A JAS-39 Gripen of Flygvapnet/Swedish Air Force is seen seconds before touch down
on a country road. Dispersed operations from roadsites are here trained during the
DOL'99 exercise on the Kliniska highway strip in Poland. The aircraft with
tactical code 39 came from F7 wing of Satenäs in south-western Sweden, the first
operational wing with the type.
Despite its large size the Russian Sukhoi Su-27 is well-known for its oustanding
manouvrability. Here a Ukrainian Air Force pilot is seen rolling his aircraft
during a flight demonstration in the Czech Republic and the special colour scheme
is shown to full advantage.
The Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk was one of the most secretive US Air Force programmes.
It was only 7 years after its first flight in the famous Area 51 test facility
in the USA, before images were publicly released. Its angled facettes are
meant to distort radar reflections and give stealth characteristics.
An Su-22M4 of the Polish Air and Air Defence Forces (Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony
Powietrznej) is taxying out at Miroslawiec airbase for a training mission. The
central air intake cone and additionally opened air intake doors are visible.
Just behind the landing gear door the IFF (identification friend or foe) rod
can be seen.
A French Air Force Mirage 2000 shows the classic deltawing configuration that has
been used for fighter aircraft since the late 1950s. The wing has leading edge slats
and the two large elevons, a combination of elevator and aileron, are typical for
tailless aircraft configurations. Near the air-to-air refuelling nose probe the
circular panel of the doppler radar system is apparent.
A member of the travelling ground crew of the US Navy display team Blue Angels
is polishing the airframe in preparation for the next days show routine. The
blue boys from Pensacola are among the leading groups of its kind and use four
F/A-18A Hornet aircraft.