Tag Archives: Aero Vodochody

Finally, The Aero 45 Is Airborne for Me

I have seen the Aero Vodochody designed and Let Kunovice built Aero 45 before at events.  However, it was always parked and never in motion.  I think it is such a cool looking like aircraft and reminds me of a mini Heinkel HE-111.  I really wanted to see it flying and I have had two opportunities this year to do so.  First it showed up at Concrete for the fly in.  This was great news as I got it landing from close proximity and then again when it took off.

It was not a lot later that the Arlington show was setting up.  I wasn’t going to be at the show but I was there the day before for some warbird flying and the Aero 45 was coming in to be on static.  (This was a repeat of the first time I saw it in person which was also at Arlington.). Not so close this time but another opportunity to catch it in flight.  What a cool looking plane.  Glad we have it up here in the PNW.

Bulgarian L39

I was doing a favor for a guy I know back from Chicago.  He is researching Bulgarian aircraft that have found their way to the US and one of the planes he was interested in is an L39 Albatros that lives up at not too far from me.  I went up to meet with the owner and get copies of the aircraft documentation.  When I was done, he offered to take me to have a look at the plane in his hangar.  It is a lovely looking jet.  It was in amongst a bunch of other stuff in the hangar which made getting nice shots of it a little tricky, but it was still good to get shots of it.

Please Come Back Before Sunset

Some late day departures after the Flag returns included F-15Es, F-35As, L159s and A-4s.  You don’t know how long anyone is scheduled to be out but you find yourself hoping that they will all make it back before the sun sets so you can get some arrival shots in the nicest light available.  Once they are gone, it is a case of watching the time and crossing your fingers.  As it was, we got lucky.  They came back in a steady stream with all of them showing up as the sun was at its best.  Arriving over Cheyenne is not ideal from a sun angle perspective at this time of year but we still got some nice angles.  Some turned tighter while others went wider so we got to try all sorts of angles out to see which picked up what light was remaining.

Breitling Jet Team

There are a number of jet display teams that are operated by militaries around the world.  Private jet demo teams also exist although there are a lot less of them.  The Aero Vodochody L39 Albatros is an airframe that has proved popular with private teams.  In the Midwest, the Hoppers used to display with four jets while out west the Patriots team are a regular fixture.  In Europe, the Breitling team has been around for a long time.  I saw them when we still lived in the U.K. at a couple of shows but they decided to bring the team to the US for a couple of seasons.

My first chance to see them was at San Francisco Fleet Week.  I didn’t have any expectations about how the show would be and I wasn’t super excited about seeing the team.  However, I was pleasantly surprised by the show that they put on.  The display was well planned and kept something going on in front of the crowd.  The Albatros is not a powerful jet so they need to manage the energy well to keep the display going and they did this effectively.  The backdrop of the bay was obviously a good addition to the display.  They did combine the individual jets with the formation jets well.  They also made good use of flares at one point during the vertical maneuvers.  That is something you don’t see enough these days.  Sadly, it doesn’t always translate as well on photos as it appeared when you are seeing the display.

I don’t know what the plan is for the team this year but I imagine they will need to go back to Europe at some point.  Two years away must have been an expensive proposition and means they will not have made any appearances over there.  Maybe they will be here again but I can’t count on it.  I think they are done.  Good job though.