french transports squadrons (FAP, Force Aerienne de Projection) and there's another meeting there on july... I would like to go there, time will tell...