Qatar National Day 2014

[Borispole]

Hi

The practice sessions have started for the annual flypast on Qatar National Day (Dec 18th)

Today (10 Dec) the Mirages and Alphas did 2 practice flybys over the Corniche between 1500-1515 and the PC21s practiced between 1530-1545

The format has differed each day in previous years so it may well be different tomorrow. Today the Mirages and Alphas did a formation flyby followed by a solo display by Mirage and then Alpha (both were part of the flypast).

The PC21s were a 4 ship formation that circled the Corniche twice before performing a split over the planned crowdline.

Serials were QA86, 92, 93, 95, 96, 98 for Mirage, QA51, 54 plus one unidentified for the Alphas and the PCs were QA353, 354, 355 and 356

I didnt see any helis or large transport practice today

The QND happens on Dec 18th every year, usually around 0900 when the light isnt very good and the place is packed with lots of folks taking advantage of a national holiday. The best way to get decent photos and serials is actually to catch the practice flypasts. Last year they flew nearly every day in the 10 days or so leading up to the event, exceptions are Fridays and (normally) the day before (17th) plus any where the weather might be iffy which can happen in December.

In 2013 for the first time they published practice times in the local press, in previous years it was a case of guesswork and listening out for the tell-tale sounds of mass launches. On the practice days they fly normally two full flyby routines - they start with 2 or 3 helis carrying flags then the main flypast begins with a 9 ship Mirage 2000 and 2 Alphas, then C17 followed by C130s, then a heli flypast from a different direction, then solo displays by Alpha and Mirage. They do mix it up and no 2 days are exactly identical, this year of course there are PC21s as well for the first time. Around 15 mins later they do the whole thing again before recovering. On the 18th they only do the one flyby. The Mirages, Alphas, Gazelle and Sea Kings all fly from the old airport, the C17s and C130s and I think the AW139s and PC21s fly from Al Udeid .

The helis tend to formate just south of the old airport and fly around in circles awaiting their turn before heading into the Corniche area approximately parallel with the old airport runway. The fast jets and transports formate over the Gulf and can normally be seen circling in the distance waiting their turn.

The best place for photos is on the Corniche and there are 2 main spots with the sun behind you. The first is the park behind the Museum of Islamic Art which loops around in a curve with a couple of small mounds at the back from which nice portrait photos can be taken. You would need 400mm to be able to read the fast jet and heli serials from there. GE ref 25 17 56N, 51 32 31E

The place I find best is further along the Corniche heading clockwise just past the MOIA there is a small road leading into the bay which is used by the fisherman and dhows, the end of that road gives the optimum spot for distance and view on the flypast stuff in my opinion. GE ref 25 17 43N, 51 31 38E

There is a word of caution in that the helis tend to choose whatever line they want to go down the Corniche and it does vary, I have been frustrated on several occasions when they flew directly overhead rather than off to one side - more than once I have relocated to shoot them only to find they shifted their track and came over my head once again. Note that the AW139s have their serials also on the top of the rotor heads so if you do find they are coming overhead then go for the shots anyway and you may be able to identify a few.

On the 18th itself the MOIA museum park will be closed til later in the morning after the flypast has finished. On the 18th I would suggest to head for the other spot as early as possible and stay there - take food and drink with you as there isnt anywhere to buy any on the small dock itself. The roads will be blocked to car traffic from around 6am til after the flypast so you may have to walk the last bit. The event also has a large parade with it that uses the main Corniche on the 18th itself, the flypast is at the end of the parade time and the flag waving helis are at the start of it.

There will be fireworks in the evening at the Corniche which will be worth a look, the locals also decorate their cars and there is dancing in the street so all traffic in the evening grinds to a halt as well.

Hope that helps anyone planning to visit this year

[raameagle]

Great stuff! Do you know where the PC-21s are operating from, Al Udeid or Doha?

Regards

[Borispole]

Hi

I'm not 100% on the location for the PC21s to be honest. I think its Al Udeid based on the departure track and height after todays practice. I'm certain they didnt launch or recover from the old airport so it seems to be the most logical explaination.

[raameagle]

Thanks Borispole, much appreciated.

Regards

[Borispole]

There was full dress rehersal today (Friday 12 Dec) which included all the ground parade participants. Sea King QA22 flew along the Corniche at 0915 with the Qatar flag trailing underneath it and then the main flypast and display took place between 0949-0959 which saw the following participants:

C17: MAE
C130J: MAH/211, MAJ/213
Mirage 2000: QA85, 87, 92, 94, 95, 98 plus 2 unidentified
AlphaJet: QA51, 53 plus one unidentified
Gazelle: QA07, 08, 10
Sea King: QA22, 30, 36
PC21: QA353, QA354, QA355, QA356, QA357
no AW139s took part in todays practice

Solo displays were performed by QA51 and QA94

Today was notable for a change of display line, the main formation came over at different angle than before which made identifying them very difficult. Hope they change back to the normal track for the remaining practice days!

