Turkish Air Force commander flew with the F-16 solo display team
Solo Türk is the name of the solo aerobatics demo team of the F-16 combat plane whose role is to display the capabilities and skills of the Turkish Air Force pilots.
Established in 2011, as part of the Turkish Air Force’s 100th anniversary, the TuAF F-16C Block 40 aircraft in a stunning bright black, silver and golden livery has become one of the highlights of airshows across Europe.
In May 2014, Turkish Air Force commander, four-star General Akın Öztürk flew with a Solo Turk’s F-16D after flying with the Turkish Stars.
Interestingly, at the age of 62, Gen. Öztürk performed the whole Solo Türk including +9G/-3G maneuvers.
Here below you can watch the video of his flight recorded with a cockpit camera.
Here are some of the highlights of RAF Fairford’s Royal International Air Tattoo 2014.
Even though the F-35B Lightning II aircraft could not cross the Pond to take part in the world’s biggest military airshow, the Royal International Air Tattoo 2014 at RAF Fairford, UK, Jul. 17 – 19 did not fail to attract some interesting visitors.
Here are some of those military aircraft and display teams, shot during their demo flights, arrival or departure, by photographer Estelle Calleja.
Last Greek’s A-7 Special Color “Olympus”
Army Air Corps AH-64 Apache
Italian Air Force AMX ACOL
Italian Air Force C-27J
Belgian Air Force F-16 Demo
Frecce Tricolori aerobatic demo team
Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon
Patrouille de France
Patrouille Suisse
Swiss Air Force F/A-18
Turkish Air Force F-16 demo “Solo Türk”
Spanish Air Force F/A-18
Polish Air Force Su-22
Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet
All images by Estelle Calleja
Solo Turk F-16 buzzes the heads of spotters and photographers outside the fence at UK airbase.
If you want to take nice, close up, footage or images of military aircraft on final approach, then RAF Waddington, in the UK (home of the British drone force) is the right airport for you.
Each time the local airshow attracts aircraft from all around the world, there is a good chance to take some interesting photographs or footage of warplanes coming low, very low, on final approach for landing.
The following video was filmed there, on Jul. 5, at the end of the display of the Turkish Air Force Solo Türk aerobatic display team’s F-16C Block 40.
By the way, it’s not only a matter of how low the pilot flew the final approach: there are airports in Europe where runway threshold is so close to the airfield perimeter that you can have your head buzzed by a plane’s landing gear.
What a selfie from the cockpit of Solo Türk, the Turkish Air Force’s F-16 solo aerobatics display team.
Here’s another interesting self-portrait shot by the Solo Türk of the Turkish Air Force with a GoPro camera (that you can clearly seen attached to the canopy thanks to the reflection in the pilot’s helmet visor) while “turning and burning” (diving towards the ground while releasing flares).
Once again, the shape of the F-16’s bubble canopy helped a lot achieving a cool picture.
H/T to Arda Mevlutoglu for the heads-up.
Image credit: Solo Türk
Another amazing cockpit shot.
This one was taken from the Solo Türk, the F-16 solo aerobatics display team of the Turkish Air Force during a display in Girne, Kyrenia, Cyprus.
While diving and turning, the pilot released flares, high-temperature heat sources used to mislead surface-to-air or air-to-air missile’s heat-seeking targeting systems, creating the pyrotechnic visual effect you can see behind the plane.
H/T to Tolga Şansal for pointing us to this shot.
Image credit: Solo Türk
