NATO Day 2016 Ostrava, Czech Republic

[upnorth]

Hello all,

This weekend was the annual NATO Day show in Ostrava, Czech Republic. I went on Saturday, the weather was hazy and rainy but the show was great. The static park was full with both familiar and new machines.

A few years ago, they introduced a "Special Partner" program for the exhibition where one of the NATO nations would be highlighted in the displays. This year, that nation was Germany and they were very generous with what they brought.

Here's some of what was there to be seen this year. The photos aren't great due the weather I'm afraid:

Making the type's NATO Day premier, both Norway and Germany had P-3 Orions in the statics:




Here's a few views of the German contingent in the statics:







A Hercules, courtesy of the Swedes:


The first time since 2008 an Apache has been at the show and the first time for an American one:


Without a doubt, the big draw for me this year was the Romanian MiG-21. They had one in the statics and one flying:


Typhoons were big this year. There were four in the statics and all five European users did flying displays:


The much talked about and spectacular "Alien Tiger" was available at close quarters:



A few Aero L-39 Albatros trainers were in the statics, including this Lithuanian one:


The B-1B appeared at NATO Day for the first time:


A Czech police Bell 412 in the rain:


The Frecce Tricolori provided the team aerobatics display:


A couple of VIP transports that were not part of the show, but interesting nonetheless. A Czech CL-601 Challenger and a German Global Express 5000:




In the spirit of giving a complete picture of the event, here's a few shots of the ground force display:

A Mil mi-17 drops off troops:


A Leopard MBT in from Germany:


A 9K35 Strela-10 aimed skyward:


A pair of BVP-2 vehicles:


This last picture wasn't part of the show at all, but it does show better than any other I took just how wet the day was:

[loupgarou]

Wow, what a big show!
Thanks for the photos, very good in spite of the weather.
I hope your camera survived the rain.

[NARSES2]

Great pics 

The Alien Tiger is superb 

[PR19_Kit]

The Alien Tiger is superb 

One of the guys in the Special Markings SIG did that in 1/72, and had it at the Bristol Show. A truly AWESOME paint and decal job. 

[zenrat]

The scheme on the MiG 21 is definitely food for thought.

Thanks for sharing.

[NARSES2]

Yup the Romanian Migs do look good.

Two seat Typhoons just don't look right to me, and the way the canards drop combined with the mouth made by the remove before flight tag makes them look like the simpleton character in a Disney old school cartoon ? The two seater is not an attractive aircraft IMHO.

[PR19_Kit]

Two seat Typhoons just don't look right to me, and the way the canards drop combined with the mouth made by the remove before flight tag makes them look like the simpleton character in a Disney old school cartoon ? The two seater is not an attractive aircraft IMHO.

I'm with you there Chris, the two seat Typhoon is one of the worst looking two seaters around just now. 

But they can be made to look good, some looking better than their single seat counterparts, the Su-27 being a prime case.

[Captain Canada]

What a great selection ! Thanks for sharing. Would love to hit another show in Europe and see all of the different machinery. The tanks would be a welcome sight as well. Love the line up of US heavies !

[upnorth]

What a great selection ! Thanks for sharing. Would love to hit another show in Europe and see all of the different machinery. The tanks would be a welcome sight as well. Love the line up of US heavies !

Thanks.

Shows like this make me realise how lucky I am when I hear people complain about how dull shows have become and how predicatable an repetative the show line ups have become.

It also makes me nostalgic for the biannual show that CFB Edmonton had when it was still under Air Command jurisdiction. They'd make sure to coordinate with the Maple Flag exercise at Cold Lake and we'd get a full apron of good stuff and a rich flying program every time. It was great being an Air Cadet and helping out with that show back in the day.

Edmonton tried having a show a couple of times out at the international airport after the base shifted to the army in 1990 or so, but it wasn't the same at all. It wasn't as big or as well organised and I think they only did it twice.