NATO Tigermeet 2010 Volkel AFB

The NATO Tiger Association had picked 313 squadron to organise the 2010 edition of the NATO Tigermeet. Fortunately for me I had some spare time during this meet so I could attend more then 1 day of flying during this 2 week event.

The first day I visited was on the monday of the second week of this event.Week 1 had been plagued with lots of fog and damp weather which didn't create the conditions we want for photography. The weatherforecast for the second week was a lot better with promisses of lots of sun and easterly winds and clear skies. Before I went towards Volkel I had made an inquiry of what to do and not to do and where we were allowed to take pictures of the participants.

During my cardrive to the south of the Netherlands in the early morning the weather became more promissing than I had wished for with clear a blue sky and no clouds at all and light breeze from the east. Once on base the first I made was the Safaripark where the hungarians,czechs and french had parked their aircraft. With the light from the early morningsun I made some wonderfull pictures of the tigerbirds parked here. Next stop after the Safaripark would be the cross-servicingplatform near the holdingarea from runway 06.






	At the cross-servicingplatform AG51 and JBG32 from Germany had parked their Tonka's together with the Saab 105's from Austria and the portugese F16's. The boys from Monte Real aren't particiants this years edition but visitors over the weekend together with the guys from Switserland. From there I went to the localcontrolbunker at the beginning of runway 06 from where you have an exellent overview over the runway and taxitracks leading towards the holdingarea for runway 06. Not long after my arrival at the LCB the airfield came to life and the first aircraft made their way towards the holdingpoint for runway 06. The rest of the day I stayed at this location and after the last aircraft had returned from the afternoonmission I made my way towards both platforms to make some more shots but now with different light then in the morning and other angles. From there I went home to come back the next wednesday to be part of the spottersday organized by Spotting Group Volkel and the Netherlands Airforce. The next wednesday we had to assemble at a nearby amusementpark where we were checked before we could board the bus that would bring to the airfield. On the airfield the had set up parimeter next to the parallelrunway from where we could photograph departing and landing aircraft.













	Sadly not all aircraft take-off from the 06R due to national restrictions which made it more difficult for those who don't have the lenses with the big millimeters. In the morning the weather wasn't all that great but at noon the skyturned for the better and the sun lit up the sky the way it should. The aircraft returning from their mission all landed on the 06L and made their way back by taxiing over the 06R in front of us. At the end of the day the helicopters returned also from their mission and showed us their best sides making some very nice flybys and low passes. After this it was time to had back for the bus which took us back to the amusementpark where we had parked our cars for the day. A very big thanks for the guys who made this day possible for us at short notice.