The 30th anniversary of the Gilze-Rijen Aviation Society (GRAS) was a good occasion for the commander of the Defense Helicopter Commando, to facilitate a spottersday at Gilze-Rijen Air Base. On a sun-baked Wednesday afternoon September 7th around 200 aircraft enthusiasts gathered at Gilze-Rijen Air Base. Not only to watch the locally based choppers (CH47 Chinook and AH-64 Apache) in action, but also to see some nice visitors showing up.

Amazing variety
The variety was amazing. In a 5 hour time-frame the spectators saw some of the smallest military props (like three Danish T-17’s and two French TB 30 Epsilons) to some of the largest military planes in Europe (SAC’s C-17 and a French C-135). But that was not all. Some foreign (French and German) choppers arrived at Gilze-Rijen and a few fighter planes (F-16’s, Eurofighter, Tornado) entertained the crowed with some spectacular fly-by’s.