Zeltweg (Austria)

AirPower16

2 - 3 September 2016

During the Summer of 1991, the Drakens of Fliegerhorst Hinterstoisser frantically patrolled Styria’s southern border, a mere five

minutes’ flight from their base. War had started in Yugoslavia after Slovenia and Croatia had declared independence and the

Austrians feared a spill-over of the conflict. Twenty-five years later, peace has returned, the Draken has become an icon of the

past in Zeltweg and military aircraft from both Slovenia and Croatia took part in Austria’s biggest air show ever.

The event
The AirPower show is a joint undertaking by the Austrian armed forces (Bundesheer), the federated state of Styria

(Steiermark) and the Red Bull company, represented by its subsidiary The Flying Bulls. The three have found a great way

to jointly promote their wide array of goals, such as national security and air defence, tourism and regional prosperity as

well as straight commerce. Because of this, admission has always been free like at genuine air force open days. At the

same time, infomercials about Styria’s culinary highlights can be heard in between flying display acts.

Security measures at AirPower16 were stronger then ever before, with active observation from the control tower by

special forces up to Leopard tanks sitting at strategic entry points to the air base. All who entered the grounds and their

bags were searched for forbidden items but there were ample checkpoints and this was a relatively quick routine. Certainly

due to the great organisation and hard work carried out by no less than 4000 military and 1500 civilian men and women,

the two-day event was a relaxed and enjoyable one. Moreover, all national air show records were broken with some

300.000 spectators and roughly 240 attending aircraft - and the weather played along too.

For number chrunchers, the show at Zeltweg is a relatively easy one. A few hours on base plus a drive around the perimeter

- preferably at a time without too much heat haze - will be enough to bag virtually everything outside, plus a few aircraft

in hangars. For photographers, it can be a mix of ups and downs. The main static display is notoriously situated

in the middle of the crowds, fenced off right along the aircraft or not at all: ideal for laymen, worthless for the average

aviation photographer. To get decent photos of the static planes these have to be caught outside the show days. This

is done best when they are flying in, which most of them did on Thursday. The flying display is set to a grand backdrop

of Styrian Alps, but the fast jets will usually be far from the public except on take-off and landing (think 500-600mm plus

occasional cropping-far). Additionally, manual exposure is a good choice most of the time in order to avoid a mix of underand

over-exposed images, when the background changes constantly from dark green forests to bright white clouds

and back. Decent shots at ground level require attention too, as guards and several larger obstructions are in front of the

crowd line. Obviously, once all this works out, photography here can be very rewarding.

Like at the previous event three years ago, the organisation offered special Spotter Packages sold on a first come, first

serve basis, that sold out in no-time. These allowed their holders part of the facilities offered to the press, among

which was entry to special ‘photo enclaves’: three fenced-off areas directly in front of the general spectators’ line. Other

perks in the package included three meals on the day the package(s) were obtained for.

Lots of Bull
Omnipresent at AirPower16, The Flying Bulls were founded in 1999 but their history goes back to the 1980s. At that time,

Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz met Tyrolean commercial and warbird pilot Siegfried Angerer over a joint

interest: F4U-4 Corsair OE-EAS. This was Sigi’s most exciting flying asset, after he acquired Trojan OE-ESA and a Grumman

Widgeon before. The energy drink boss could not imagine a better visualisation for his well-known corporate slogan than

his new friend’s warbirds and the two decided to join forces. The success of this idea was obvious, and by the end of last

century The Flying Bulls had moved into their new home, two futurist hangars at Salzburg airport.

The fleet now consists of more than twenty flying aircraft, about half of which are classics. This is where a controversy

for aviation enthusiasts steps in: the major part of the Flying Bulls fleet wears company colours, as opposed to original liveries.

For many, the historic planes would be a magnitude more fascinating if they were soaring the skies in a genuine

outfit nowadays. However, we are all aware they would most likely not be flying at all in the first place if it was not for the

advertising they do. An awfully nice exception to the rule is Bristol 171 Sycamore OE-XSY, certainly one of the stars of this

show for classics lovers. This 1957 helicopter with its original wooden rotor blades, the only flying one in the world, shows

splendid genuine RAF Support Command colours with a nottoointrusive Bulls logo on the nose. It took royal influence to

accomplish this, as Queen Elisabeth II herself granted permission to display the Sycamore as such. Bulls chief helicopter

pilot Siegfried ‘Blacky’ Schwarz then had to master the nearsixty year old lady (the rotorcraft that is) by self-tuition as

there was no-one left around with experience on the type. There was ample proof at Zeltweg that he succeeded.

