Airshow Patrouille de France 60th anniversary at Salon de Provence ( part 2 )

In part 2 of the series, we will have a look at some of the other displays during the Patrouille de France 60th anniversary airshow, in Salon de Provence end of May.

Cartouche Doré

Even though it was extremely windy, a few single engine propellor teams were also flying at Salon de Provence. One of them was a first for me; the French Cartouche Doré, flying three TB30 Epsilon trainers.

Fouga Magister on take-off

Before the Patrouille de France changed over to the Alpha Jet in 1981, they flew the V-tail Fouga Magister for 17 years. The gracious solo display of this privately owned one, was definitively worth it.

Mirage 2000 Full afterburner take-off

A military airshow wouldn't be complete without some fast jet demos like this Mirage 2000D shot during a full afterburner take-off.

Belgian Air Force F-16 solo display

For me the best of the high decibel jet displays, was clearly the Belgian Air Force F-16 flown by 29 year old Capt Renaud Thys (nickname Grat).

Airbus A400M

The only transport aircraft flying at the show was the brand new Airbus A400M Atlas. Airbus Military showed of one of the prototypes with a few high and low speed passes.

Mirage F-1

Last but not least I shot the dozen or so aircraft that were on static display. Like with this Mirage F-1 above, it is often a challenge not to include the fences and the spectators around the aircraft.

Mirage 2000 tailsection

Under these circumstances, I often go for detail shots like the tail section of the Mirage 2000E.

Danger around the Noratlas

Or part of the fuselage and prop of this vintage transport Noratlas.

Dassault Rafale nise section

One of my favourite images of the static display, is the nose section of the Dassault Rafale. I especially like the green reflection in the Head Up Display (HUD), amounted in the cockpit.

Red Arrow taking off for Duxford, UK

Overall I'm very happy I attended the 2013 Salon de Provence Airshow. The free (yes!) show was well organised with good transport from and to the multiple parking sides around the airport. The only negative was that the runway used for take-off and landings and the airshow display line were about a mile (>1500m) apart. This way one had to constantly make a choice what to photograph/watch; displays or take-off and landings. Oh boy, I walked that day!

 If you want to visit the complete 2013 Salon de Provence airshow photo gallery, please click here. One of the images is reserved for next weeks Pic(k) of the week...

I'm hoping to attend at least a few more interesting airshows this year. The next one hopefully being the Duxford (UK) Flying Legends airshow July 13th & 14th.

Remember, " The higher we soar, the smaller we appear to the ones that can not fly" - Friedrich Nietsche

BJORN





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