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Nairobi Air Show 1997 - LOTS of pics! 30 of...Hunters


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Today I had access to a scanner. So I scanned all the pics I took at the Nairobi Air Show 1997. The prints I have have deteriorated over the years. Come to it, they were taken with a really small camera (no zoom!) by someone with no photographical experience (me!). Still, I think there might be some interesting shot s in there.

Kenyan Air Force F-5E Tigers

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Zimbabwean Air Force Bae Hawk 60/60A (from No.2 Sqn at Thornhill)

These aircraft would later see action in Congo/Zaire, both in air-to-ground and air-to-air missions. The latter didn’t yield any results, while the ground-attack missions were quite succesful. In one instance they had to strafe the end of their own runway because the airport was close to being overrun.

Strangely, no Kenyan Hawks were to be seen.

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The hills in the background of the above pic are already the Nairobi National Park. Close to that is the Ivory Burning Site that may be well-known (the last time I saw it, it was featured in Linkin Park’s “What I’ve done†video).

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Privately owned Hawker Hunter

Being former Swiss aircraft, they are now based in South Africa. They did a fantastic display. The double-seater didn’t land at Wilson Airport. It was on a ferry flight to South Africa, the single-seater having been flown there a year earlier.

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(note the red/white Shorts Tucano of the Kenyan Air Force in the background)

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Two Hunters and two Tigers in fly-past. One of the Hunters is a double-seater. The commentator said the dual-seater is actually a bit faster than the single-seater, because of better airflow round the nose section.

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Kenyan Air Force Caribou

IIRC, they used the same camo as the RAF desert scheme of the seventies, complete with white “spot†above the cockpit.

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Kenyan Air Force Shorts Tucano

Obviously, some are camouflaged, while others use a more traditional scheme for a trainer. Whether they have a secondary COIN role, I don’t know.

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“Smirnoff Aerobatics Team” Pitts S2Bs

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“Smirnoff Sky Team” from the Kenya Skydivers Club

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Kenyan Police Bell 47 (?)

Nowadays they fly the Mi-17, if it's servicable.

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I've only got shots of military planes (ran outta film...), although there were a host of civil planes as well. For example Air Kenya DC-3s (I fear they have been retired by now), Dash-7 and -8s and even a Kenya Airways Boeing 737 that did a low fly-past on a scheduled flight to Johannesburg (IIRC).

Hope you enjoyed the photos! To me they brought back some great memories... :worship:

Edited by ChernayaAkula
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Thanks for the kind words everyone! :rolleyes:

Hey Moritz, what were doing in Kenya? Holiday?

No, we lived there for three and a half years. My father worked there for a German development agency. His job was to help with the establishment of a Kenyan forestry research center.

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