The flying
The organisation succeeded in bringing no less than six well-known demo teams of European air forces to Zeltweg.

Interesting to see was that even the established teams keep improving their routine, with for instance more variation

between large formations and quick action down in front of the spectators than before. Foreign fast jets of note were the

Armée de l’Air Rafale that gave a very spirited display, the Saab Viggen with its always impressive shape and ditto takeoff,

the Belgian F-16 with highly conspicuous afterburner flame (and afterburner stall on Saturday) and sort-of fast

Messerschmidt 262 of the Airbus Heritage Flight.

The latter brings us to classic jets, of which there were many:

the Swedish also brought their Tunnan, Draken and Sk60 (this one stayed on the ground during the show), the Swiss

were present with Vampire and Hunter and there was the Magister from Ingolstadt. All in all, this enabled representing

all the types of Austrian military jet aviation in one formation and so a Saab 105, CM170, Vampire, Sk35, J29, F-5E and EF2000

teamed up for several passes each day. On Friday, air traffic control apparently lured an A400M into several passes and a

touch-and-go, as this one had not been on the programme.

The Austrian air force itself brought all of its operational types to the stage. Their performance varied from solo displays

to acts like the simulated intercept and forced landing of an intruder, right over the base. This demo, a returning

highlight at AirPower meanwhile, is provided by two EF2000s and a C-130, followed by a low-level dog fight between the

two jets. Another attractive act, and a good chance to see quite some Bundesheer helicopters in action at a close distance,

is the staged rescue of civilians trapped in a conflict area. Six AB212s, three S-70s, three Kiowas and four Alouettes

are the flying assets for this demo.

Two premieres were presented by the Flying Bulls, the first one of these being the Red Bull Aces Exhibition. This is a

wingsuit flyer slalom race around strings of flags suspended from Bundesheer Alouettes, a fun-to-watch 3D race that took

no longer than a regular air show item and offered good photo opportunities on the participating helicopters. The

other ‘first’ this year was the formation flying of prop and jet aircraft of considerably varying performance, carrying out

aerobatics together. The formation started as a five-ship with the B-25 leading the P-38, two Alpha Jets and the Corsair. The

B-25 then split off to let the others do four-plane aerobatics

duo display.

The whole flying programme lasted some nine hours, starting at nine o’clock both mornings. Concluding, we can say this

show offers an interesting variety of action amidst inspiring surroundings. It is not the place to score large numbers of

new frames, nor is it an event to expect spotters’ day-like pre-arranged clean photo shooting. It does however have

several unique features and can be the place for great photos and some nice gap-filling in the books.

The log
Where warbirds appear in historically correct markings this is indicated by the note ‘ex/as’ in the last column.

