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30 years GRAS

On September 7th the Gilze-Rijen Aviation Society (GRAS) celebrated its 30th anniversary with a spottersday on their homebase Gilze-Rijen. The forecasted Indian Summer weather conditions proved to be a good indication of the day to come: a perfectly organised spotterday! In stead of publishing all the expected visitors upfront the organisers decided to go old-school. We were told something special was coming but not what exactly.
Our location in front of the tower and close to the runway was a rather spacious area so we all had front row view.  And during the afternoon we were treated to a nice mix of fighters, trainers, helicopters and support aircraft from various countries. The locally based Apaches, Cougars and Chinooks performed their normal training flights in between the visitors making it a busy afternoon.
At 16.30 the buses were ready to take us back to the parking spaces. And with a big smile on our slightly sunburned faces we headed back. Lots of awesome photos to be sorted out and a great afternoon added to our memory.
Thanks to the Koninklijke Luchtmacht, Defensie Helicopter Commando and GRAS for this spottersday and let us hope that GRAS will live on to see its 50th birthday in 2036!

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