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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1101.PDF
-604 FLIGHT Pilots of No. 16 Sq.i., B.A.F.O., take full advantage of the D.H. Vunpirt 5's low-speed tractability. S/L L H. Lambert, the CO., is in the lead. THE citizens of Brussels sat in the cafes last Saturdayevening appraising the bearing and uniforms of fivemilitary air Services. From their own Force A&rienne. the R.A.F., France's Artnee de 1'Air, the U.S.A.F., and the Netherlands Army Air Force, parties of officers were in the city to play their part on the following day at the Evere meeting. This unique event would celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Belgian Air Force. Some hours previously the visitors had been received, and wished good luck, by M. Van de Meulebroeck, the Burgomaster of Brussels. On the Sunday morning these same officers were packed into the briefing room at Evere to hear every detail of the flying programme explained to them in admirable English, French and Flemish by Major Van Lierde, D.F.C. All visiting aircraft were to operate from the nearby civil air- field of Melsbroeck. In the course of the display some •f if if. ANNIVERSARY Belgian Air Force, Supported h its 35th Year < dozen DC-4S, Convairs and Dakotas would be landing or taking off, so the strictest flying discipline was imperative. Major Van Lierde warned of obstructions and, "for the benefit of those seeking promotion," pointed out the tribunes built for the Chiefs of Staff and Ambassadors. Arranged before the new hangars at Mels- broeck we found the visiting contingents— Vampires and Shooting Stars from Germany. Mustangs and Thunderbolts from France, and more Meteors from Holland. The promised French Vampires had met last-minute snags and were forced to scratch. By midday the surrounding roads were choked with excursionists—tens of thousands of them—doggedly con- verging on Evere. With this inexorable efflux from Brussels it was necessary to contend before attaining the airfield, barely in time for the overture to the meeting—a formation fly-over by five Tiger Moths (drawn from the Ecole da Chasse, under Major Dieu), trailing the five national flags. How to Demonstrate Trainers The programme, reading " Vols de formation : nine S.V.4 and nine Harvard," did not stir the emotions, but the realization of this item most certainly did. Under Majors Pauwels and Truyers, the eighteen pilots gave an object lesson in how to make the best of common instructional machines. Biplane and monoplane formations were syn~ chronized with exemplary precision, converging by flights five times over, in a most spectacular manner. Loops in line astern and vie filled the sky with beautifully disciplined aircraft and the busy noise of little engines. Imaginatively • conceived and beautifully executed, this event made a deep impression. Major Arend very divertingly filled in such gaps as there were. A number of Belgian pilots—the Major among them—are exceptionally gifted aerobatic per- formers, and the little Belgian S.V.is their ideal vehicle. Smart drill by the Lockheed Shooting Stars of the 53rd Fighter Squadron, U.S.A.F. Like the Vampires, these come from Germany. The performers take lunch, as the guests of the Belgian Air Force, at Melsbroeck, before their afternoon performance at Evere.
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