After the planned visit to the Bucharest International Airshow (BIAS) was cancelled due to the lack of MiG-21 participation (not even one example of what is numerically still the most important Romanian combat aircraft could be seen in the static display!), the author decided, in view of the announced brief appearance of a Croatian MiG-21, on a spontaneous trip to Airpower at Zeltweg – 22 years after his first visit to the event.
Even if the variety of equipment shown could not match earlier times, the brief appearance of the MiG-21 alone in front of the picturesque mountain backdrop was worth the – by today's standards not even that long – journey.
Because of the traffic jam on the way there, the author unfortunately missed the opening. His first complete programme item was therefore the Hungarian Gripen, which gave a dynamic display with lots of flares (which is generally the trend) and the torching of dumped kerosene.
The Krila Oluje from Croatia currently fly with six aircraft again.
One of the highlights of the event was undoubtedly the display of the MiG-15 – less because of the rather unspectacular manoeuvres, but above all because of the great motif the silver aircraft made against the mountain background.
The Austrian Eurofighter really let it rip in the truest sense of the word, flying large parts of its display with the sheer power of its two engines on full afterburner.
What remained in memory of the Greek F-16 was above all its extremely dark and worn-looking exterior.
Saab J-35 Draken ...
... and Galeb G-2 flew both in pairs and singly and were also among the visual treats of the event.
Unfortunately, the Croatian MiG-21UMD operated from its home base Zagreb-Pleso, so nice take-off pictures against the wooded background were not possible. And most of the flying programme also took place at a relatively great height and distance from the spectators. In addition, ...
... the clouds were densest just when the MiG-21 was flying. But at least the last flypast provided the typical Zeltweg look and would have been worth the visit to the event on its own.
As Russian equipment will soon hardly be seen in Europe due to NATO and EU sanctions, the participation of a Mi-35 ...
... and a Mi-17 from the Czech Republic was also a pleasing splash of colour in a programme that in a few years will probably seem just as unbelievable as the 2000 programme does today.
Given the nice contrast of the red and white F-5s of the Patrouille Suisse against the Zeltweg sky, it is all the more regrettable that the Croatian "Kockica" in the same colours no longer flies.
The author also saw the Me 262 replica in action for the first time at Zeltweg.
As the author had decided to leave early in view of the huge crowds and the resulting traffic problems, the Austrian air policing demonstration with Eurofighters and C-130 was the last programme item he saw from the event site. And here, too, ...
... the local Eurofighters in particular put on a great show.
The author watched the B-52 flypast from the car park before setting off home satisfied.
Despite great exhibits, above all the Chinese Y-20, the static display was a total failure, ...
... as hardly anything could be seen of the aircraft due to the tight barriers and the masses of visitors. In the case of the Polish Su-22, there was the additional problem that it stood at the beginning of its area, while ...
... the L-39NG could at least be photographed largely unhindered from the direction of the neighbouring aircraft.
