Koksijde 2012
Koksijde Opendoor
On Wednesday the 29th of August an open-door was held at Koksijde with
the theme "Hulp aan de natie", "Support to the nation".
In the static display a C-130, A.109 and ERJ-135 were displayed in their
(medical) evacuation role. Two medical helicopters could be found in
the static display as well as the Belgian North Sea Survey aircraft,
a Britten Norman Islander. A MD900 from the Federal Police support unit
did some spectacular demonstrations with the special intervention unit.
There were also demonstrations of the other tasks the unit does: cargosling
and a bambi-bucket demonstration. After the open-door, some of the aircraft
were towed onto the runway and served as scenery for the first Runway
Run. This is a running race for charity on the runway of an active airfield!
Koksijde : January
Traditionally at the beginning of January there is more F-16 activity
then the rest of the year. There were some base attacks as well as training
approaches. The second part of the month was dominated by marchetti's.
Koksijde : February
February was a very calm month. Fortunately there were some F-16's
for training approaches in very nice weather conditions, which resulted
into great pictures.
Koksijde : March
At the beginning of the month, two Royal Navy Lynx HMA.8 based at Yeovilton
refuelled on their way to De Kooy. On the 14th of March there was a
demonstration of a new PAR (Precision Approach Radar) console in the
tower. To demonstrate this, 5 F-16's based at Florennes made a PAR approach.
On the 27th of March, A.109 H-24 arrived at Koksijde to be repainted
in demo colours for the next airshow season.
Koksijde : April
On the 11th of April, A.109 H-24 was repainted and assembled again.
The result is a great paint scheme with each side of the helicopter
showing the squadron insignia that operates the agusta in the Belgian
Air Force. They first did an air-to-air photo-shoot before leaving to
Beauvechain. On the 19th two French Air Force alpha jet's came to Koksijde
for an approach.
Koksijde : May
The 3rd of May was a sad day for Koksijde. The 21st Logistic Wing of
the Belgian Air Force transported Sikorsky HSS.1 B4/OT-ZKD to the museum
storage in Vissenaken. We hope the helicopter will be preserved in a
good condition and that it will remain in its original colours...
Koksijde : June - July
July brought us some visitors for UK airshows. On the 4th of July a
beautifully decorated German Navy Sea King MK.41 refuelled on its way
to RIAT in Fairford and some other British shows. The same day the Royal
Jordanian Falcons with their four Extra 300's made a fuel stop as well.
On the 10th of July three British Lynx AH.7's made a fuel stop en-route
to Germany where they did a navigation trip. One day later they returned
to the UK. On the 18th a French Army TBM700 visited Koksijde, which
is exceptional.
Koksijde : August
On the second of August we got visit from 298 Sqn in Gilze Rijen with
one of their mighty chinooks. On the 13th three British Lynx AH.9's
based at Gütersloh in Germany refuelled on their way to the UK.
A fourth Lynx AH.9 refuelled on the 16th. All the crews flew back to
Gütersloh with 5 Lynx AH.7's on the 17th.
Koksijde : September
September was a marchetti month. On the 18th four marchetti's came
to Koksijde for a lunch stop. They like the food so much that the day
after, again four marchetti's enjoyed a meal at Koksijde.
Koksijde : October
On the second of October a Belgian Air Force Alpha jet made an approach,
which has become very rare in our region since 2004 unfortunately. Later
in the afternoon a US Army blackhawk made a nice low approach on request
of the tower on its way back from Mildenhall to Wiesbaden in Germany.
On the 10th another blackhawk made a low pass over the runway on its
way to Mildenhall, which they did again on their way back on the 12th.
I hope they come to Koksijde more often in the future! On the 30th four
apaches made a low pass over the runway en-route to Mildenhall for an
exercise in the UK.
Koksijde : November
On the 20th a Belgian Air Force Alpha jet made 3 touch and go's on
RWY11, which was nice to see. Later that day we saw 3 A.109's making
a fuel stop en-route to Odiham in the UK for an exercise. Three other
A.109's made a fuel stop as well that day. On the 28th the 3 agustas
returned from Odiham, but as it was already in late afternoon, they
decided to stay a night at Koksijde before they continued to their home
base in Beauvechain.
Koksijde : December
On the third of December 3 British Lynx AH.7's made a night stop at
Koksijde on their way to France for an exercise until the 13th of October.
On the 5th of December a large RO-RO ship (The Baltic Ace) collided
with a containership (Corvus J) in the Dutch part of the North Sea.
The Baltic Ace sank within 15 minutes and 11 people died in the ice
cold water. 7 out of the 13 surviving people were rescued with a Belgian
Sea King. A British S.61 used for SAR in the Netherlands brought some
bodies to Koksijde as well.
1W NATEVALprep 01
From Monday the 16th till Friday the 20th of April, seven A.109BA from
the 1W Heli based at Beauvechain were deployed at Koksijde for their
first preparation session for the NATO Evaluation of the Wing in June
2013. They arrived on Monday and flew missions on Tuesday, Wednesday
and Thursday. On Tuesday night missions were flown as well. The end
of this exercise was marked with a formation flight of 3 A.109's, a
Sea King and an Alouette III on Thursday afternoon.
National Defilé 2012
For the 2012 defilé, a Netherlands Air Force NH-90NFH was flown
over to Koksijde to join the 40th Sqn helicopters in a formation over
Brussels. The NH-90NFH was piloted by Jo "Bal" Balcaen, which
is the first Belgian instructor pilot. The formation departed in perfect
weather conditions and came over in formation before they left to Brussels.
Creval 01
On Monday the 15th of October exercise Creval (combat readiness evaluation)
started. This exercise is an evaluation for army battalions to prove
they are combat ready. On Monday two C-130's dropped troops and vehicles
in 6 runs. The rest of the week the troops had to operate independent
in a combat situation. Only on the first day the exercise contained
C-130 operations. Unfortunately the weather was not good, but still
nice images could be made.
1W NATEVALprep 02
From Tuesday the 4th till Thursday the 6th of December, seven A.109BA
from the 1W Heli based at Beauvechain were deployed at Koksijde for
their second preparation session for the NATO Evaluation of the Wing
in June 2013. Six agustas first went to Le Touquet on Tuesday and arrived
in Koksijde late afternoon in formation. On Tuesday evening, Wednesday
and Thursday morning missions were flown. As bad weather was expected
on Thursday evening and Friday, they decided to leave to Beauvechain
already on Thursday afternoon. They left as they arrived, in a very
nice formation.
Creval 02
On Monday the 10th of December another army battalion had to prove
they are combat ready in a CREVAL exercise. Equally with the previous
exercise being held in October, only on the first day there were C-130
operations. Unfortunately the weather was not good as well with a lot
of wind and even some rain. We did our best to make some descent pictures.
Sea King - 2012
This is a selection of pictures taken in 2012 of the Sea King MK.48
of the 40th Sqn based at Koksijde. These pictures were made during normal
training missions at Koksijde and surroundings.
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