There were 2 more PC21 deliveries yesterday, 11 Dec with HB-HVH/QA357 and HB-HVI/Q358 being delivered to the old airport (OTBD) and then repositioning to Al Udeid which would seem to confirm that they are based there. There was no sign of the HB- sticker reg on QA357 today so I assume that they were removed yesterday at OTBD.

[Borispole]

Here are the details from the practice flypast from Monday 15 Dec:

Mirage 2000: QA86, 90, 91, 92, 94, 95, 98
AlphaJet: QA51, 52, 53
C17: MAE
C130J: MAH/211, MAK/214
AW139: QA61, 68, 71, 72, 73, 75
Gazelle: QA03, 04, 07, 08, 10, 13
PC21: QA353, 354, 355, 356, 357
no Sea Kings today

The flyby line was back to normal today I'm glad to say which made it much easier to identify the aircraft involved. The heli flypast took place at the same time as the PC21 break at the end of their second short routine and personally I thought they were a bit too close to the helis leaving not very much room for error.

There was a flypast on 14th as well but unfortunately I was otherwise engaged so missed it.

[Borispole]

Some photos from todays flypast are on the link below

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6yx5r821aaxe ... L6Ika?dl=0

[Borispole]

Here are the serials of the aircraft involved in todays flypast (Tues 16th Dec). Over the last few days the timing of the practice flypasts has been between 1200-1300 with the flag waving heli just before it.

Flag waving heli: Sea King QA30

Mirage 2000: QA86, QA87, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 98
AlphaJet: QA51, 53, 54
C17: MAE
C130J: 211/MAH, 213/MAJ
PC21: QA353, 354, 355, 356, 357
AW139: QA67, 68, 70, 71, 72, 75
Gazelle: QA03, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10
Sea King: QA22, 30, 36

In 2013 there was no practice on the 17th so its not sure if there will be one tomorrow. If there is one then I'll send a report.

[Borispole]

Hi

As suspected, there was no flypast along the Corniche today. There may have been a small event at the mil base at the old airport as there was a Mirage display there in the morning.

In the afternoon approx 1415 there was a US Army Apache (03-05348) flying with AW139 QA73 over part of the city

[Borispole]

The National Day Parade started around 8am with the main flypast between approx 0830-0845. There was only one flag waving heli this year (Sea King QA30) which flew along the Corniche around 0804 and then whilst the main parade was in full swing there were several groups of parachutists jumping from a C130J and possibly from the 4 AW139s which were also circling above at various times throughout the parade.

Towards the end of the parade the main flypast occurred with the following participants, although the helipcopters took a different line today much closer to the crowd:

Mirage 2000: QA85, 86, 87, 91, 92, 93, 94, 98
AlphaJet: QA51, 53, 54
C17: MAE
C130J: MAH/211, MAJ/213
PC21: QA353, 354, 355, 356, 357
AW139: QA60, 68, 70, 71, 72, 76
Gazelle: QA03, 06, 07, 08, 10, 13
Sea King QA30, 31, 36

plus a surprise at the end with the inclusion of 2 US Army Apaches which presumably is in connection with the recent QEAF purchase of the type. One of them was very difficult to identify and although I'm not 100% I do think it was the same one that was seen on 17th doing a practice run. This is the first time to my knowledge that a foreign air arm has participated in the flypast.
AH64: (03-05348), 09-07054

Thats it for another year.

[SteveDarke]

Hi, can you confirm which Mirage & Alpha were the solos this morning?

Steve Darke

[Borispole]

Hi Steve

Yes, sorry I missed mentioning those. They were QA86 and QA51

[SteveDarke]

Great thanks. I'm now going to be a pain, sorry!

The 3xAW139 in the flypast. I read QA60. Which were the other two?

And I only saw 7 Mirages (6 in flypast plus the solo). You list 8. what did I miss?

Steve

[Borispole]

Hi Steve

The main Mirage flypast with 8 aircraft was at 0833, followed by the 3 AlphaJets, the C17, 2 C130Js and the PC21s. Then then helis did their flypast in various waves starting 0836: first was 3 AW139s (QA60, 68, 70), then 2 sets of 3 Gazelle (QA03, 06, 13 then QA07, 08, 10) followed by the 3 Sea Kings then the last 3 AW139s (QA71, 72, 76). The 2 Apache followed up in the rear.

Mirage QA86 then displayed between 0838-0840 and AlphaJet QA51 between 0841-0843

After that was another flypast at 0844 comprising C17 MAE with 2 sets of 3 Mirages and an Alpha on either side (QA87, 91, 98, 54 on the port side, QA85, 93, 94, 53 on the starboard) - maybe this was the formation you saw?

[Bennie]

Some photos from todays flypast are on the link below

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6yx5r821aaxe ... L6Ika?dl=0

Great set of images!!!!