HAF Open days 5-8 Nov 2010

[GIPS]

6 November Megara
Static
No, just kidding. On our drive from Agrinion to Tatoi, we drove past Megara. Lots of helicopters parked on the ramp. After Elefsis we decided to try and get some of them. By the time we climbed the hill near the gate, sun was almost gone but a few UH-1's parked near the gate were seen. Trees now obstruct viewing the main ramp from the hill.
ES620, ES688, ES694 UH-1H
Next stop the parked Chinooks, but these proved to be impossible due to the darkness. Some other aircraft were seen between buildings but stopping was not an option because of the LOCALS. Clearly not totally satisfied, we returned early next morning.....
7 November Megara
Chinook-ramp
ES917, ES907, ES901, ES910, ES902, ES914, ES903, ES912
ES402 C-12
Main ramp, seen between buildings
ES839, ES672, ES616, ES624, ES601 UH-1H ES301, ES321, ES291 U-17
Near gate
ES630 UH-1 + preserved heli ?
The last UH-1 nearly was one too much. When parked at the old gate, getting out of the car to get this last one, the bikers driving towards us turned out to be the police. But they slowly drove past, hardly looking at us, so we quickly read off the serial and hastily departed to Tatoi.

Your preserved heli near the gate is ES-722 an OH-13

[Sadammie]

7 November Tanagra
Static-preserved
61106 F-102
(6662)/FG-662 F-104 + 5961/TF-5961 TF-104
115 + 129 Mirage F.1
35118 T-33
526743 F-84 as "526742"
235 F-86
Static
71756 F-4E
237 Mirage2000EG + 505 Mirage2000
Hangar
233 Mirage2000EG + 548 Mirage2000
Shelter area
507 + 514 + 540 + 554 + 555 Mirage2000 + other part shelters 547 Mirage2000
Flying only
534 F-16
We accidentally entered via another gate, not using the main gate with the preserved Starfighter, and found our routing to the static was past a couple of aircraft. Also, two Phantoms were seen, parked on the SW part of the field, along with some other types. The Spooks remained unidentified (on this day at least)
Mirage2000 ramp
210 + 217 Mirage2000
decoys
61040 + 61001 F-102 + (228?) Mirage2000 hulk
Mirage F.1 area, all stored
102, 104, 107, 109, 113, 117, 121, 122, 133, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140
Preserved gate
6691 F-104
We had to park the car near the HAI platforms which contained some more goodies.
HAI platform
1039 + 1041 CL215 / 2042 CL415 / 1x C-47 / 1x F-4E
3x P-3, no visible serial, but by proces of elimination these should be 153415, 153424, 153427
After the show, we drove around the base and at some point had a view on some aircraft parked SW and later found ourselves next to the dump of HAI.
Preserved/decoy SW
114 + 124 Mirage F.1 / 69132 + ...09(=89081 as "68908"?) F-5
dump HAI
152181, 151389, 151366 P-3 / 7(5)29 + 35+51(German) RF-4 / (68-0480?) F-4 / (156851?), (157496?) A-7 fuselage/HAF camo / at least 7 A-7 hulks, ex USNavy wh/grey

[Sadammie]

Version 9December2010
7 November Nea Anchialos
Static
4391 AB205
7511 RF-4
133 + 111 F-16
Hangar
057 + 070 F-16
Preserved Gate
68-0318 F-4
68-412 F-4
159640 A-7
4781 F-104
Preserved HQ building
34916/TR-916 T-33
(19)448 CL13 Sabre
689077 F-5
(2)6831 F-84
From the static, some stored F-5's could be seen. All serials are very weathered and difficult to read.
SE part
89070 l.blue + ..9...l.blue (=689079?) + .....3? green camo (=063)
Near Static
????? (=689073?) F-5
After leaving the field, we drove towards the civil terminal and found some other F-5's.
Preserved near terminal
F-5 on pole, no markings. (=689072?)
Dump/decoy SW part
89089 sand (=89088?), ........./S sand (=89080?), 1054(2) l.blue, ?????? l.blue (=22250?)

[Sadammie]

Monday is the official Archangel day with some ceremonies in the morning and the static open after 13.00, so a lot of spare time on our hands. The whole trip we told ourselves Thessaloniki was much too far, however being so close was too much of a temptation. But first a very early "hit-and-run" at.........
8 November Stefanovikion
Preserved Gate
ES288 Commander680
We first drove past the gate, stopped just over the bridge SE of the field and started on the UH-1's on the eastern platform. Two large rows were present, but they partly blocked each other. A number of U-17's was present in the last part of the western row, but blocked.
East platform
ES637, ES811, ES632, ES679, ES625, ES617, ES677, ES681, ES645, ES651, ES691, ES615, ES621, ES605, ES683, ES819, ES675, ES838, ES659, ES611, ES636, ES684
After a small detour, we returned to a position south of the runways and tried the western platform.
West platform
ES302, ES278, ES290, ES286, ES305, ES310 + at least two more, serials painted over all U-17
ES826, ES823, ES825, ES832, ES827, ES696, ES813, ES690, ES6.3, ES831 all UH-1
We returned to the eastern aprons.
East platform
ES657, ES623
After this we decided NOT to follow the base fence west of the canal, one reason was you almost had to drive over the entrance to the hut of a ROMA family, but to follow the dirtroad east of it. This seemed to stay on higher ground and offered a better view over the east platform. Stopping every ten meters, a lot of the U-17's first blocked were seen.
East platform, northern part
ES325, ES285, ES323, ES296, ES274, ES279, ES276 U-17
ES689, ES685 UH-1
Only minus was this road turned away to the east, so we did not get the preserved aircraft on base. No Apaches were seen, all still in the hangars.

[Sadammie]

On our northbound stage, the weather deteriorated dramatically. The last couple of days, blue skies and very nice temperatures, but now it started to rain. This proved to be no problem for our next field...in pouring rain...
8 November Alexandria
ES836, ES820, ES837 UH-1
ES507, ES515, ES512, ES504 AB206
ES275, ES282 U-17 + 1 in hangar.
The dirtroad north of the runway is now a nice asphalt one, constructed with European Community money!

[Sadammie]

Next port of call.....
8 November Sedes
This turned out to be a dead airport. Army hangar seemed to be out of use for some time. Did not try very hard to read serials because nothing seemed to have changed. Yes, shame on us....
Preserved
2x T-33 / 629 F-86? / 031 F-102 / 1x F-5 / 1x F-104 / 1x Noratlas / 1x C-47
Dumped
6x C-47 / 713 T-33

[mailman]

Monday is the official Archangel day with some ceremonies in the morning and the static open after 13.00, so a lot of spare time on our hands. The whole trip we told ourselves Thessaloniki was much too far, however being so close was too much of a temptation. But first a very early "hit-and-run" at.........
8 November Stefanovikion
Preserved Gate
ES288 Commander680
We first drove past the gate, stopped just over the bridge SE of the field and started on the UH-1's on the eastern platform. Two large rows were present, but they partly blocked each other. A number of U-17's was present in the last part of the western row, but blocked.
East platform
ES637, ES811, ES632, ES679, ES625, ES617, ES677, ES681, ES645, ES651, ES691, ES615, ES621, ES605, ES683, ES819, ES675, ES838, ES659, ES611, ES636, ES684
After a small detour, we returned to a position south of the runways and tried the western platform.
West platform
ES302, ES278, ES290, ES286, ES305, ES310 + at least two more, serials painted over all U-17
ES826, ES823, ES825, ES832, ES827, ES696, ES813, ES690, ES6.3 all UH-1
Now it is getting a bit muddled, so the next couple could be on any of the aprons.
??? platform
ES831, ES637, ES632, ES617, ES657, ES623
After this we decided NOT to follow the base fence west of the canal, one reason was you almost had to drive over the entrance to the hut of a ROMA family, but to follow the dirtroad east of it. This seemed to stay on higher ground and offered a better view over the east platform. Stopping every ten meters, a lot of the U-17's first blocked were seen.
East platform, northern part
ES325, ES285, ES323, ES296, ES274, ES279, ES276 U-17
ES689, ES685 UH-1
Only minus was this road turned away to the east, so we did not get the preserved aircraft on base. No Apaches were seen, all still in the hangars.

Ah, a couple of extra serials in your list, great!!

We were reading serials a couple of meters from the gate, without noticing that... (Whoops...)

After that, we went to the gate because 4Av still didn't get an answer on their request to have a look at the base from outside the fence. So, this is how they deal with that: they take two vans with 14 guys on their base.... to say no.

All of the above resulted in some extra serials:
ES613, ES687, ES812, ES663.
ES297, ES298, ES311, ES320, ES322

I know the serials of the preserved aircraft have been read by some of us, but because I'm only into operational aircraft, I didn't write them.... Did you already contact our drivers V&A? They must have them.

