Turkey (2013)

On Wednesday morning (19 June) we were picked up by our bus early in the morning. The bus brought us to the main gate of Konya AB quickly. The Turkish Air Force came prepared because all security checks and bookings were done very fast. Within no time everybody had a nametag. Three busses brought all the photographers to the briefing room of Anatolian Eagle. Here, the Wing Commander welcomed us and we quickly learned that they understood why we were all here: to make as many good pictures of the aircraft as possible! After the briefing we were transported to different spots on the base. It was possible to choose between spots along the taxiway, the threshold or the middle of the runway. All spots were excellent for pictures! The flexibility of the Turkish Air Force was high, switching between spots was no problem at all. After the take-off it was possible to switch spots, in order to take as many different pictures as possible. After recovery of the morning mission we paid a visit to the F-5 pool flight line with the last F-5s of the Turkish Air Force. Although the F-5 unit will be disbanded soon, the Turkish Air Force maintains a small pool of operational F-5s. Also, the F-4 flight line was visited. After an extensive lunch and a visit to the debriefing of the morning mission, we were brought to the runway to witness the take-off of the afternoon mission. Again it was possible to use different spots to get the best shots possible. The recovery of the mission was photographed as well, and after the last aircraft landed we visited the F-4 flight line again. Here a group picture was made. A very successful first day!