Air Wolf Hunting 2020 - 6th - 11th September - Pipis-hegy
6th September 2020 - (Sunday, Vasárnap)
The ground crew were getting the tents, barrier, and perimeter fencing installed. This year, the airfield car park is out of bounds, which could cause a personal parking problem.
7th September 2020 - (Monday, Hétfő)
7 helicopters were in action at Pipis-hegy today: Mi-24 (336) - Mi-17 (702) - AS350 (101) (102) - H145M (04) (07) (10)
The word was that today would be just a 'setting-up day', and therefore there wouldn't be any action. So, when I arrived fairly late at about 0930, I was surprised to find a Mi-24 in the air, and a Mi-17 on the ground ! There were also 2 H145Ms parked over the far side. Flying activities continued all day, until 1500, when all helicopters departed. I started making a note of the activity but soon abandoned this plan as I had no time to write things down ! 702 was today's 'workhorse' as it was ferrying troops to the Hollókő plateau near the village of Pálosvörösmart. I think this was to practice abseiling from a helicopter. 702 also undertook some (fairly) high altitude trips so that paratroops could make their jumps, but it seems that 2 missions were aborted, probably due to excessive cloud cover. It was amusing to see some of the troops making compensatory short jumps with arms raised as they exited 702 on the ground. 336 made several trips, as did 101 and 102. This was the first time that both Mokus had been at Pipis at the same time, and also the first time that three H15Ms had been here at the same time. It was good to see the razor-wire barrier placed sensibly across the airfield, leaving our 'mini camp' place accessible. In addition, the military were allowing the public to park on the rough pasture adjacent to their entry checkpoint, meaning that long walks up the hill in such hot weather are not needed. When they were about to finally depart from the airfield, 04 and 07 rose up from the grass together, side-by-side, before surging forward. It really was an aerial ballet ! Bravo !
8th September 2020 - (Tuesday, Kedd)
6 helicopters were in action at Pipis-hegy today: Mi-17 (702) - Mi-8T (3304) - AS350 (101) - H145M (04) (07) (10)
Report to follow ! I am TOO TIRED !!!
9th September 2020 - (Wednesday, Szerda)
8 helicopters were in action at Pipis-hegy today: Mi-24 (336) - Mi-17 (702) - AS350 (101) (102) - H145M (01) (04) (07) (10)
Report to follow !
10th September 2020 - (Thursday, Csütörtök)
3 helicopters were in action at Pipis-hegy today: Mi-17 (702) - AS350 (101) - H145M (07). We also had Saab Gripen (39)
The day started at about 0845 when 702 commenced the first of 4 paratrooper trips, one after the other. This operation was complete by 1030. 702 had 'slept' at the airfield overnight. A little later, Airbus 07 arrived and made a few flights during the day. Mokus 101 arrived later, stayed for a while and then departed. 702 made a few other flights, taking some visitors for trips over the local area. At about 1200 we heard that a Gripen would be flying through, sometime around 1400. When it arrived at nearly 1430 most of us were stunned as it wasn't just a fly-through. It appears that flying No. 39 was the official Gripen display pilot, as he gave us his full display. There were barrel-rolls, inverted flying, tight turns, vertical climbs, and low level flight around the Mátra mountains. The display must have lasted about 6 minutes, but no one had time to count! When he departed, he left lots of very excited spotters in the viewing area as we hadn't expected such a wonderful display.
About an hour after I left the airfield, 702 commenced another series of flights, before departing for Szolnok at approximately 1850.
About an hour after I left the airfield, 702 commenced another series of flights, before departing for Szolnok at approximately 1850.
11th September 2020 - (Friday, Péntek)
Only 1 helicopter in action at Pipis-hegy today: Mi-17 (702)
I arrived just after 0900 on what was the packing-up day. I was surprised to see 702 on the airfield as I'd assumed that it would not return today. The gatehouse tents were already down and folded, and the razor-wire barriers had been collected and secured. A large truck came round to collect these items, plus the entry barrier and the two large oil heaters. Robert and a colleague collected most of the rubbish near the barriers and car park, and later, I patrolled the area allocated for spotters, almost filling my bucket bin bag with visitor rubbish. 702 took off at 1000, making a circuit over Mátrafüred before sweeping over the airfield as a 'goodbye'. As last year, the convoy lined up across the airfield behind two military police motorcycles and 3 military police cars. The convoy started to move off just after 1130, apart from the VW minibus that went unserviceable and had to be towed to Szolnok by a Mercedes jeep. The last vehicle to leave was the contractor carrying the toilet and/or shower blocks. By 1200, the airfield was peaceful and quiet, and life could return to normal for the local wildlife, and this military photographer!
Links to videos and the photos taken by others
kekesonline.hu/2020/09/12/legi-kutato-mento-gyakorlatot-tartottak-a-matraban/?fbclid=IwAR1YZhnzgWYsyxLWxFADgZagQAKKJyJK222o-1OPvZB5Q8kvG4x8Gb_sz9o
https://www.haborumuveszete.hu/alakulatok-hirei/szakmai-nap-a-legi-kutato-mento-gyakorlaton?fbclid=IwAR3zMNAI2R_u4JJhpwnQOejdWkaq2wPue3_G44m8tHcgH6zdmh1G5foczeA
https://harcihelikopter.blog.hu/2020/09/17/kutatas-mentes_a?utm_source=bloghu_megosztas&utm_medium=facebook_share&utm_campaign=blhshare&fbclid=IwAR2aBzIzArsK_Isg6KisKexaGoYe6or5u0y3fN4BYmSHdS2G31M2hlzE9L8#
https://airbase.blog.hu/2020/09/09/air_wolf_hunting_404 Szorád Tamás
https://combatant.blog.hu/2020/09/12/air_wolf_hunting_2020_gyongyos-pipishegy Benedek Levente
https://honvedelem.hu/hirek/csucsforgalom-a-matra-felett.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwORAWhGqIo 18.49 video
https://www.jetfly.hu/phirek/9/alakulatok-hirei/szakmai-nap-a-legi-kutato-mento-gyakorlaton
https://www.haborumuveszete.hu/alakulatok-hirei/szakmai-nap-a-legi-kutato-mento-gyakorlaton?fbclid=IwAR3zMNAI2R_u4JJhpwnQOejdWkaq2wPue3_G44m8tHcgH6zdmh1G5foczeA
https://harcihelikopter.blog.hu/2020/09/17/kutatas-mentes_a?utm_source=bloghu_megosztas&utm_medium=facebook_share&utm_campaign=blhshare&fbclid=IwAR2aBzIzArsK_Isg6KisKexaGoYe6or5u0y3fN4BYmSHdS2G31M2hlzE9L8#
https://airbase.blog.hu/2020/09/09/air_wolf_hunting_404 Szorád Tamás
https://combatant.blog.hu/2020/09/12/air_wolf_hunting_2020_gyongyos-pipishegy Benedek Levente
https://honvedelem.hu/hirek/csucsforgalom-a-matra-felett.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwORAWhGqIo 18.49 video
https://www.jetfly.hu/phirek/9/alakulatok-hirei/szakmai-nap-a-legi-kutato-mento-gyakorlaton
https://airbase.blog.hu/2020/09/09/air_wolf_hunting_404 Szorád Tamás
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwORAWhGqIo 18.49 video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwORAWhGqIo