Apr 15, 2019 | some 25 miles to the south east of Brussels is home to the 1 Wing of the Belgian Air Force as well as the Basic Flying Training School At the start of the Easter School holidays the base hosted “Air Base Day” which was a chance for families to meet the Belgian Armed Forces and learn more about its work and possible career paths As part of the day’s entertainment there were flying displays from the Air Force display teams plus some dynamic role demonstrations The Belgian Air Component (more frequently known as the Belgian Air Force) have always been good supporters of air displays across Europe Every two years it hosts its own military airshow known as Air Force Days at one of its major air bases such as Florennes or Kleine Brogel It also gives a lot of support to Belgium’s only major civilian airshow It’s aims like many other air forces to engage with the public to showcase the work it does and highlight career paths for the next generation That latter aim has become increasingly more important recent as the Air Component sets about meeting the challenges of becoming a 21st Century military service with new aircraft and roles being created Beauvechain may no longer feature as a venue for the Air Force Days show but does still occasionally host the popular Heli-Days events for 2019 it focussed much more on its own work and that of the whole Belgian Air Force with the “Beauvechain Air Base Day.” It was event aimed at attracting a new audience being held mid-week during the early part of the Easter School Holidays and a clear desire to attract the next generation with all children under 12 admitted free and adult tickets costing just 5 Euros (around £4) On the ground there was plenty to see all day Much like Cosford Air Show or Yeovilton Air Day there were major exhibitions in two of the base’s hangars as well as further exhibition areas around the showground Many of the different military trades were on show but there were also displays from the civilian sector too  Examples of Belgian Air Force aircraft on display ranged from the Glaser-Dirks DG300 glider and Piper L-21B Super Cub of the Royal Belgian Air Cadets through the Lockheed Martin F-16BM Fighting Falcon from the F-16OCU at Kleine Brogel 80 Squadron displayed one of their IAI-Eagle B-Hunter UAVs and there was perhaps one final public appearances for a Belgian Dassault Alpha Jet E from AJETS The ‘home team’ also featured well on the ground with a number of examples of the Agusta A109BAi operated by 15 and 17 Squadrons on display As well as a standard configuration there were examples of the MEDEVAC version with its enlarged side doors and a Quick Reaction Alert equipped example with side mounted machine guns were also represented by a NH Industries NH90TTH on display with support equipment An aircraft from Beauvechain’s fleet of SIAI-Marchetti SF260s was also outside in the static display with two further examples in the hangars All were wearing special tail markings celebrating the types 50 years of service with the Belgian Air Force there was also the chance to go flying with the Air Force through a ticket lottery Adding some international flavour to the ground show was the Czech Air Force with the pairing of Mil Mi-24V Hind and Mi-171 Hip on display Civilian organisations were also represented The Belgian Police Air Support Unit send one of their MD Helicopters MD900 Explorers and there was a good selection of other general aviation displays There was also a small collection of historic military aircraft which included a Pilatus P-3 Throughout the day they were various military displays Some of these were entirely ground based activities such as military unarmed combat techniques military dog demonstrations and how troops control suspect vehicles There were also flying displays throughout the day too All of the Belgian Air Force’s dedicated display teams performed during the day which marked their first public apperances of the year Opening the flying action were the Red Devils flying four SIAI-Marchetti SF260’s from Basic Flying Training School the team’s aircraft wear the ’50 Years of Service’ tail art for the 2019 season Their display is a elegant mix of formation aerobatics The orginal Red Devils was a jet team flying the Hawker Hunter and then Fouga Magister The name was revived in 2011 when it was adopted by the Hardship Red team to mark the 65th Anniversary of the Belgian Air Force Also drawn from 1 Wing at Beauvechain is the solo display of the Agusta A109BAi solo display Captains Jo Jacobs and Stijn Soenens put on a punchy display in the type The A109 performed two displays during the day (as did the Red Devils) with their second performance providing a fiery finale to Air Base Day with liberal use of flares during the routine Completing the line-up of official Belgian Air Force displays was the Lockheed Martin F-16AM Fighting Falcon solo flown by Captain Stephan ‘Vador’ Darte ‘Vador’ operated from his home base of Florennes with his special marked display jet ‘Dark Falcon.’ For the 2019 season the aircraft’s tail has been changed to reflected the 40th Anniversary the type entering Belgian service due to the display area being primarily aimed at helicopters the F-16 display was slightly distant but nevertheless impressed as like the A109 ‘Vador’ made good use of flares to highlight various parts of his display Further flying action came from a number of role demonstrations 40 Squadron from Koksijde presented a search and rescue demonstration with one of their NH Industries NH90NFH helicopters The squadron retired the last of their Sea King Mk48s earlier this year and the NH90 has fully taken over the SAR role in North Sea and English Channel The Training Center for Parachutists (TrgC Para) also took part with a trio of parachutists jumping from an A109 The Beauvechain based helicopters presented two much larger scale role demonstrations with combinations of Agusta A109BAis and NH90TTHs Joining them in both displays was a German Army NH90TTH highlighting the importance of international cooperation in modern military operations The first scenario was titled “Air Mobility” and first saw a small force of Forward Air Controllers inserted on to the battlefield by two A109s with one acting as an escort with side mounted machine guns The air controllers then coordinated a strike by two F-16s before the NH90s came in fast-roping troops and dropping supplies ahead of a ground operation against a hostile force The end of the operation saw a medical evacuation of wounded combatants by A109 before the NH90s return to recover the troops and equipment they dropped earlier The second role demo was a special forces operation to extract a high value target from a moving convoy This saw two A109s intercept two trucks before the special forces force were dropped by the NH90s The target was immobilised by the use of a military dog released from the German Army NH90 and after his capture was extracted by the NH90s Beauvechain Air Base Day was a really interesting insight in the Belgian Armed Forces It was not a traditional airshow and much more relaxed even though the crowd was estimated at 10,000 There was more than enough to see on the ground in between displays plus plenty of food and drink on offer Memorial services were held at the Sunset View Cemetery in Moulton on July 19 2014 with full military honors provided by the Iowa National Guard 20 Jul 2014 01:15:40 GMT — More than 69 years after being shot down on a bombing mission over Germany during WWII Iowa native serving with the 450th Bomber Squadron 1945 as his unit was conducting a bombing mission over northeast Germany With the flight originating from Le Culot Airfield near Beauvechain on which Howard served as an engineer/gunner Only one of the six crewmembers was able to parachute from the aircraft and was taken prisoner by German forces Howard and four other crewmembers from the Marauder were officially declared deceased but their remains were never recovered the Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command - Central Identification Laboratory (JPAC) received information from German officials of human remains found within a burial site located close to the possible aircraft crash site in MÃ 1/4hlanger a JPAC recovery team recovered additional human remains at the site JPACâ??s Research and Analysis Group concluded a historical association drawn from Missing Air Crew Report #14463 and artifacts and human remains recovered at the excavation site Mitochondrial DNA testing positively identified part of the remains as belonging to Howard He graduated from Moravia Public School in Moravia Iowa in 1941 and participated in marching band His military awards and honors include the Purple Heart Air Medal (with one silver and two bronze Oak Leaf Clusters) European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (with three bronze service stars) World War II Victory Medal and Enlisted Air Crew Wings Howard is survived by brothers Harold and Dennis A tornado has damaged properties in Geetbets The tornado that swept across the area on Thursday evening also damaged houses in the Walloon Brabant municipality of Beauvechain several families have had to seek alternative accomodation After the tornado had first caused damage a few kilometres south in Beauvechain it was the turn of Zoutleeuw and Geetbets to bear the brunt At around 6.30pm swept over the Bungeveld social housing estate in the village of Budingen Major damage was caused to the homes there and the roofs of several houses were torn off The emergency services and council workers carried out an initial clean-up operation Residents whose home have been made uninhabitable were given shelter in a local community centre While most of those unable to return to their homes were able to find shelter with family or friends a family of 7 has been given temporary accommodation at a hotel in the nearby Limburg town of Sint-Truiden in Geetbets around a dozen homes in several streets were damaged by the tornado The