Several times in recent years the author had tried to attend the Bucharest International Airshow, after all his last visit to such an event had been in 2011. In addition – as the pictures and reports from the editions of recent years showed – with its move from Otopeni international airport to the little-used but closer-to-town Băneasa airfield, the event had developed into an all-day event with a spectacular evening part. While the last attempts to attend the event had failed because of clashes with the open day at Câmpia Turzii and the absence of the MiG-21 from last year's programme as a result of the crash at Feteşti, this time everything spoke in favour of a visit: moving the date from July to August resolved all conflicts, and the renewed cancellation of the open day at Câmpia Turzii made larger formations of Romanian MiG-21s scarce. And when signs finally multiplied that the change of date would lead to only little foreign participation, which would be compensated by a stronger presence of domestic aviation, the decision was made: off to Bucharest. The flying programme finally published and the good weather forecast raised expectations, which were not disappointed.
Before the start of the flying programme, which ran from 9 a.m. until almost 9 p.m., i.e. over almost 12 hours (!), there was a brief opportunity to visit the static display. Besides an "old acquaintance" from Câmpia Turzii, there were numerous types from the inventory of the Romanian Air Force, ...
... but also of civil institutions, such as the state aviation inspectorate, which was represented by a Mi-17 with MiG-21 drop-tanks.
Portugal, from where the Romanian F-16s came, sent two aircraft of this type to Bucharest.
Air defence was present with a Hawk surface-to-air missile battery.
While only aircraft of the Aeroclubul României flew between 9 and 10 a.m., the "actual" and really exciting programme began ...
... with the solo display of the LanceR C, ...
... as always flown spectacularly by Gheorghe GICA Stancu.
To leave no doubt in which country the event was taking place, parachutists jumped from a C-130 with a truly gigantic Romanian flag.
During the subsequent formation display of armed and unarmed IAR 330s, ...
... a national flag was also carried.
The civil participants' displays also included some highlights that can hardly be seen elsewhere, such as the formation flight of a TAROM A318 with the aerobatic team "Hawks of Romania", ...
... which was broken up spectacularly.
Civil parachutists jumped from the two An-2s, showing canopy formations and – of course – again carrying a Romanian flag.
MiG-21 displays were on the programme about half a dozen times (!), and while GICA Stancu prepared for his next flight ...
... and finally taxied out for take-off, ...
... a six-ship formation of MiG-21s from Mihail Kogălniceanu flew over the airfield.
A LanceR B two-seater broke away from the formation for another solo display, which, however, was very short due to technical problems. The two-seater remained at Băneasa after the end of the event to repair the defect.
After a flypast of the "remaining formation" ...
... GICA Stancu took off for his second display ...
... with the great-looking manoeuvres with afterburner and landing gear extended.
The pass facing the public was not missing either – unfortunately the sun was hiding behind one of the few clouds at that very moment.
While 061 had landed in the meantime, ...
... the LanceR C came back once more in a four-ship formation, including 5913, an aircraft recently converted from a LanceR A to the C variant as a replacement for the recent losses.
After the work is done, GICA Stancu climbs out of his aircraft.
The LanceR were followed by further military programme items, such as a tactical demonstration with Humvees, lots of blank ammunition, ...
... unarmed IAR 330s ...
... and SOCATs.
There was a solo display by the C-130, ...
... while the IAR 99s were flown both in formation ...
... and singly.
A real rarity was the An-30 in the flying programme – the second aircraft in the inventory was shown in the static display.
The C-27J displays included a three-ship formation ...
... and a solo, among other things flown with the rear ramp open.
The IAR 316 was demonstrated as a pair ...
... and then a larger formation of IAR 330s flew again, each divided into groups of three.
Another highlight of the civil programme was the Ka-26 which – like most participants – was flown twice and showed truly spectacular manoeuvres for a piston-engined helicopter with a bulky spray rig.
Photos were also taken eagerly on the fringes of the flying programme – here the aircrew and ground crew of an IAR 99 pose for local photographers.
In the late afternoon there were again formations of LanceR to see – ...
... this time together with F-16s. The latter ...
... then broke away for a pair display.
So the afternoon turned into early evening ...
... and the sun slowly set, which allowed some atmospheric pictures ...
... and provided the backdrop for the evening and night programme, which was opened by parachutists with fireworks.
While the F-16s had already fired their infrared flares during the day, the same manoeuvre by the IAR 330 at dusk produced much more effective pictures.
When GICA Stancu took off for the third time, it had become a little darker, and the night sky formed a great contrast both to the afterburner ...
... and to the flares.
Even though the manoeuvres at dusk had to be less spectacular – ...
... the pictures remained impressive.
In the last three quarters of an hour of the programme, one visual highlight followed another. These included gliders with pyrotechnics on the wing tips, ...
... powered aerobatics with fireworks on the ground and finally ...
... the finale: the flypast of the C-27J with plenty of flares.
