After a long break, the author again had the opportunity to visit the airshow at Varaždin, lovingly organised by the local flying club. Unlike in 2006 and 2009, the MiG-21 was to be represented twice in the flying programme on the day of the visit.
Due to the short runway at Varaždin, only a few of the participating aircraft could also be seen on the ground, including this Air Tractor AT-802 fire-fighting aircraft. The originally planned landing of a MiG-21 was unfortunately cancelled.
Among the most interesting exhibits in the static display were Croatia's "new" OH-58 helicopters.
The flying programme was opened by parachutists dropped from this Mi-8.
The MiG-21UM solo display took place at the highest position of the sun at 1 p.m., ...
... which, together with the grey colour scheme, made nice pictures difficult. As the aircraft with serial 166 ...
... had already flown at Zagreb the day before, the red and white "Kockica" appears to be currently unserviceable.
The display of the police EC135 ...
... was followed by probably the biggest disappointment for the local spectators, the British Eurofighter. After exactly one flypast without any manoeuvre, the aircraft was gone again.
The Austrian Saab 105 gave a very nice display, ...
... that of the local special forces was less spectacular.
The second MiG-21 display included the "interception" of an air target, ...
... represented by a PC-9.
Pleasingly, the two MiG-21bisD of the QRA pair from Zagreb flew with R-60 missiles and a drop-tank under the fuselage.
While the PC-9 landed at Varaždin again, ...
... the MiG-21s raced back to Zagreb ...
... whereupon the satisfied author got into his car and – thanks to the still early time of day – arrived home the same evening.