Armstrong-Whitworth Meteor NF11 in Belgian Air Force markings brings historic jet-night-fighter realism to FSX represents one of the 24 NF11 aircraft that served with Belgium's No requires Rob Richardson’s freeware Meteor NF11 base model This repaint replicates the look of EN8—formerly RAF WD731—right down to the markings it wore before its tragic loss at Beauvechain on 12 April 1956 due to engine failure you will find the main technical points and instructions to help you install this unique add-on produced by Gloster and later Armstrong-Whitworth served as pivotal twin-engine jets during the post-WWII years the airframe adopted an elongated nose containing AI Mk 10 radar (originally the 1940s Westinghouse SCR-720) This night-fighter mission profile required relocating the cannons to wing positions outboard of the powerplants an interim step that followed the de Havilland Mosquito The NF11 design also fused the T.7 training model’s two-seat configuration with the aerodynamic enhancements of the F.8’s tail plane and the F.3’s larger wing surface underscored the importance of an effective jet-powered night-fighter capability in Europe EN8 met an unfortunate end in April 1956 when powerplant issues forced the aircraft down at Beauvechain a unit that traced its lineage to defending national airspace both day and night This livery reflects that chapter in aviation history while paying homage to the Belgian Air Force’s early jet-fighter era Screenshot of Belgian Meteor NF11 in flight Implementing this Belgian Meteor NF11 texture is straightforward remember that the base Armstrong Whitworth Meteor NF11 freeware aircraft by Rob Richardson must already be installed in your FSX “SimObjects/Airplanes” directory to ensure compatibility This new texture has been meticulously crafted by Peter Watkins ensuring authentic Belgian markings and subtle details It captures the striking lines of Rob Richardson’s original Meteor NF11 model in a historically significant paint scheme this aircraft provides a fascinating experience for flight simulation enthusiasts who appreciate post-war military aviation The base package is freeware and can be obtained from the Fly Away Simulation library if it is not already part of your collection View important Copyright © information related to freeware files here The archive belgian_meteor_nf11.zip has 17 files and directories contained within it This list displays the first 500 files in the package Signing-up for PRO gives you super fast, unrestricted speed to the thousands of MSFS, FSX, P3D & X-Plane downloads which include aircraft, scenery, and more - click here to view the library for free or.. Sign-Up Now PRO membership payments go directly back into the website to pay for hosting It's what also enables us to offer a free download tier Join over 145,000 subscribers of our free dedicated flight simulation newsletter Are you using the latest Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 release Looking to access paid articles across multiple policy topics Interested in policy insights for EU professional organisations Belgian authorities are prepared to use a military airfield to receive EU leaders for the extraordinary summit on growth and jobs as trade unions threatened a mass strike on Monday that is likely to block the Brussels airport Many public- and private-sector workers in Belgium are threatening a 24-hour strike designed to shut the country's transportation network and close the main airports on the day of the EU summit Belgians are striking because their government has made it harder for them to retire early and has cut back on unemployment benefits as part of an austerity budget aimed at bringing its deficit within the EU limit of 3% this year planes will also likely to be grounded at Belgium's main airport after pilots agreed to take part in the stoppages Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo has asked the defence ministry to prepare a contingency plan for using the military airport of Beauvechain which for decades housed fighter planes and is now used for training jets and helicopters reportedly does not have appropriate equipment or sufficient parking space to accommodate larger aircraft the airport has no sufficient firefighting equipment and personnel for hosting a large number of aircraft A better option would be to use the low-cost airport near Charleroi after Belgian unions said they would block the road to the terminal "There is only one access route to the airport," said Daniel Piron general sectary of the Charleroi division of FGTB "This access route will be blocked," he added Belgium trade union representatives voiced their disgust at the announcement of measures to use Beauchevain to circumvent the strike "It appears as the right to strike does not apply in this country," an activist was quoted as saying Feb 20, 2019 | , The Belgian Air Force’s A109 Display Team has released its display schedule for 2019 which sees two displays outside of their home country in the UK and Austria