Main static:
30+29, 30+68	EF2000	TLG74	Both special colour scheme

31+16

EF2000

TLG74

46+02

Tornado IDS

TLG33

46+48

Tornado ECR

TLG51

50+81

C-160D

LTG61

57+04

Do228

MFG5

39

JAS39C

MH.59Sz.D.REB

LX-N90444

E-3A+

NAEWF

D-890

CH-47F

298sq

053

Falcon 20ECM

Skv 717/FEKS

L9-68

PC-9M

LETS

0823

Mi-17

2.VrK

Digital colours/special colour scheme

4701

L-39ZAM

ZmK

C.15-41/15-28

EF-18M

Ala 15

special colour scheme

ZK035/Z

Hawk T2

4(R)Sqn

ZH860/16

Merlin HM2

820Sqn

special colour scheme

ZK322/GS

Typhoon FGR4

nb

ZK346

Typhoon FGR4

nb

3C-OH

OH-58B

MzHSSta

3E-KA

SE3160

VeHSSta

special colour scheme

3G-EK

PC-6/B2-H2

ILuTSta

3H-FG

PC-7

Lehrabteilung

special colour scheme

5D-HU, 5D-HV

AB212

ITHSSta

6M-BC

S-70A-42

mTHSSta

7L-WL

EF2000

ÜbwGeschwader

8T-CA

C-130K

LuTSta

RF-26

Saab J105Ö

DusentrainerSta

special colour scheme

D-HDDL

EC135P2

MFG5

F-GLPV

SA313B

G-BEOL

SC-7

Invicta Avn, ex 5S-TC

HB-RVV

Hunter T68

as/ex J-4206/Swiss

N6593D

T-6G

ex 49-3357/FU-18

OE-BXE

EC135P2+

BMi/Polizei

OE-EDM

Ce208

Flying Bulls, amphibian

OE-VDA

DA450

Diamond Aircraft

OE-VDO

DA42

Diamond Aircraft

OE-XEF

EC135T1

Christoforus (ÖAMTC)

OE-XSP

AS332L1

Heli Austria

A very appropriate aircraft on the static was Skyvan G-BEOL, wearing Austrian air force colours since last year. It even has

been given fake serial 5S-TC, in sequence with the two that really existed. On Friday, Diamond 450 OE-VDA was not on

the static but in the flying display, see there.

Warbird static along main static:
D-FJII	Let C-11	as 5 white

D-FUMY

T-28C

ex/as 146246/2S-0749

D-FYGJ

Yak-3M

as 5 white, replica

F-AZXS

F-51D

as 44-14237/HO-W

(G-CBOE)

Hurricane 2B

as RhodesAF AG244

(G-MXVI)

Spitfire LF16

ex/as RAF TE184/VY

N817FK

Reliant I

ex/as RN FK817

The Mustang is called “Moonbeam McSwine” and the Hurricane is former RCAF CCF Hurricane 5487.

Light aircraft & helicopter static:
73+63	UH-1D	THR30

79+11

NH90TTH

THR30 nb

D-ELEV

FWP149D

ex/as 91+22/GAF

(G-TXAN)

AT-6D

as USN SNJ-5 51970/V

OE-AAY

Grob 115D

Sportfluggr. Kondor

OE-AFC

PA-18-95

ex/as 2A-AO/Austria

OE-XMO

R44

Thomas Morgenstern

N69KL

Su-29

Flying Bulls

N991DM

Ce337D

Flying Bulls

Flying Bulls static & flightlines:
D-MECH/3	MT-03	Flying Bulls

D-METP, D-MRBX/2

MT-03

Flying Bulls

N11FX

TAH-1F

Flying Bulls

N25Y

P-38L

ex 44-53254

N806CR

CA41

Flying Bulls

N3866K

GC-1B

Aircraft Partner 4U

N6123C

B-25J

ex 44-86893

OE-CRB

EA300/L

Flying Bulls

OE-EAS/RB-37

F4U-4

ex 614/Honduras

OE-ESA

T-28B

as/ex USN 138179/MG

OE-LDM

DC-6B

ex Zambia/GBM-110

OE-XSY

Sycamore Mk52

as RAF/XG545

The majority of these performed flying displays at least once on both days. Topping the list are three ultralight autogyros

while N806CR is aerobatic legend Peter Besenyei’s Corvus Racer, in which he pulls up to 10G’s. N3866K is a Globe Swift

125, a low-wing two-seater designed in the 1940s. It appears to be based with the Flying Bulls at Salzburg but wears no Bulls

markings. Well-known dark blue Corsair OE-EAS entered US Navy service once as BuNo 96995. Trojan OE-ESA used to wear

similar colours, but now has an olive drab and matte black livery after a cumulative two years of man hours in rework.

Trade static:
CPX622	M346	Leonardo Aircraft

D-HADS

BK117D2

Airbus Helicopter

I-AGGR

AW109

Leonardo Aircraft

OM-ATR

Bell 429

Air-Transport Europe

no marks

EC635

Airbus Helic. ‘Air Force’

The latter appears to be a non-flying real airframe, in camouflage as used by the Iraqi Army Aviation. The type of D-HADS

was derived from its construction plate but it promotes the current version H145.

