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Text: |
Chakrit Samithinan |
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Pictures: |
Chakrit Samithinan & Michael E. Fader |
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
The Flightprogramm
The national Children Day is being celebrated every second Saturday in the month of January. The first such event was observed on 3rd October 1953 with that day being declared a public holiday. In 1964, the Children Day (in Thai “One Dek”) was moved to the second Saturday in January, It is the goal of the armed forces to give the children the possibility to have fun und to make them aware that they are playing an important role in the development of the country. There is a Thai saying: “Children are the future of the nation. If the children are intelligent, the country will be prosperous”.
The Royal Thai Air Force usually invites children to get in close touch with their aircrafts. Since the Children Day is being observed all over the country where there is an Air Force base, this event represents a major investment for the Royal Thai Air Force but they are happy to do it.
In the region of Bangkok, the Children Day is normally held at the military side of Don Muang airport. However, Don Muang is also the site of the second international civilian airport in Bangkok and for this reason, the way the flight demonstrations were staged in the more recent years were quite unusual in that the demos needed to be lumped into several separate show-blocks to create in-between a window for the civilian traffic to land and take off. Civilian air traffic was therefore interrupted time and again and they had to wait for the flight demonstrations to end. This situation brought about strong demands from the civilian side not to use Don Muang airport as the location for the Children Day any longer.
This year, the Royal Thai Air Force relented to those demands and moved the site for Bangkok’s Children Day at short notice to the training site for the RTAF, i.e. the air base in Kampaengsaen, Nakorn Pathom province which is 100 km away from Don Muang Airport. For this reason, the number of visitors was clearly lower than in previous years. It is estimated that about 20’000 to 25’000 children and parents found the way to KPS, which is the abbreviation of RTAFB Kampaengsaen.
Pilatus PC-9 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Beech T-6C (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Sikorsky S-70i Blackhawk (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Static
In the static park, several aircrafts were displayed. Two Beech T-6C Trainer who had only arrived in November 2022 and a demonstration aircraft of the Beech AT-6 Wolverine were of particular interest to the visitors. The Wolverine aircraft is on loan to the RTAF to gain experience and to develop special software for this newly ordered aircraft. Following delivery of these aircrafts in 2024, they will be stationed at RTAFB Chiang Mai and used as light attack aircrafts. Also seen for the first time were the Airbus H-135 helicopter and the Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk which brought one of the Thai princesses to the event.
Pilatus PC-9 (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
NZAI CT-4E (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Airbus H-135 203 Sqn. (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Beech AT-6E Wolverine (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Beech T-6C (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Northrop F-5TH Tigris 211 Sqn. (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Dornier Alpha Jet 321 Sqn.(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
General Dynamics F-16A 403 Sqn. (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
General Dynamics F-16A 403 Sqn. (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Fairchild AU-23 Peacmaker 531 Sqn. (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Pilatus PC-9 (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
NZAI CT-4E (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Lockheed C-130H Hercules (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Sikorsky S-70i Blackhawk (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Sikorsky S-70i Blackhawk (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Displays
Every year, the flying program is more or less identical. According to tradition, the opening of the flying display is carried out by a low-flying General Dynamics F-16B, this time from the 403 Fighter Squadron based in Takhli, and three Fairchild AU-23 Peacemakers which were trailing smoke in the colors of the Thai national flag. Thereafter, two General Dynamics F-16 Falcon from the Takhli air base (403 Squadron) and a F-16 Falcon from RTAFB Korat (103 Squadron) engaged in a dogfight with a KAI T-50 TH Golden Eagle of Squadron 401 at Takhli. This was followed by the jets simulating attacks on ground targets, enhanced by special effects and detonations. The result of this was a small fire on the dry grass between the taxiway and the static park which was quickly extinguished by the airport fire brigade.
