Due to the worldwide corona hysteria, the author's aviation travel activities reached their lowest point for many years this year – not a single trip for the MiG-21 or other aviation events by mid-year. And so in midsummer the decision matured to visit the only MiG-21 base reachable at all at that time – Zagreb-Pleso, as an onlooker for lack of official permission, as on the visits before. Reports from Zagreb promised regular flight operations on four days a week. Two days were available. And then, on the evening of arrival, came the bad news: "no flying tomorrow". So all that remained was the hope of an unscheduled take-off by the QRA pair, ...
... which, however, was not fulfilled. Instead there was little interesting civil ...
... and distant military traffic in mediocre weather. When a thunderstorm broke at around noon, it was time to leave the airfield and the annoying mosquitoes swarming around it ...
... and at least take a photo of a MiG-21 – displayed in front of a university building in Zagreb. For the next day the pleasing prospect was: four waves of two aircraft each from 9.30 a.m. But when the planned take-off time came, ...
... first of all: nothing happened. Only after 25 minutes of anxious waiting was the lighting of afterburners finally heard, and a two-seater and a single-seater (pictured) took off, again in very mediocre weather. The first flying MiG-21s of 2020 for the author!
As the two-seater had taken off without a drop-tank, it was time to change sides quickly for the landing. A quick test shot at an approaching airliner ...
... and then the MiG-21UMD was already approaching.
Because of the presence of airport security, the photo position was quite a long way from the touchdown point.
Immediately after the two-seater ...
... followed the MiG-21bisD, ...
... which went around after the first approach ...
... so that the chance of good pictures doubled :-).
The next take-off was already 40 minutes behind the original schedule, but at least the weather improved.
Another test shot ...
... before the UMD landed again after only 30 minutes of flying time, ...
... pleasingly a different aircraft than in the first wave.
The following single-seater approached so low ...
... that it hardly fitted into the picture.
The third round started almost 50 minutes late, so there was still time for a few "practice photos" during take-off.
The two aircraft, here the single-seater, now took off into an almost cloudless sky, but were already much too high for nice pictures here, ...
... which were only to be taken again on landing.
In quick succession, UMD 164, which had already flown in the first wave, ...
... and bisD 117 touched down on the runway. Given the delay in the schedule, a drive home of a good 800 kilometres and the expected traffic jam at the Slovenian border, there was no time left to wait for the fourth wave. But the most important goal had been achieved!
