Den Otevřených Dveří Čáslav (Czechia) 2005

The open day on May 21 was the official farewell ceremony for the Czech MiG-21s and the first large scale presentation of the Gripen.

The special marking presented on that occasion was not as good as the event itself.

Apart from three MiG-21MFN the UM 9341 was also flying.

Two times four MiG-21, three Gripen as well as two L-159 took off ...

... and flew over the airfield several times in different formations.

Again the Mi-24 showed a stunning display.

The new Gripens are carefully maintained by their technicians.

	MiG-21 Farewell Čáslav (Czechia) 2005

On July 12, 2005 after almost 44 years MiG-21s service with the Czechoslovak / Czech Air Force came to an end. Though this event was marked for the public with Open Day on May 21 the MiG-21s remained in QRA duty until July 1 and took off several times each day. On their way from Čáslav to Prerov Air Base in Eastern Czech where they will be stored until a buyer is found they flew over the airfields of Plzen, Pardubice and Náměšť nad Oslavou to say good bye to their home country.

Six MiG-21 were lined up at the flight line for the final service.

Lt. Col Libor Štefánik signs MiG-21MFN 4405 before flying it to Praha Kbely aviation museum.

All aircraft wore Спасибо (thank you in Russian) titles on fin or fuselage respectively.

For the last time with this background: MiG-21UM 9341 made a few solo flights before it led the farewell formation.

The pilots of the last flight.

Line up for final take off ...

... and formation fly past over the airfield accompanied by two Gripen (not pictured).

The single-seaters flown in from Čáslav are in open storage at Přerov and will be preserved. Two more aircraft were or will be transferred by road.

On July 13 9341 flew four more times with passengers on the back seat.

At 3.20 pm a MiG-21 with Czech markings took off for the very last (?) time.