General Dynamics F-16B 403 Sqn. (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
General Dynamics F-16B 403 Sqn. (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Fairchild AU-23A Peacemaker(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Fairchild AU-23A Peacemaker(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Fairchild AU-23A Peacemaker(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Fairchild AU-23A Peacemaker(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
KAI T-50 401 Sqn. (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
KAI T-50 401 Sqn. (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
General Dynamics F-16B 403 Sqn. (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
General Dynamics F-16B 403 Sqn. (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
KAI T-50 401 Sqn. (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
General Dynamics F-16B 403 Sqn. (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
KAI T-50 401 Sqn. (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
General Dynamics F-16B 403 Sqn. (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
(Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
A Eurocopter EC-725 of 202 Squadron in Lopburi then demonstrated the recovery of a pilot and the dropping of soldiers with the longline. The RTAF is now operating 12 machines of this type which are used in search and rescue operations as well as to drop commando troops on to the ground. This demo earned a lot of applause from the visitors present.
Eurocopter EC-725 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Eurocopter EC-725 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Eurocopter EC-725 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Eurocopter EC-725 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Eurocopter EC-725 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
After a short interruption, a Saab JAS 39 Gripen from 701 Squadron at RTAFB Surat Thani took off for a solo display supported with thick streams of white smoke. The Gripen gave a spectacular demo with loopings and fast changes in directions. It is certainly one of the most agile Fighter aircrafts in the inventory of the RTAF.
SAAB JAS-39 Gripen (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
SAAB JAS-39 Gripen (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
SAAB JAS-39 Gripen (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
SAAB JAS-39 Gripen (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
SAAB JAS-39 Gripen (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
SAAB JAS-39 Gripen (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
SAAB JAS-39 Gripen (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
SAAB JAS-39 Gripen (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
SAAB JAS-39 Gripen (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
SAAB JAS-39 Gripen (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
After a further pause, all the aircrafts used for training at KPS air base had their big moment. Four aircrafts each of Diamond DA-42, NZAI CT-4E and Pilatus PC-9 prepared to do various formation fly-bys. Other than on the rehearsal day, only three DA-42 took to the sky on Saturday. One aircraft had to stay on the ground due to technical reasons. Towards the end of the flights, one machine of every type left the formation to do a solo display. European visitors were surprised to see that a few aircrafts flew over the area reserved for the public.
The Austrian Diamond DA-42 is being used by the RTAF for multi-engine training. The RTAF has several multi-engined aircrafts in operation. The NZAI CT-4E aircrafts, which were procured in 1999 and 2000, are being used for the basic training and are equipped with a 300 HP Lycoming engine which is clearly underpowered. The third trainer aircraft, the Pilatus PC-9, was purchased between 1991 and 1994 and will now be slowly phased out. From the initial number of 26 aircrafts, only about 10 aircrafts are said to be in flying condition. The successor will be the Beech T-6C which is really based on the PC-9 but has evolved into a more modern aircraft. Among others, the T-6C has an upgraded glass cockpit.
Diamond DA-42 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Diamond DA-42 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Diamond DA-42 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Diamond DA-42 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Diamond DA-42 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Diamond DA-42 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Diamond DA-42 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
NZAI CT-4E (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
NZAI CT-4E (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
NZAI CT-4E (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
NZAI CT-4E (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
NZAI CT-4E (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
NZAI CT-4E (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Pilatus PC-9 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Pilatus PC-9 (Picture courtesy Chakrit Samithinan)
Pilatus PC-9 (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Pilatus PC-9 (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Pilatus PC-9 (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Pilatus PC-9 (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Pilatus PC-9 (Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
Somewhat
unusual was the timing of the various Children Day demonstrations. The
first show item started already at 8 am and the entire program ended at
11.30 am. Some of the morning demonstrations such as the F-16, T-50,
EC-725 and the Gripen were repeated in the afternoon but by 3 pm, all
demos had ended for good.
The very early start of the morning program was probably due to the
weather forecast which predicted a very hot afternoon with the sun
relentlessly burning down on the people so that parents and children
were looking for shade underneath the aircrafts displayed on the static
park. All in all, the Children Day 2023 was again a successful event,
and the children were looking forward to a school-free Monday due to
Teacher’s Day.
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Nok Yak in)
(Picture courtesy Nok Yak in)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Michael E. Fader)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
(Picture courtesy Urs Schnyder)
In conclusion, we would like to thank the PR Department of the RTAF and in particular Khun Jirayu Doungnui most sincerely for the transport arrangements from Bangkok to Kampaengsaen and back as well as the excellent care during the event.
