Hahnweide Oldtimer Fliegertreffen 2011 – Part One

I spent a wonderful five days in Germany with a group of friends at the start of September for the 16th Hahnweide Oldtimer Fliegertreffen.

I wrote about my experiences of the arrivals days in detail in part one of Global Aviation Resource’s three-part coverage of the event (parts two and three to follow next week) so I won’t bother going into too much detail here, but you can read about this stunning show in depth here:

http://www.globalaviationresource.com/reports/2011/airshows-europe-hahnweide-oldtimer-fliegertreffen-part-1/index.php

I’d recommend the show to anyone. Probably the best airshow I’ve been to this year and one of the top aviation experiences of my life. Just stunning.

Here are a few shots that summarise the show; they should act as a teaser both for the 91 shots in the above report, and the hundreds of photos still be be published in parts two and three… You ain’t seen nothing yet…

1. The Sikorsky S-38 was one of the highlights – first time I’ve seen it fly. Here she is arriving with a low pass on Thursday.

2. MeierMotors’ bare metal Yak 11 from Bremgarten is a beautiful machine.

3. It could almost be Where Eagles Dare…

4. There were an amazing six Junkers Ju-52s in attendance – here they are arriving in formation on Friday.

5. Where else can you get that angle on an arriving warbird? Dan Griffith on short finals in Stephen Stead’s Spitfire MkXVI.

6. Another Bremgarten resident was this Yak 9.

7. The cloudscapes offered some lovely photographic opportunities.

8. I hadn’t seen a Schlepp since North Weald 99!

9. Mikael Carlson was one of the highlights of the weekend in the Bleriot/Thulin XI.

10. The airfield remains open until long past midnight, with a free night-shoot and light show, as well as live music, a hangar dance and of course, plenty of hot food and drink.