Jens
Schymura and Holger Stüben visited the Open Day
at Čáslav
to say goodbye to the
MiG-21 Fishbed and to welcome the JAS-39 Gripen
This unique event took place on the
warm and sunny Saturday 21st of May at the 21st Tactical Aviation Base
at
Čáslav located north of the city of Čáslav in the
middle of Bohemia about 77km
east of Prague, near the cities of Kolín and Kutna-Hora
. It was organised by the 21st
Tactical Aviation Base Čáslav, Czech Airshow Agency, Ltd.,
and the Aeroclub
Kolín. This occasion intended to mark the end of operation
of the MiG-21
aircraft and introduction of the new JAS-39 Gripen supersonic aircraft
in
service with the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. The OPEN
DAY was a exceptional
presentation of modern air force and sports aviation equipment. Flight
display
of the Mi-24 V from the 231st squadron from Prerov, W 3 A Sokol and
L-159 from
212th sq, moreover, take-offs, fly-over and landings of Caslav based
L159s,
MiG-21s and JAS-39s Gripen were shown. Even a historical formation
flight of
all the three Jet aircraft types with 4 MiG-21, 3 JAS-39 and 2 L-159
was
celebrated. A nice static display of nearly all
types of the Czech Air Force, a Belgian F-16 and two German F-4
Phantoms from
JG 74 of Neuburg was surrounded by hundreds of spectators.
‘Star of the static’
was the special painted MiG-21 MFN -4003 with tiger stripes and the silhouette of a MiG-21 F13
at the
fuselage to mark the history of MiG-21 in Czech service with the oldest
variant
of the Fishbed painted on the most modern variant.. Also
flight displays of aero clubs
and aviation modellers, pleasure flights, a static display of army
equipment,
airdrops, displays of falconry, dogs´ training and the
airport’s military fire
brigade activities were seen. The prominent guest of
the Day was
Lt Gen (Ret) František Peřina, a veteran WWII pilot, patron
of the L-159 ALCA
aircraft and the 212 tactical flight. The Czech Republic's
famous fleet of
Soviet build MiG-21 MFN fighter and MiG-21 UM trainer flew some of the
final
flights at that weekend after thirty years of service. Thousands came
out to
see the show as well as to greet the Fishbeds’ successor, the
country's new
JAS-39 C Gripen fighters from Sweden. The first six
supersonic JAS-39C
Gripen leased from Sweden by the Czech Republic arrived at
Čáslav on Monday morning
18th of April after a 1,5 hour flight from Linköping in
Sweden. One week later,
on 26th of April the aircrafts were officially introduced to the 21st
Tactical
Aviation Base and the Czech Air Force during a ceremony with top
politicians of
Czech republic, the representatives of Swedish kingdom, representatives
and
high ranking officers of both Swedish and Czech Air Forces, producer of
aircraft and press. Eight more JAS-39 are to join the
Czech air force, also 2 double seated training aircraft, by the end of
August.
All this of course comes at a price; it took ten years for the Czech
Republic
to negotiate the deal, finally settling on the 14 new jets. The Swedish
Gripens
have been leased for sum of roughly 20 billion crowns (850 million
dollars), to
be paid over twenty years. After that time the Czech Air Force has an
option to
buy or return them to Sweden. The lease of the Gripens was approved by
former
Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla's government and signed in June 2004,
commits
Sweden to investing 130 percent of the contract's value in so called
"off-sets" in the Czech Republic, 20 percent of which will be direct
investments in the Czech economy. Questions arose whether the Czech
Republic
really needs the brand-new Gripens but the Czech Air Force has claimed
that the
price was right and the JAS Gripen will fulfil the needs of the Czech
Air
Force, in the age of global terrorism it would be unthinkable not to
employ
modern fighters. The Gripens could reach any place in the Czech
Republic within
18 minutes. While hopefully they will never be required in an actual
terrorist
situation, at least they are apparently up to the task. It's their
responsibility in any case, now that the MiGs have gone. Serviceability
was one of the key
issues for the Czech Air Force in the selection of the new combat
aircraft.
Another important factor for pilot skills will be the Czech Gripen
simulator,
an essential aid the former MiG-21 pilots never had. The availability
of the simulator will multiply the value of each real flight
hour flown by every Czech pilot. Every new type of mission will be
flown in the
simulator first. The first Czech Air Force Gripen pilots are just a few
weeks
away from completing their conversion training course, and flying the
first six
operational Czech Gripens to their new home at Caslav air base. The Air
Force
hopes to have its Gripens operational in the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA)
air
defence mission within a month of their arrival. A JAS-39
Gripen roars across the sky
announcing a changing of the guard; the end of the line for the aging
MiG-21
fighters that protected Czech airspace throughout the Cold War and into
the new
millennium. At that weekend the last of the MiGs disappeared into the
clouds
high above the east Bohemian region as crowds looked on. The end of an
era. Comparing the MiG fighters with
their successors is, experts say, like rolling a forty-year-old racing
car out
of garage in the hopes of beating Michael Schumacher. Quicker, more
powerful,
and fully digital, the Gripens guarding the Czech Republic now are
simply
beyond compare. In terms of speed and manoeuvrability the MiGs were
built for
another age. At 2,400 kilometres per hour the Gripens fly twice as
fast, while
the on-board radar is good for 100 kilometres: roughly ten times the
range of
their MiG predecessors. “The MiG-21 is very
difficult to
fly. In the MiG you spend 90 per cent of your time just navigating and
coping
with the airplane. Get it wrong and it’s pretty going to be
pretty bad for you.
The Gripen is easy to fly and all our time has been spent learning how
to use
the system. The Swedish concept of operations for the Gripen increases
the
effectiveness of everything by 100 per cent.” This is what
one of the first
JAS-Gripen pilots of the Czech Air Force says when he was asked to
compare the
two types of aircraft. Two instructor pilots of Czech Air
Force have undertaken an intensive 80-flight program in Sweden learning
all the
skills needed to train future Gripen pilots back in the Czech Republic.
A
second group of six experienced pilots required just 35 sorties to fly
the
Gripen. All of the Czech pilots are converting from a MiG-21 or L-39
flying
background. 40 ground crewmen and mechanics were trained to service the
New
Century Fighter of the Czech Republic Air Force.
