RipVW Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 (edited) The Belgian Air Force completed their 2009 United States visit last Friday - 21 November 2008 when they left sunny Tucson AZ, (Davis-Monthan AFB) for snowy Belgium. Four aircraft each from the 10th Wing at Kleine Brogel and the 2nd Wing at Florennes participated in Green Flag at Nellis AFB in October, then flew down to DMAFB for four weeks of Snowbird operations. During their stay at DM two groups of ground and flight crews spent two weeks each at the base with the mid-point rotation occurring on 8 November. Both air to air and air to ground missions were completed with several live-load missions over the Goldwater Bombing Range. The final day of their visit was honored by the arrival of the Belgium Defence Minister in a BAF Dassault Falcon 900B. Support aircraft for the departing forces included an Airbus A310 and two C-130Hs (only one of which I was able to photograph - the second arrived after dark). Everyone I met was extremely friendly and very enthusiastic to have their aircraft photographed and I made sure that both the pilots and maintainers received copy CDs of all the photos taken. My only problem was that my French isn't any better than my Dutch, so I'm thankful the Belgians were also fluent in English! I'm posting a variety of photos - taken on several days during their visit. Enjoy! - Rip - First - The Vipers: More to come in the next post . . . Edited November 26, 2008 by RipVW Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RipVW Posted November 26, 2008 Author Share Posted November 26, 2008 More Vipers: Support Aircraft coming up next . . . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RipVW Posted November 26, 2008 Author Share Posted November 26, 2008 (edited) Here's the Airbus A310-222 - CA-01 cn372: Next is the Dassault Falcon 900B - CD-01 cn 109: The sun was about to set when the first of two C-130s arrived. Interestingly enough, this C-130H still had the USAF data block indicating SN 71-1801, the Belgian registration number was CH-05: Parting Viper Shot: ATB - - Rip - Edited November 26, 2008 by RipVW Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Koen L Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Good to see some shots from you again Rip! Small correction however; 10th Wing is from KB and Florennes has the 2nd wing. Koen Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RipVW Posted November 26, 2008 Author Share Posted November 26, 2008 I knew I'd transpose that information when I posted - Glad you caught it! ATB - - Rip - Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skull Leader Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 (edited) Great photos as always Rip! Curious... what's with the "FS" tailcode on the F-16s? I don't think I've ever seen that before. a zap? Edited November 26, 2008 by Skull Leader Quote Link to post Share on other sites
volzj Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Great photos as always Rip! Curious... what's with the "FS" tailcode on the F-16s? I don't think I've ever seen that before. a zap? Not sure what it stands for, but it's not a zap. It's one of the Revell F-16 MLU kit decal choices. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jefropas Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Great stuff again Wally, thanks for the pics!! Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Cartwright Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Nice pics! Interesting to see all the carbon around the gun port. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wakko807 Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Great pics Rip thanks for sharing...I was fortunate enough to catch them when they were at Nellis for Green Flag. Always cool to see foreign Vipers. :wub: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phantomologist Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Rip, Nice set of images, glad to see your still out there killin them with film, er digits! :wub: bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cardshark_14 Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Aha!  I was wondering what was going on.  They had been shaking my hangar all over the place!  Thanks for the pics and the info. Cheers, Alex Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chappie Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Good stuff, Rip! How ya been? I love the shot of the A-10 hanging over the F-16s back. Chappie Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Middleton Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 (edited) Great shots Rip - good to see you shooting Great photos as always Rip! Curious... what's with the "FS" tailcode on the F-16s? I don't think I've ever seen that before. a zap? Good to see some shots from you again Rip! Small correction however; 10th Wing is from KB and Florennes has the 2nd wing.Koen I think it stands for Florennes Edited November 26, 2008 by Ken Middleton Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RipVW Posted November 26, 2008 Author Share Posted November 26, 2008 (edited) ** Ding ** Ding ** Ding ** Ken wins tonight's trivia question! The FS codes aren't zaps from the ANG folks from Fort Smith AR, they stand for the 2nd Wing's home base in Florennes Belguim. All four of the 2nd Wing Vipers were thusly marked. At one point in time (for a very short period of time) the Kleine Brogel Vipers carried BL tail codes. I was hoping for some awesome Belgian tail art, but since these jets participated in Green Flag the aircraft were toned down. Wakko807 - I also shot them back in October at Nellis - we were probably standing on the tower together! Having them at DM afforded me the opportunity to see the jets up close, and shoot a wider variety of angles. Many thanks for all of your kind comments and feedback. ATB - - Rip - Edited November 26, 2008 by RipVW Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Very cool shots Rip, it's always nice to see some well weathered, far from home, friendly Vipers ... Thanks for that ... Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Next is the Dassault Falcon (Mystere) 20E - CM-01 cn 276: Hey Rip, Nice shots.... This one is a Falcon 900B (not a 20E) - CD-01 cn 109 Ray Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RipVW Posted November 26, 2008 Author Share Posted November 26, 2008 Thanks Ray - That's what I get for trying to multi-task (phone and ARC). I had copied notes on their Falcon 20 next to my reference to the Falcon 900 and transcribed the wrong refenence while on the phone - Good catch. The post has been corrected. - Rip - Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 Nice set of pics of the Belgium invasion. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Julien (UK) Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 Nice pics, you dont see the Belgian guys as much these days Julien Quote Link to post Share on other sites
David Walker Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 They certainly seem to like using their guns! That's a lot of staining. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MaRiO FDZ Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 Ha! You guys are lucky to see military Airplanes at all!!! Here the MOST i get to see are Hueys and Mi-8s.... and military painted C-182. Gee, Wow. Thanks for sharing :lol: Take Care Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DePat Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 ICAO airport codes EBFS - Florennes EBBL - Kleine Brogel Greetz Pat Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vliegenier Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 The FS codes aren't zaps from the ANG folks from Fort Smith AR, they stand for the 2nd Wing's home base in Florennes Belguim. At one point in time (for a very short period of time) the Kleine Brogel Vipers carried BL tail codes. I was hoping for some awesome Belgian tail art, but since these jets participated in Green Flag the aircraft were toned down. ATB - - Rip - Those "zappings" are being reintroduced by the Air Component . Cool to see these picx from them . Too bad you didn't get any special paints . I saw them not that long ago : 1 Smaldeel "Stingers" 350 Smaldeel "Ambiorix" now "Matrix" Stef Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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