Flying:
FA123	F-16AM	10w

H29

A109BA

1w

special colour scheme / flying Saturday only.

9236

JAS39C

211.tl

special colour scheme

3370

Mi-35

221.vrl

as EV953/PP

142/4-GU

Rafale C

ETR02.092

MM62215/46-80

C-27J

46°BA

105

MiG-29A

1.elt

5301

L-39CM

ZmK

special colour scheme / flying Saturday only.

L9-65

PC-9M

LETS

flying Friday only

C.15-67/15-33

EF-18M

Ala15

J-3070

F-5E

FlSt6

3C-OC, 3C-OE

OH-58B

MzHSSta

3C-OL

OH-58B

MzHSSta

3E-KE, 3E-KK

SE3160

VeHSSta

3E-KL

SE3160

VeHSSta/SAR

flying Saturday only.

3E-KN

SA316B

VeHSSta

3E-KT

SA316B

VeHSSta/EUFOR

3G-EB, 3G-ED

PC-6/B2-H2

ILuTSta

3G-EF, 3G-EH

PC-6/B2-H2

ILuTSta

3G-EN

PC-6/B2-H4

ILuTSta

special colour scheme

3H-FC

PC-7

Lehrabteilung Fläche

special colour scheme

5D-HB, 5D-HF

AB212

ITHSSta

5D-HG, 5D-HL

AB212

ITHSSta

5D-HR, 5D-HY

AB212

ITHSSta

6M-BA, 6M-BB

S-70A-42

mTHSSta

6M-BD

S-70A-42

mTHSSta

flying Saturday only.

6M-BG

S-70A-42

mTHSSta

flying Friday only

6M-BH

S-70A-42

mTHSSta

7L-WF, 7L-WI

EF2000

ÜbwGeschwader

7L-WK, 7L-WN

EF2000

ÜbwGeschwader

8T-CC

C-130K

LuTSta

GD-14

Saab J105Ö

DüsentrainerSta

special colour scheme

RB-22, RD-24

Saab J105Ö

DüsentrainerSta

RH-28, BA-31

Saab J105Ö

DüsentrainerSta

D-EUNA

EA300/L

Flying Bulls

D-HSDM, D-HTDM

Bo105C

Flying Bulls

D-IFCC/10

CM170

Flugwerk, ex GAF/93+02

D-IMTT

Me262B-1A

Mess.Stiftung

replica

EC-402

A400M

Airbus Def&Space

flying Friday only

F-AZXJ

Sea Fury FB11

as RAN WH589/HW-115

HB-MHW

EA330/SC

Herbert Weirather

flying Friday only

HB-RVJ

Vampire T55

ex/as U-1228/Swiss AF

OE-EMD

PC6/B2-H4

Flying Bulls

OE-FAS, OE-FRB

Alpha Jet A

ex GAF/40+90, 41+30

OE-XDM

TH-13T

ex USAr 66-8075

OE-XFB

EC135T2

Flying Bulls

OE-XTV

AS350B3+

Flying Bulls

OE-ROO

Kubicek BB-S

Styria

OE-0758, OE-5733

L-13

Flying Bulls

SE-DXB

J29F

ex/as Swed AF/29670/R

SE-DXN

AJS37

ex/as Swed AF/37098/52

SE-DXP

Sk35C

ex/as Swed AF/35810/79

SE-XVO

Fokker D.VII

M. Carlson

replica / flying Saturday only.

The Czech Mi-35 wears colours from the Second World War with accompanying RAF-style serial and code. Sea Fury

F-AZXJ was built in 1944 for the Iraqi air force, crashed fifteen years ago as N56SF and happily thunders on since being

rebuilt. The German Magister is called “Der Phoenix von Manching” and wears two-tone grey with a German military

cross. OE-ROO is a heart-shaped balloon that was tethered as part of the opening act on both days. The L-13s are Let

Blaníks, a pair of gliders whose pilots perform a truly impressive synchro display.

Diamond Aircraft formation, Friday only:

OE-DWS

DA40

Diamond Aircraft

OE-FSB

DA62

Diamond Aircraft

OE-FVI

DA42NG

OE-VDA

DA450

Diamond Aircraft

OE-VFT

DA42NG

Diamond Aircraft

Dart-450 OE-VDA was the lead aircraft and was moved to the static display for Saturday.

