Czech International Air Fest Hradec Králové (Czech Republic) 2000
The 2000 Czech International Air Fest at Hradec Králové was the first airshow the author attended not only during the event itself but also on the days before, during the arrival of the participants. And that alone was worth it, as they included Romanian MiG-21 LanceR for the first time. The display of a LanceR B two-seater then also marked one of the highlights of the flying programme. Otherwise, the range of participants extended from the Ukrainian Tu-22, which unfortunately only arrived at dusk, through Su-27s also from Ukraine, F-16s from all over the world, Mirage F1 and 2000, AMX, Tornado and so on ...
A new sight that was soon to become very familiar: one of the recently upgraded Romanian MiG-21 LanceR C.
The hosts had also brought MiG-21s, which, however, could only be seen on the ground ...
... whereas the second Romanian aircraft, a LanceR B, ...
... was also demonstrated in the air.
The IAR 330 SOCAT, too, was one of the novelties that were later to become a familiar sight.
Domestic types could also be seen in abundance, "domestic" here meaning both the Czech and Slovak air forces. The types shown included W-3A Sokol, ...
... L-410UVP, ...
... the L-39s of the Biele Albatrosy, ...
... Mi-17, ...
... L-159 ALCA and L-159T, ...
... Mi-24 ...
... and the Su-25s still flying at that time.
From Ukraine came, besides the Il-76 support aircraft, ...
... a two-seat and a single-seat Su-27 ...
... and, as the highlight, the Tu-22M.
Further representatives of the wide range of foreign guests were this US F-15, ...
... a Spanish Mirage F.1 ...
... and a Swedish C-130 Hercules, which gave a nice display.
Around the turn of the millennium, the German Luftwaffe also still gave impressive displays – especially at foreign airshows – both with the Tornado ...
