October 2024

The big news story in September was of course the official retirement of the Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon, which took place on Friday 27 September. Sadly, weather conditions on the day meant they could not fly the intended fly-by route over the Netherlands. Still, a few locations were visited, and at departure and arrival air base Volkel weather was good enough for some action shots and very busy roads!

To commemorate the occasion, we have an article with all Vipers that ever flew for the Koninklijke Luchtmacht, with some stunning pictures from past and present.

The November 2024 edition will be available from Sunday 3 November, and the deadline for photos is Tuesday 29 October.

The F-16 within the KLu has participated in numerous successful operational deployments abroad, including Operation “Unified Protector,” which aimed to enforce a no-fly zone over a troubled Libya. F-16s from 322 Squadron conducted CAP missions day and night, armed with one AIM-9 Sidewinder, three AIM-120 AMRAAMs, an ALQ-131 pod, and an AN/AAQ-28 Litening targeting pod. Marcel Bos visited Decimomannu in April 2011 and captured this picture at 4 AM, witnessing the preparation for another mission.