After the failure at the Rafale arrival in April, all attention turns to the official end of Croatian MiG-21 operations (at least according to a statement by the Air Force chief), the AirVG airshow, taking place in Zagreb on May 11. This settles the destination for the author's Father's Day outing with his son. However, information on the event arrives only very sparsely. The show's website only goes online about two weeks before the date, and only then does registration become available – initially only as a spotter. The registration is accepted, but that does not mean it comes with access. When free ticket reservation as a regular visitor becomes possible on May 2, the author strikes shortly after sales start to be sure of being there – a good decision, as a few hours later the tickets are sold out. When some time later the press accreditation requested in the meantime arrives, and finally the spotter registration too, each of us has three access authorisations – but better than none.
After a rainy stopover in Graz on Wednesday, we arrive in Zagreb on Ascension Day, where numerous spotters are already circling the airfield waiting for activity. Disillusionment comes promptly with the news: no photography at the airport until 3 p.m. The reason is said to be Ukraine supply flights by a Canadian Hercules. While trying to photograph at least some military aircraft, we pass ZTZ Velika Gorica and the MiG-21 displayed there. So the visit to a parked aircraft, which seems to be the prerequisite for luck with the flying examples, is ticked off. On this Thursday, however, luck does not come, and so hopes turn to Friday.
On Friday morning dozens of spotters have already lined up at the fence, and we join them. Nobody knows what will happen that day, and at some point the word is: no rehearsal flights today. All the greater is the enthusiasm when, at around 11 a.m., radio traffic announces first a MiG-21 starting up and then a Rafale. And indeed: shortly afterwards a car with military plates positions itself at the edge of the taxiway – a good sign of imminent military flight operations.
So this is the programme we can expect the next day under the heading "Prelet MiG-21 + Rafale" – not exhilarating, but OK. And the goal of the trip has already been achieved! We wait in vain for another two and a half hours for further rehearsal flights. There are a few arrivals of helicopters, Zlíns and PC-9s, but otherwise boredom prevails. At 2 p.m. we decide to leave the airfield, only to learn a short time later that two Rafales took off at 2.10 p.m. But our goal was a different one, so that is no real loss. The exciting part is yet to come.
On Saturday, the day of the event, registration of the press representatives and spotters is to begin at 10 a.m., and access to the site is then to be possible three quarters of an hour before the start of the event. Expecting a chaotic arrival situation – at first there was talk of 50,000 visitors, later of a still considerable 10,000 – we are on site early and find that the mass rush has not yet begun. Nor is it to happen later. But since we do not know that, we park some distance away so as not to be stuck in traffic if we move to the other side outside the airport grounds.
Around the old airport terminal, food stalls are still being set up, and we wonder how they are supposed to feed all the expected visitors. In the terminal surely more than 100 spotters have already gathered, and registration has begun. After a short wait we hold our spotter badges in our hands.
While waiting, there is an opportunity to look at the static display through the windows of the terminal on the ground floor and of the restaurant on the first floor, and to take a few pictures already. It is just a pity that the author is downstairs when MiG-21bisD 133, also on display – with three drop-tanks, never seen like this on a Croatian aircraft before – is towed past, because from this angle it is hidden by the aircraft in front.
It takes quite a while until finally, at around 11.15 a.m., the doors open and, after a rather cursory security check, we stream onto the apron. After a few quick pictures of Rudolf Perešin's MiG-21R in its Yugoslav colours and the red and white Kockica, parked "undisturbed" behind fences, we head straight for 133, which stands in the open and for which the time window for undisturbed photography is likely to be short. Fortunately most of those who have access so far are also photographers, and so mostly nobody is in the way. A staircase is already at the aircraft, via which one can later also climb into the cockpit. But as many others also want to take pictures, we first do the round of the static display, only to return to 133 as quickly as possible when access to the cockpit is possible. It is more than two years since the author sat in a MiG-21, and for his son it is the very first time. We also make extensive use of the opportunity to look at the aircraft from all sides and – very important – to touch them.
The two hours on the exhibition grounds fly by – then we have seen everything and make our way to the other side. No traffic jam or barrier holds us up – everything runs completely relaxed and well organised. Numerous photographers and visitors have already gathered at the fence on the north side. We have to choose a spot and position ourselves at taxiway C, in the middle and roughly at the point where the two MiGs had taken off in September 2023. Slowly the exciting moment approaches. In the meantime the Krila Oluje and other participants fly, and there are civil take-offs and landings. The only irritating thing is that the direction keeps changing. But actually everything suggests that the MiG-21 and Rafale will taxi to runway 022 and take off from there. But we cannot be sure. Fortunately, however, everything goes as planned.
If that was the farewell to the Croatian MiG-21s, it was a successful one. However, various sources say that the MiG-21s will continue to fly as long as they have resources, perhaps until the end of the year. So it remains exciting ...