Demo Teams:

Krila Oluje PC-9M of EA
056 059 062 063 067 069 + spare 066

The Wings of Storm performed on Saturday only.

Patrouille de France, Alpha Jet E of EPAA20.300
E45/F-TETF/6 E79/F-TENA/4 E88/F-TELL/7 E114/F-TERR/2

E119/F-UGFE/3 E139/F-UGFC/8 E146/F-UHRR/1 E166/F-UHRW/5

+ spares E68/(F-TEMO)/9 E162/F-TERJ/0

The Alpha Jet coded 0 left Zeltweg on Friday after the show, to return shortly after 11 o’clock on Saturday.

Frecce Tricolori, MB339A of 313Gr
MM54477/8 MM54505/5 MM54510/10 MM54534/6 MM54539/11

MM54551/1 MM55052/4 MM55053/7 MM55054/9 MM55055/12

Orlik Aerobatic Team, PZL130TC-2 of 42.BLSz
038 040 042 043 048 049 050 051

Team Orlik did their display on Friday only.

Patrulla Aguila, C101EB
E.25-06/79-06/2 E.25-13/79-13/5 E.25-22/79-22/6 E.25-23/79-23/3

E.25-38/79-38/7 E.25-62/79-17/1 E.25-87/79-29 # + spare

E.25-69/79-97/8

Swiss Air Force PC-7 Team, PC-7 (NC) of the Pilotenrekrutenschule
A-912 A-915 A-925 A-926 A-929 A-931 A-932 A-935 A-941

Spares and other non-performers on flightlines:
FA104	F-16AM	10w

133/4-GL

Rafale C

ETR02.092

38

MiG-29A

1.elt

J-3097

F-5E

nn

3C-OI

OH-58B

MzHSSta

SE-DXG

Sk60C

ex/as Swed AF/60140/140

T7-FMA

PC-7

Flmus. Altenrh. ex A-907

Abovementioned San Marino-registered PC-7 is still in its Swiss air force orange and black outfit. The spare Kiowa was

sitting on the northern side of the field and the spare Belgian F-16 made a show-worthy departure on Saturday.

Support:
CH01	C-130H	20sq

195/62-HC

CN235M-300

ET03.062

R205/64-GE

C-160R

ETE00.064

MM62287

P180

31°St

020

C295M

13.el

TR.20-01/403-11

Ce560

403 Esc

T-729

Beech 1900D

LTDB

T-784

Ce560XL

LTDB

The Piaggio departed on Saturday morning shortly after 8 o’clock.

Elsewhere:
3A-BM	L-19E	Fliegerschule Zeltweg

3E-KZ, 3E-LA

SE3160

VeHSSta/SAR

3F-SR

Saab 91D

Fliegerschule Zeltweg

3H-FC

PC-7

Lehrabteilung Fläche

7L-WB, 7L-WE

EF2000

ÜbwGeschwader

7L-WJ

EF2000

ÜbwGeschwader

OE-BXD

EC135P2+

BMi/Polizei

OE-GNP

Ce560XLS

Salzburg Jet Aviation

The Bird Dog and Safir have been preserved as Lehrobjekt Fliegerschule and were on the northern side of the field. Both

Alouettes resided in the SAR area (where more helicopters could be seen over several days). The PC-7 was with others in

its hangar and identified. The Eurofighters were hangared as well: 7L-WJ with the demo aircraft at Hangar II and the other

two in the hangar behind the Red Bull flightline. The police EC135 was patrolling and the Citation Excel was seen departing

on Friday evening.

Preserved:
(35339)	J35D		as 25

3A-CO

L-19A

3F-SR

Saab 91D

Plus the aircraft in the Militärluftfahrtmuseum Zeltweg/

Hangar 8. A link to its web page can be found at our Airfield

Guide under scramble.nl/airfield-guide/zeltweg.

Credits: The contributors to the Scramble Message Board thread at forum.scramble.nl/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=118708.

Scramble thanks the AirPower organisation for their great hospitality and offered facilities.

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