CIAF 2007

During the weekend of 8 and 9 September 2007, the annual Czech International Air Fest (CIAF) was held at Brno Airport. This airshow has gained some reputation in the past, with participation by lots of former Warsaw pact members like Russia and the Ukraine.

This year's edition was a good illustration for the current situation of the Czech Air Force: on one hand, it has been modernized with the arrival of SAAB Gripens, L-159's and new helicopters (Přerov: Hinds 'n' Hips). On the other hand it still has a seventies/eighties heritage in the shape of L-410's, L-39's and An-26's. The latter will probably also be replaced in the near future as Alinea was present with a C-27J Spartan and a big VIP tent.

Other interesting foreign participants were a B-1 Lancer from Ellsworth AFB, the first visit of a Polish F-16 and a Greek T-6 Texan. The airshow was pretty interesting with a flypast of most aircraft types in the Czech inventory and demonstrations of a Slovak MiG-29 and a range of Serbian Air Force aircraft (a Super Galeb, an Orao and the 'Yugoslav Stars' team with old Galeb G2's).

The only downside of the airshow is the fact that the crowd is staring into the sun all day long. Unfortunately, this year there was barely any sun to stare at. The weather on Friday had even been too bad for the B-1 to land, so it made a diversion to Ramstein AB until the next morning. However, the weather cannot diminish the quality of an airshow. With the same mix between 'east' and 'west' aircraft, there are still enough reasons to pay this airshow a visit next year!