Air festivals are for that: to amaze aviation enthusiasts with scenes impossible to see in a conventional airport. Uncommon aircraft, extreme maneuvers, moments that are recorded over fire.
But what happened this weekend in Gijón was something else. An F -18 starred in such an unexpected maneuver that manyfrom the shore of the beach of San Lorenzo to social networks, they stayed with their hearts in a fist.
In just a few seconds, the hunting descended in parallel to the Paseo Marítimo, made a sharp turn at a very low height over the sea and gained altitude again. The flight, which was part of the official show of the Gijón Air Festival, seemed to have left the script.
Decisive response. The Air and Space Army He explained on Instagram What happened: “One of our f -18 fighters made an evasive maneuver by detecting a flock of birds in its trajectory. This action is part of the usual protocol to preserve both the integrity of the pilot and the security of the public.” In the same publication, they stressed that “the pilot acted quickly and professionalism, avoiding a possible impact without compromising the exhibition.”
PUSLA to see the original publication on Instagram
A maneuver that, far from being improvised, demonstrates the level of preparation that these aviators face. When you have to react without margin, there is no place for doubt.
Gijón and his festival. With 19 consecutive editions – Salvo 2020, which was digital for the pandemic – the Gijón Air Festival It is already the reference event in Spain. For three days, the city becomes a meeting point for civil, institutional and military aircraft, with an outstanding closure on Sunday at noon on the beach of San Lorenzo.
This year, the F -18 and the Eurofighter They were two of the poster stars. And, although it was not planned, the American hunting ended up signing the most commented maneuver of the day.
The F -18, a combat classic with history in Spain. The McDonnell Douglas F -18 Hornet, called C.15 in the Spanish Armed Forcesit is a bimotor combat plane that entered service in the country in 1986. It can reach a maximum speed of Mach 1.8, operate more than 15,000 meters of altitude and load more than 7,000 kilos in weapons and missiles.
Spain acquired 72 units after a long selection process and, since then, is part of the wings 12, 15 and 46, deployed in key bases such as Zaragoza, Torrejón or Gando. His versatility has allowed him to participate in Missions Air -Aire, Air -Superficie and International Operations in the Balkans, under the NATO umbrella, in the 1990s.
When the sky surprises. Gijón’s scene, although brief, perfectly synthesizes what happens when heaven and technique cross at the right time. That flush maneuver on the sea, that forced turn in full flight, was as spectacular as justified. There were birds in the trajectory. And the pilot did what he had to do.
From the army they insist that security is always priority. But even with all the protocols underway, exhibitions such as this demonstrates that flying so close to the public remains, by definition, an exercise where the unexpected never disappears completely.
Not just fighter: sometimes other airplanes steal the show. And it is not the first time that an institutional flight surprises. In another air festival, the protagonists They were two planes of the Slovakia government: An Airbus A319 and a Fokker 100 that, despite not being fighters, signed an high level exhibition, with maneuvers that left all speechless. His deployment became one of the most viral moments of that event, and in Xataka we tell it here:
Images | spotting_daanii.pl (Via Army Air)
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