Bulgarian air force airshow in Sofia October 10-11, 2014

[sovietjet]

Hello all. This weekend at Sofia international airport the Bulgarian air force hosted a very memorable airshow titled "This is us" celebrating 102 years. Everything that is currently flying in the air force was shown both on the ground and in the air. Many of the aircraft did things that have never been done publically before in Bulgaria. Specifically the MiG-29, MiG-21, C-27J Spartan and Bell 206 flew very hard. The MiG-29 solo, flown by brigadier general Rumen Radev - commander of the air force, did a very aggressive takeoff with a hard left bank. During his performance he did a "cobra" and "bell tailslide" maneuver with just a regular type 9-12 MiG-29. The Spartans did opposing crosses. The Bell 206s did a synchronized performance. Overall it was quite impressive and I won't soon forget it. On to the pics:

First the helicopters arrived in a group formation.





One Mi-17 demonstrated firefighting



The Bell 206 pair did a demo







The Mi-17 and Cougars then showed a simulated combat landing.











The C-27s first dropped parachtues, then arrived as a pair and did a demo, hard banks and crosses included











The PC-9M and L-39s both did short but nice demos.







This was followed by the pair of MiG-21s.











And a pair of Su-25s.











A pair of MiG-29s then flew a simulated dog fight. Tight turns and lots of afterburner!

















Finally, the star of the show. General Radev and his MiG-29 with an insane takeoff!

















The other aircraft all came back in formation at the end.



Some of the aircraft on the ramp after the show:







The flightline:

[Skylinerworld]

Lovely photos! What a great variety from the Bulgarians!

[Burleysway]

Very impressive

[Red Dragon]

That MiG-29 take off Impressive However it would be banned in RIAT I think!

[marpleman]

That's a great set, hard to choose a favorite !

The Spartans in tandem is very nice!

[Maisie]

Great stuff.... remind me why I've never gone to such event. Love the Let-410's in the background too!

[Tobyone1985]

Stunning shots from what looks and sounds like an amazing show.

[st24]

Fabulous stuff all round. What an air arm!

[CH79]

That Mig take-off... superb!!!
Cheers,
Chris

[RichPittman]

Was a great event, attended by just a hand full of enthusiasts as it seems everyone was in Spain.
The Mig29 display was something else

[bigcrow]

Impressive shooting, looked a great show were they taken inside or out?

[DanO1978]

What an event!

An air force who whom "it'll do" doesn't come into consideration when it comes to airshows. How unlike our own RAF.

[SPLAT]

Great set of shots , like the two Spartans together and in opposition.

[Chrisse]

What the hell was I doing in bloody Spain?

[Wissam24]

Wow what a cracking lineup. I know where I'll be going next year...

[Carlito]

Superb shots of General Radev MiG

[flybynight]

Great set Ivan, especially as the sun was directly in front all day. I assume you were on the civil side for the rehearsals and inside for that 2nd 'insane' take off shot of General Radev heading towards the crowd Line? I cannot believe how close all the aircraft came
As for the inverted shot, do you have it with the ground in view to show how low he was directly from that missed approach? Definitely not allowed in the UK!

What the hell was I doing in bloody Spain?

Should have listened to me at Shoreham

[Airwolfhound]

Spectacular shots, do love that tooled up Mil 17

[Agg]

Great set from what looks like a fantastic event!

[Vixen1]

Superb shots especially the Mig 29 trade-off.

[Chrisse]

What the hell was I doing in bloody Spain?

Should have listened to me at Shoreham

I will next time! Told you I was very much in doubt about trading Spain for Bulgaria.