EART + Frisian Flag tanker ride - Airheadsfly.com

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AIRheads↑FLY is an aviation news website with a little bit of a twist. We love writing as well as photography. We love doing both. We aim to bring you a selection of aviation news in image and word – and we aim to do that in a way that differs from other aviation sites. We want you to enjoy our articles in more ways than one. So we add the power of the written word.

The AIRheads↑FLY editorial team consists of three experienced editors with a strong interest and insight in aviation. Two of us have been freelance journalists for almost 15 years, and we still work for news agencies, newspapers, magazines, websites and radiostations. Our third editor is a dedicated photographer.

So please take a peek at AIRheads↑FLY. Or latest story is this:

Closing the tanker gap with EART

No air power without air-to-air-refueling. But also, no air-to-air refueling without certifications, clearances, bilateral agreements between countries and heaps of paperwork. The infamous European ‘tanker gap’ perhaps is not a matter of aircraft after all, but a matter of overcoming bureaucracy and inefficiency, it appears during the current European Air-to-Air Refueling Training (EART) at Eindhoven airbase in the Netherlands. If anything, participating tanker crews are determinded to work together as closely as possible, as Airheadsfly.com found out on Monday 20 April.

All is here at Airheadsfly.com, including a vid and loads of pics.

Thanks for visiting!



Thanks for your attention,
The AIRheads↑FLY editorial team
Our homepage is at http://www.airheadsfly.com and we also have a twitterfeed. More into Instagram? Find it here.

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Over the last weeks - well, months actually - we at AIRheads↑FLY have been busy collecting aviation news and features from all over. Please check out our latest Japan feature by guest photographer Robert van Zon, by clicking here or on the image below.

And don't forget to check our other features!


(Image © Robert van Zon)

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Cruzex 2013 marks the first time in many years the US and Venezuela are training together. AIRheads↑FLY guest photographer Ralph Blok went on a crusade to Brazil to find out how things were working out. See his photographic report here, or by clicking on the - rather juicy - pic below.

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A lot of news today on our website:

-First Dutch pilot flies the F-35A Lightning II
-Brazil buys 36 Saab Gripen E/Fs
-Sweden modifies 60 Saan Gripes to E standard
-More ‘flying tanks’ for Russian Air Force

Have fun reading all that!

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Iraq is building up - and is already using - some serious airborne firepower, with deliveries of F-16 Block 52s, Mi-35 Hinds and Mi-28 Havocs this year and Kai T-50s on the way. We've summarized it all for you to read here.

Thanks for visiting!

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Hurray, the Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon is celebrating its 40th birthday! We put together a feature with some rare Vipers at AIRheads↑FLY. Click here, or just hit the pic below.

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Hi all,

After nearly ten years and almost 17.000 hours in the air, standing on Quick Reaction Alert 24/7 at Čáslav, Tiger Meets, virtual Tiger Meets, Air Policing over either the Baltics or Iceland, practizing air-to-air refuelling with the French or dogfighting Eurofighters over Germany, the Czech Republic's 211. taktické letky is becoming an experienced user of Saab Gripen. "Our aircraft spend more time in the air than any other Gripens", says 211. squadron commander Jaroslav Tomaňa in an exclusive interview with AIRheads↑FLY.

If you're interested in a nice read - including bits about Sahara sand! - click here or on the pic below.

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Mil Hip helo's and maintenance, repair & overhaul (MRO) are unsung heroes of aviation. Nearly a century old Czech company LOM PRAHA combines the two, and AIRheads↑FLY paid them a visit.

Read all about it here, or click on the pic.

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Exercise Frisian Flag at Leeuwarden has been running now for a day, and already we have story up and running including pics and a vid. Please enjoy at http://www.airheadsfly.com, or click on the pic below.

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Saudi and French fighters get familiar

On Monday 14 April, a Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) F-15C Eagle pilot looks outside his cockpit. He sees not the familiar sandy surroundings of Tabuk King Faisal Air Base in the Saudi desert, but the green scenery of Nancy Airbase in France. To his right is a green, delta shaped local bird. It’s an Armée de l’air Dassault Mirage 2000D, ready for take-off and for the combat search and rescue (CSAR) mission that follows. The Saudi pilot is however not alone; his wingman in another F-15C is readying himself for the same mission. This is exercise Green Shield 2014 in progress.

Our complete story, including lotsa pics and a video, is here (or click on the pic below).

Thanks for reading!

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So, if Mondays report about Green Shield 2014 in Nancy wasn't enough, here's another one for your eyes to feast on:

The Sound of Hueys in the Morning

“Joker 54, cleared for take off, VFR to Würzburg.” In chilly but beautifully clear spring weather, a Bell UH-1D Huey lifts off from Niederstetten airbase for an early flight. As the pilots raises the collective, the typical whopping sound chases away the morning silence. The sound earned the Huey the nickname of ‘Teppichklopfer’ or carpet beater. Local residents will hear the whopping for two more years, after which Transporthubschrauberregiment 30 (THR 30) stops flying the Huey and switches to the NH Industries NH-90TTH. Whether that helicopter builds a reputation as strong as that of the Huey, remains to be seen.


Read the full story at Airheadsfly.com, or click on the pic below.

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The Swiss silent Saab majority

In two weeks time, the Swiss people will have their say in a referendum about the purchase of 22 Saab JAS 39 Gripen-E/F fighter aircraft, and according to all sources it will be a close call between a ‘yes’ and a ‘no’. The 18 May vote will be closely watched by the Swiss Federal Council in Bern, and of course by Saab in its headquarters in Linköping, Sweden. The question is whether the silent Swiss majority has or hasn’t forgotten about a recent national Swiss embarrassment or whether it does or doesn’t realize how suited Saab Gripen is to traditional Swiss defense needs.

Read our full story here, or click on the pic below.

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All Transall

All is nice and peaceful in Evreux, a French airbase 90 kilometers west of Paris. A single C-160 Transall, callsign Cujan 30, is flying circuits as part of a currency flight for two pilots. On the ground, other C-160s are being looked after or just quietly parked, doing nothing. But the peacefulness is deceiving; in reality, the two based Armée de l’Air transport squadrons are involved in Operation Serval in Mali and Operation Sangaris in the Central African Republic. It’s hard work for the people in Evreux, which is now the epicentre of all French Transall operations. Last but not least, a new airlifter is coming to town.


Read our full story here, or click on the pic below.

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The CLV scene at Pardubice

The sun and clouds paint a magnificent picture in the sky over Pardubice Airbase in the Czech Republic. The student pilots in two Aero Vodochody L-39C Albatros trainers approaching runway 09 have no eyes for it, and neither have the instructor pilots in the back seat of both aircraft. A nice formation landing completes the training mission, one of many of Centru Leteckého Výcviku (CLV), also known as the Czech Flight Training Center. In ten years of operations, this scene has been repeated countless times by countless student pilots from the Czech Republic and abroad.

Read our full story - and see a short video - here, or click on the pic below.

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Voyager on fast forward

“Wow. Simply wow.” At Royal Air Force (RAF) Brize Norton in the UK, Fl. Lt. Steven Hurst-Brown of 101 squadron needs just those words to describe his experience flying Vogayer, also known the Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT). “It’s quite an aircraft and quite a difference from the C-130 Hercules and L.1011 TriStar I flew before this.” Indeed, for everyone involved in Voyager it’s like stepping into a time machine set to fast forward. AirTanker, the company that manages the RAF’s Voyager fleet, is happy to see the Airbus MRTT succesfully taking on its operational role, although a bit of pioneering is still involved.

Read our full story here, or click on the pic below.

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AHF↑Inside: The Italian Training Recipe

"The pride comes when any student pilot completes his first solo flight in the M-346 Advanced Jet Trainer", says Quirino Bucci, chief test pilot Trainer Aircraft at Italian aircraft maker Alenia Aermacchi. It's not when he himself takes a brand new M-346 up for the first time. Bucci already knows how the aircraft will perform, as it's the result of the expertise at Alenia Aermacchi. A student pilot on his first solo, that's what it's all about. Alenia Aermacchi aims for just that with the innovative integrated training system, a special Italian recipe with the M-346 as the main ingredient.

Read our full story here, or click on the pic below.

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Austrian Tigers

It’s four past three in the afternoon in Linz, Austria, and Jürgen ‘Lucky’ Cirtek turns his eyes to the west, only to say ‘there they are!’ before anyone else does. ‘They’ are three Saab 105s, returning to Linz after a 2 vs 1 training mission, and Cirtek, he is commanding officer of the Düsentrainerstaffel, better known as ‘the Tigers’. The squadron is getting ready for this year’s Tiger Meet, but there’s also the regular surveillance missions to be flown, interceptions to be carried out and training to be done for aspiring Austrian Air Force Typhoon pilots. Welcome to the Tigers!

Read our full story here. For you enjoyment, here's a short clip!

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Tigers sharpen claws in Germany

Despite the calender showing 19 June, it’s a gloomy day in northern Germany. It’s perhaps illustrative of the current times of international turmoil. But, at the airbase of Schleswig-Jagel, another sign of the times is visible. French Rafale and German Typhoon fighters share the runway, with Swiss F/A-18C Hornets and Belgian F-16s doing the same. This international cooperation at its best, and it’s a NATO show of force at the same time. This is the NATO Tiger Association sharpening its claws during Tiger Meet 2014.

Want the complete package? Click here, or on the pic below.


(Image © Marcel Burger)

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Alright Austrian Alouette

Across the impressive green landscape of Austria, a high pitched screeching sound reverberates against the Alps. It doesn't seem to worry two women walking a baby stroller on this sunny day. They're not impressed as the sound comes even closer, only to be drowned out by the sound of a beautiful waterfall at the foot of a mountain called Grimming. The two local women know this waterfall, they know this mountain, and they know this high pitched screeching sound allright. It has been around for 47 years in Austria.

Feel like reading the complete story and watch a bit of video on top? Click here, or on the pic below.

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Austrian AB212 on top

“So, what would you like us to do?”, say two Agusta Bell AB212 helicopter pilots, the badges on their flying suits identifying them as ‘Bundesheer’ pilots. “Err, just fly around a bit”, comes the unrehearsed answer of two Airheadsfly.com editors. The pilots take off, turn around and have decided on what they will really do. They position their five ton chopper almost on top of two totally unprepared Airheadsfly.com editors, ensuring camera bags, lens caps, sunglasses, note pads and lost ego’s fly everywhere. The noise is deafening, the wind is blinding and for a moment, peaceful Austria seems far, far away.

Feel like reading the complete story and watch a bit of video on top? Click here, or on the pic below.