After the retirement of the Romanian MiG-21s in May 2023, Croatia remained as the last MiG-21 operator in Europe. And while access to the Romanian MiG-21s only became difficult after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the author had not managed to obtain permission to visit a Croatian base since a visit to Pleso in 2002. Apart from occasional visits to official events, only public appearances and visits to Zagreb airport offered opportunities to see the Croatian MiGs in action.
While in previous years flight operations could be expected on almost every weekday, after the crash of a two-seater at the end of 2022 and the departure of numerous pilots to France for Rafale training in January 2023 this had been reduced to one flying day (and often only one flight) per week – too little for a speculative visit. In addition, announcements are only made for flights expected to cause increased noise – such as test flights after maintenance – and then usually only on the morning of the day in question, i.e. far too short notice. Not infrequently these flights then fall victim to technical problems.
What remains are planned flights for special occasions – such as for the national holiday on August 5 and at the Susreti za Rudija, the annual commemoration of the first Croatian Air Force pilot, Rudolf Perešin, on a weekend in early September.
The first date coincides with the author's holiday on the Croatian coast, and so the plan arises to make a detour to Zagreb from there. However, it is so beautiful on the Adriatic that the desire to interrupt the holiday dwindles day by day and finally disappears altogether. Fortunately, because as it turns out, the MiG-21 flypast over Knin is cancelled due to the weather.
So that leaves only the Perešin commemoration, which in 2023 takes place on Sunday, September 10. Now 10 minutes of flypasts over Gornja Stubica, the birthplace of the national hero, or alternatively two take-offs and two landings (if two aircraft fly at all) are not exactly a great yield for twice 850 kilometres of driving, which is why the plan arises to drive to Zagreb a few days before the event to be there for any training flights. However, after the planned departure on Wednesday fell victim to family reasons, the news comes from Zagreb in the afternoon: two aircraft flew today and will probably fly again tomorrow, on the occasion of a general's funeral. And lo and behold: the website of the Croatian Ministry of Defence says that on the following day, during the commemoration for Anton Tus, former general of the Yugoslav Air Force and first Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Army, there will be a MiG flypast over Zagreb's Mirogoj cemetery at around 3 p.m. So there are now two scheduled flights – on Thursday and on Sunday – and thus the best chances of success. However, to be in Zagreb on time given eight hours of driving and to have some time in reserve for possible traffic disruptions, this means leaving at 5 a.m. at the latest.
In the end the author is already on the road at 3.30 a.m. and, thanks to a journey without disruptions or border controls, is at Zagreb airport before 11 a.m. There, however, nothing is happening at first, and that remains essentially the case for the next few hours. The secret hope for another training flight by the MiGs is disappointed.
The author thanks Chris and the staff of Zagreb airport.