First international air show in Greece / Tanagra

The first international air show in Greece

"Archangel 2005’’, was the first international air show in Greece. The air display in September 2005 was unanimously hailed as a great success and it wouldn't be an overstatement to put it down as another Hellenic exploit. For the whole venture was engineered and implemented in just seven months by an Air Force which had forgotten for almost four decades how to show its deeds to the public, temp the youngsters of this country and bear the future guards of the Aegean.

More than two thousand HAF personnel contributed directly to the implementation of "Archangel 2005". A lot of them had to put aside their personal lives, but they did not crumble under the many difficulties and obstacles they had to deal with on a daily basis. In the end, they were vindicated by the result. The Hellenic spirit emerged triumphant even weathering the storm which on the eve of the show threatened to ruin the hard efforts of many months, when severe thunderstorms broke out!

Crowd

The public applauded this effort with their en masse participation in the great fete. Just on Sunday, September 18, when the show culminated, over 200,000 spectators flooded the Air Base of Tanagra (114 Combat Wing) exceeding the most optimistic expectations of the organizers. A whole Combat Wing proved very "small" to accommodate such a big crowd, and as a result the surrounding hills and the national motorway nearby were full of people of all ages who were eager to see men and flying machines on their limit.

Despite the fact that "Archangel" constituted an inspired and ambitious venture for the Hellenic Air Force, the truth is that Greece has a long tradition and audacity in the organization of air displays. This tradition goes years back in the 1950s and 1960s, when the first Hellenic Aerobatic Group and a few years later the "Hellenic Flame" and the "New Hellenic Flame" left the spectators in our country spellbound, and swept the international awards with their pioneering maneuvers, acting as the best representatives of the HAF abroad. However, in the years that followed, HAF did not have - and still does not - the luxury to maintain pilots and aircraft for exhibition purposes, due to the operational requirements in the Aegean Sea and to the multiple operations and training demands.

In recent years some efforts for the organization of air shows have taken place, specifically during HAFs official day on November 1999, when two fourth generation fighter jets, a Euro fighter Typhoon and a French Rafale landed at Tanagra Air Base. Back then, more than 9,000 spectators made their way to Tanagra to view the solo display of those two state of the art European aircraft.

The following links will help you to find more staff (images etc) for Hellenic Air forces - air shows etc:

http://www.haf.gr/en/airshow2008/default.asp

http://www.flickr.com/photos/papo/sets/72157594239598455/

ENJOY !!!