Fulcrums and Falcons - the first time together

19. August 1990 was the date of the first open day in the modern history of the Hungarian Air Force. During the communist regime there were only very limited scale events, for some specially invited guests only. The Kecskemét Open Day was the very first advertised event for the public.

Although it was held at Kecskemét, not only the local wing (at those times flying MiG-21MFs) was introduced to the people, but the whole air force. Both the static display and the flight show included the major types of the HuAF. Spectators could see MiG-21s, MiG-23s, Su-22s, Mi-24s as well as paratroopers. The static display was the first and last American style in Hungary - there were no fences around the planes, even children were watching the show sitting on the wings of the aircraft!

The event was not just an ordinary open day - there were some foreign participants also. And what kind of participants! Apart from the Le Bourget Salon this was the first show on the world where American F-16s and Soviet MiG-29s were exhibited at the same time. After a lot of organisation this was the first time that a USAF combat plane made a peaceful visit to a former Warsaw Pact country. The MiG-29 was also a brand new visitor in the air-show business. Unfortunately the Fulcrum was grounded previous day because of an accident, and neither did the Viper fly during the show. Even thus it was a fantastic opportunity to see the state of the art fighters of the two then super-powers one year after the Cold War has finished!