Air show, Bratislava, 2002
One of the major air shows in Central/Eastern Europe is held in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Usually it is held every second year. The number of participating nations is quite high and therefore it has many more acrobatics teams than the usual air show.
We had to wait for three years for the 2002 show. But it was worth the wait.
In former years the spectators (and the static display) were on the south-western side of the 13-31 runway, but this year the position changed and backlight was not a problem for the photographers. Arguably the star of the static display was the Tupolev Tu-22M3 bomber of the Ukrainian Air Force. The Backfire-C arrived on Friday, together with two Sukhoi Su-27s and an Ilyushin Il-76. The planes of the USAF took part in the static display only - two F-15Cs, F-16Cs and a C-130E. The OH-58B helicopter of the Austrian Air Force was a hit; its special decoration with an Indian head made it very popular. The Slovakian Government's transport planes distinguished themselves from the other military planes with their elegant colour schemes. There were some interesting planes at the airport which didn't belong to the static display of the air show. Among them was an Ilyushin Il-76 of the Iranian Safiran Airline, the helicopters of the Slovakian Ministry of the Interior, and a damaged Boeing 707-328C, which aborted its take off and overran the runway in February 1999.
On Saturday the flight program did not begin with the usual mass flyby, because of the weather. One of the highlights of the show was the dogfight of two MiG-29s, from the Slovakian 31st Fighter Wing at Sliac. The two planes - one of them with a spectacular tiger scheme - dropped flares. Also noteworthy were the performances of the Dutch F-16 and the French Mirage 2000, which flew dangerously low in a manoeuvre. Because the event took place at the Bratislava International Airport, we saw the regularly scheduled airliners, colourful among the military jets.
The "mega group" at the end compensated those who missed the Slovakian Air Force flyby at the beginning of the show. It consisted of almost all types currently flying in the Slovakian Air Force, three planes per type. The Sunday display began with this program, striking the keynote of an outstanding air show.