Greetz,

Arjan

[Sadammie]

On to its neighbour. To our surprise, a static show had been set up on the CL415 platform and some cars and even busses were queing in front of the gate. So we joined them, but as expected, were told we were only welcome after 14.00. Because we had to make Larissa before 17.00, this was no option so we had to look for some other places to see something.
VERSION 28/11
8 November Thessaloniki/Makedonia
Static
One of these CL415's 2044, 2049, 2050, 2052, 2054
492622 C-47
67-0345 F-4E, s/n very faded, (we came up with 67-845)
(3069) F-5, confirmed by Svetlan, TX!
Preserved SE gate, on pole
(...)12 F-5 special c/s
Preserved near Rwy 34
97167 RF-5 special c/s
(26866) F-84
Ramp behind gate
On GoogleEarth, this ramp is packed with aircraft but a lot was no longer present. It looked like some scrapping had been done.
F-5A 38419, 38409, 3012, (89068) special fantasy blue saturn c/s http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=558442
F-5B 69230 sand c/s
(KP255) C-47
We drove to the civil part for the airliners (a new Caravelle frame) and were pleasantly surprised to find some other military aircraft.
Dump Aeroclub
(492613) C-47
Shelter area
F-5 10485, (1)3378, 703(7)9 (we had 70329), (6)3420 + some others
Near former HQ
2x F-5, one in special c/s

[Sadammie]

And now racing back to the South. Closing in on our destination, the weather improved and even the sun came peeping from behind the clouds.
VERSION 28/11
8 November Larisa
Static
138 F-16
7519 RF-4
948 C-130
218 Mirage2000
132 F-16
531 F-16
517 F-16
7487 RF-4
At the gate, we were told no photography, but reaching the static a lot of people had cameras, so after asking politely, it was no problem.
Preserved gate
37588 RF-84 / 38430 F-5 / (68-0506) F-4 special c/s
Memorial Park
69209 F-5 / (29913) T-33 / 61232 F-102 / 19752 F-84 / 37050 F-84 / 481 F-4 / (159285) A-7 / 2872(8) RF-84 / 6692 F-104 / (19409) CL13 Sabre / 1 more T-33??
After leaving the gate, we drove around the base, what, with all the rain, proved to be quite a challenge. But we managed not to wind up in a ditch, collecting massive amounts of mud.
North dispersals/track
68-444, 68-426, 67-377, 68-363, 68-408, 68-517 F-4E. 68-381 NOT seen, here a year ago!
7402 (=7482?), 747.(=7476?), 35+07, 35+84, 35+46, 35+13, 7507 RF-4E
10566 F-5 / (58602)/T.-602 T-33 / 37683 F-84 good condition, in pin west of F-4's
South dispersals
1) 12601 F-104 + 5(8)639 T-33
2) 01619 F-5 + 2x F-5 light blue + 1x F-5 camo + 1x F-84 front
3) 01617, 89064, 01399, 97165 (R)F-5
It seems a few aircraft are no longer here!
We returned to our hotel in Nea for some sleep, next day our goal was large numbers of F-16, flying from NeaAnchialos.

[Sadammie]

The Greek pilots apparently are not exactly early risers. We took up position near the civil terminal, which on Sunday was deserted but now was busy with workmen. We hoped runway 08 would be in use so we could get the serials at the holding, but of course it was runway 26, giving you only a few seconds to see them when airborne. By the time we had to leave, one had landed and a few departed.
9 November Nea Anchialos
145, 084, 074, 143 F-16C/D
Looking over the runway to the South dispersals, one more F-5 was preserved.

[Sadammie]

On our way to Athens, we once again visited Tanagra, this time via the village of Shimatari. Just before entering the village from the NW road, you have a view over the field. In the SW area, another T-33 was seen and the two Pantoms seemed to be still at the same spot. Also another group of aircraft was seen, very close to the railway north of the runway. We did not notice them on Sunday, probably looking towards the runway and aprons. Driving on the small road along the railwaytrack, both Phantom serials were seen.
9 November Tanagra
Other side runway, SW
....../TR801 T-33 / ..744 + ..751 F-4E
Dump north perimeter
61079, 61034, 61039 F-102
......... HU-16
at least 2x T-33
Driving to the main gate, a bridge over the railwaytrack offered a better view over the HAI platforms, peeking over the blastfences was just possible. The Dakota was identified, serial under the wing, the Phantom had its serial scrubbed away and some other nice surprises. Another Mirage2000 was seen in the shelter area.
HAI platforms/hangar
KK156 C-47 / 160089 T-2 / 729 E145AEW / (CNA)OI C-130
Shelter area
219 Mirage2000
This was our last military serial of this trip and we headed back to Athens for our return flight.
2700+ KM on the road!

[papagio]

HAF has released an official video from the Tanagra F-16 solo display.
It can be found at http://www.haf.gr/media/haf_f-16_demo_team.wmv

[Annagyijjk]

It 'also important to remember that this weekend is the Open Day of the Hellenic Air Force ONLY. So, Megara and KOTRON is not