Turkey (2014)

After enjoying a great breakfast buffet on Wednesday morning (18 June) the bus took us to the main gate of Konya. We were expected there at 8 o’clock, along with over 100 other photographers. The procedure and setting were comparable to last year; checking in and a very friendly approach by the Turkish Air Force. This was followed by a short briefing about the exercise and the opportunities. Anatolian Eagle 2014/2 had brought together an interesting list of participants. Apart from dozens of Turkish F-16s there were Turkish Phantoms, Spanish F-18s and Typhoons, RAF Typhoons, Jordanian F-16s and Mirage 2000s of Qatar. The briefing also gave information about what to expect the next days. Everybody was very content, all would be very ok. “Relax, we will be done with the briefing in time, so you will not miss any aircraft.”. Then we were taken to the runway,  near the threshold. In full sunshine, nice temperatures and dozens of fighters that could be captured perfectly is was a great experience again. Again is showed that setting as little rules a possible gives the best result. Using common sense and some cooperation between those that were present it all went very smooth (let aside some smaller testosterone-moments, but these are normal, nothing special). After that we enjoyed a great lunch (for a couple of euros) and a repeat of things in the afternoon. Because the sun had moved we were brought to the other side of the runway. The resulted in different shots, even as spectacular as the ones from earlier in the day. After the second wave had returned we were brought to the main gate again and we said goodbye until the following morning. The evening in Konya was spent eating on a terrace by all.

On Thursday 19 June we went through the same process (breakfast, bus ride, check-in at the gate, etc.). Before the wave took off (there was only going to be one wave on this final day of the exercise) we first went to the Eagle platform. That platform contained all foreign participants and some Turkish F-16s. Here also everything went very smooth with a large group of photographers and no lines or ribbons. After that we went to the runway again. Everybody chose his favourite position and filled many memory cards. Remarkable was the large number of active aircraft, the appeared to have been no ground-aborts at all. Before the wave returned we moved to another spot again. We had already been told during the briefing the day before that the Turkish Stars and Solo Türk would be giving a display, more or less solely for the photographers, on Thursday. Solo Türk unfortunately cancelled, but we were brought to show centre on Thursday afternoon to witness the display of the Turkish Stars. A team that has become better during the years and can now easily compete with other European teams. Then it was off to the lunchroom again. The original plan was to visit the Turkish platform in the afternoon, where almost all participating Turkish F-16s were parked. A serious looking sandstorm prevented this from happening. We therefore returned to our hotel and the city of Konya in time this day.

This year it was also possible to visit the base on Friday (20 June). This was so that we could capture the departure of the participants and to capture the transport aircraft. A nice addition that all welcomed very much. Apart from dozens of fighters we were ‘given’ a number of transporters today, the highlight of that was the Turkish Airbus A400M. Very nice! After the lunch it was time to say goodbye to the representatives of the Turkish Air Force. Needless to say that they were given a lot of compliments, thank yous, promises and smiles. If only all air forces realised that by organising such things you gain a lot of goodwill and exposure! The bus took us to the city again. The sun was still present off course. All enjoyed a relaxed afternoon and evening. A small part of het group rented a car and went searching for wrecks & relics in the neighbourhood.

It was an early start on Saturday 21 June. The return journey, using two Turkish Airlines flights, started rather early. Since the flights went according to plan most of the group arrived at Schiphol on a decent time on Saturday afternoon (some of the group had arranged their own tickets). From Schiphol everybody continued on their own, but with a big smile on their faces.