1] Tp.102D (Gulfstream550) 102005 of the TFSE carrying Mr. Zelensky.
2] Followed shortly by C-130J-30 B-583 of Esk721, who took Mr. Zelensky's entourage back to Skrydstrup.
With P3-P5 all temporary of limits due to the high profile VIP visiting the base, it was not worth waiting for departure shots. With the weather still being great I considered my options and decided I wanted to pay a visit to the Air Cadets at Weelde. Something I hadn't done in a long time and not knowing if access was still possible.
Upon arrival it turned out that there was a family day planned this afternoon and it would be possible to join them on base. First all attendees received an educational briefing about the Royal Belgian Air Cadets and what the plan would be for this afternoon. Each year they select and train around 50 new cadets (aspirants) between the age of 15-16 years old for a three year course. This will be done mainly during summer camps, each lasting around 3 weeks. The first of which is exclusively held at Weelde. After receiving their wings in the first year, they move on becoming a flight cadet in the second year and will be tought being towed by a tow aircraft (exclusively at Bertrix) as well as other types of gliders and be able to fly from other airbases as well during weekend (Florennes & Beauvechain). In the third year they are considered being seniors and they are helping out new cadets and perform being the link between new cadets and the board. They can sign up for an additional three years untill they reach the age of 21. It is no surprise that many of these cadets actually end up in the Air Force.
It turned out that some things will be changing as of next year, as now they are still a non profit association supported by the Belgium Air Component. As of next year they will lose the entity of being a association and actually become part of the Belgium Air Component and an element of the 1 Wing. That will hopefully also mean finally receiving additional funds and modernization, which was high on the demands by the board.
In total there were 10 gliders assigned to Weelde for this years summer camps (PL30/42/44/74/75/90/91/93/94/97). PL30 was doing a 5hr solo flight above/around the base. After completion the cadet flying it would receive his wings. PL42 was not noted (it did suppose to fly from here yesterday) as well as PL75 which had not been noted here since early july.
After the briefing we were be escorted to the glider area where the family got to finaly re-unite with their loved ones after three weeks and it proved to be an exceptional visit.
3] Three Grob103's and a DG-505 lined up for winching. After launching four gliders, each of the +/-1300meter winch cables are being collected and brought back to the OPS area.
4] PL44/OO-YDJ shaking up some dust on the heath. It was the only DG-505 noted that day, being one of four operated by the RBAC.
5] PL90/OO-YTR is a recent addition. It was just added to the fleet last month.
6] PL91/OO-YTI on the other hand has been in the inventory already since 1988!
7] PL93/OO-YTK on the tow with the parachute vissable (for dropping the 1300meter of cable back to earth safely).
8] PL94/OO-YTL on the roll.
9] PL97/OO-YTP (along with the PL90) showed the additional "Royal" before "Belgian Air Cadets".
10] Braking on final on final approach with the church tower of Weelde in the background.
11] Finally flaring over the heath and waiting to touch down.
12] The hops were relatively short, mainly as the gathered family got the chance to fly as well, so there were a lot of landings and take offs.
13] Playing around with the shutterspeeds.
14] The DG-505 is a very elegant design in my opinion!
16] Going ballistic
17] Two proud Air Cadets posing.
I hope you enjoyed this photo report. More pictures can be found in this album: https://ibb.co/album/k3PhdM
