Borcea-Fetesti Air Base, Romania

TIM9G · Nov 29, 2006

Here are some pictures from the military air base of Borcea-Fetesti in Romania. Plenty of veteran and refurbished MiG-21's still in front line operation with the RoAF, aswell as other rare Eastern European former Soviet types.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7. ....and a favourite of mine!

The rest of the gallery is at .... www.9g-photography.fotopic.net

Cheers

KP_1421 · Nov 29, 2006

I like the chopper

lostprophet · Nov 29, 2006

what I'd do for a MiG in my garden

funny you should say #7 is your favourite, I seem to be drawn to that one as well :lol:

Michael Humle · Nov 29, 2006

Who does the maintenance on these bad boys?
Great photos!

TIM9G · Nov 29, 2006

Lostprophet......try searching on eBay for an ex-Polish, Hungarian or Czech MiG-21, you could probably pick one up quite cheap and the transport cost would be the only bank breaker. Whether the beast would fit in your back garden is another question. What would the neighbours say!

Michael.... In the late 1990s the Romanian Air Force decided to scrap its fleet of MiG-23s and MiG-29s as the MiG-21 was more cost efficient to operate. They were overhauled (73 between 1997-2003) using Israeli technology at the Romanian Aerostar Plant at Bacau under the 'Lancer' program giving them an extended life. The new airframes were said to be quite reliable thus not an urgent need for the air force to be equiped with a modern fly-by-wire fighter such as the Saab Gripen.

Cheers
Tim www.9g-photography.fotopic.net

lostprophet · Nov 29, 2006

TIM9G said:
Lostprophet......try searching on eBay for an ex-Polish, Hungarian or Czech MiG-21, you could probably pick one up quite cheap and the transport cost would be the only bank breaker. Whether the beast would fit in your back garden is another question. What would the neighbours say!

I'd have a MiG in the backgarden, who cares what they'd say :lol:

and anyway I doubt I'd hear them over the thrash of the afterburners :headbang:

Hoppy · Nov 30, 2006

To *ell with the MiG in the garden........ I go for #7 in my garden any day :lmao:

kulakova · Nov 30, 2006

i guess its russian helicopter

TIM9G · Nov 30, 2006

Although the Romanians do use Russian Helicopters (Mil-8s) This particular type is the same as the RAF Puma built under liscence as the IAR-330. It does have a very nice Russian style paintjob on it though!

Tim
www.9g-photography.fotopic.net

No7 in Hoppy's garden!! Oh I say! :heart:

Danad · Nov 30, 2006

Nice photos..I also like the last one more...
But I have one question. How did U manage to take the pictures. Usually in Romania they don't allow people to take pictures of military objectives - specially military bases!

lostprophet · Nov 30, 2006

/\ Tim is a well known spy :lol:

oh and that he is a member of some "lets go around an airforce base" group, not that I'm jealous or anything :lol:

Danad · Nov 30, 2006

[

lostprophet said:
/\ Tim is a well known spy

oh and that he is a member of some "lets go around an airforce base" group, not that I'm jealous or anything

hmmm...he must be a very, very good spy or the president of that "let's go around an airforce base" group...otherwise I don't see how he managed to take this shots! :wink:

PS I must admit, I'm a little jealous! :sexywink:

Jeff Canes · Nov 30, 2006

Looks like a yard sale for used aircraft

Alex_B · Nov 30, 2006

i really like the last one .... uhm, ok ,for special reasons

but also all the euipment on the other shots is nice... very much like a walk back in time!

Too bad there is no Hind (as we called them

) though

TIM9G · Nov 30, 2006

Me a spy? .....Agent 007 (and a half) to be exact. :lol:

The trips are organised months in advance. The government checks out each persons 'classified files' before letting them anywhere near their military hardware. It took over an hour to get in to the base as other people from the Netherlands were denied access at the gate because they had not followed instructed procedures. It doesnt always go so easy.

I am a member of the Aviation Photo Club and we have a superb reputation. The Romanian Air Force had a invitation open press week during the run up to this years International Air Show. There were around 150 members of the public on base when I was there! Next year will be Bulgaria..... :wink:

Romania is a great country and I enjoyed my visit :hail: