Ostrava-Leoš Janáček (Czechia)

NATO Days & Czech AF Days 2021

18-19 September 2021

F-16 J-063 has a mark for the Dutch MiG kill under the cockpit. The L-39NG also did flying displays and was pulled off the static for that purpose on both days. The German Bell is operated under a German Army training contract and painted olive with dayglo. The Slovak EC135 is a Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) machine.

The Czech police EC135 was operating from the grass next to the static display while the colleagues in the Bell 412 flew in from a nearby station.

On both show days, the tanker flyby was met with such a low cloud ceiling that the participants could not even be read off. The serials for both here are from ADSB data, while the trailing fighters were not even identified. The MiG-29 was technically not just flying, as it started its display with a touch&go both times.

The jetliners marked with # in the last column were semicocooned: all windows and openings taped off or otherwise covered. Registrations between brackets had been covered as well. Except for the Saab, all of these are sitting on the north aprons or in the adjacent hangars.

The Saab lies, engineless, on its belly. The Cheyenne has no engines either, it suffered a gear collapse in January 2017. Finally, the 737’s engines have been removed as well and the full titles on this machine read ‘Aircraft Recovery Training Center’, ‘Ostrava Airport Leos Janacek’ and ‘Partner of ResQTec’.

The setup of this show, held at an operational civil airport, is somewhat non-standard. Regular air traffic is fit in between display acts, or the other way around. The static show and related activities are situated at and around the dispersals at the north end of the field. The public walks here from the grass parking areas, between the taxiways and runway 22 or further away.

The display line runs perpendicular to the runway, crossing it halfway, making this another flying display that is backlit when seen from the showgrounds. For this reason, many photographers choose to stay outside the fence to record the action in the air. This can be done from either the beginning of runway 04 (good spots along the fence overlooking final and the holding point) or a field just west of the airport. This field borders the part of the display line where the helicopters perform, not far from the static display.

On the airfield though, there are good views of runway 22 from the parking area in the morning and the static area in the afternoon. To control the amount of spectators, tickets had to be obtained in advance. The airshow itself is free, only a minimal processing fee applied. Parking had to be payed for. Those arriving by train had the longest walk: the railway station lies conveniently next to the terminal, but roughly 3km from the static display.

The static is challenging for photos to say the least, with fences very close to the airplanes. This does provide options for closer looks, though. After the corona and security checks, there were no restrictions to move around on the showground whatsoever.

Construction numbers in this report have been checked on location.

We also mention a few planes of interest that were seen on the Thursday before the event. The Skyvan was operating from nearby Zábřeh airfield for Ironbird Photography.

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