At the fence: Leeuwarden Air Base [Weapons Instructor Course part II]

In phase two of the Weapons Instructor Course the Royal Norwegian Air Force provided five extra F-35A's for the exercise. The participating pilots also faced air to air opposition provided by Top Aces. Top Aces brought two A-4N Skyhawks and two Alpha Jet A's to make thing a bit more, well, interesting for our participants. 

EOS-1D Mark IV, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/8

Today I brought my Canon EOS-1D Mark IV with me. Although the weather was a bit more challenging I am quite happy with these photos.

EOS-1D Mark IV, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/8

EOS-1D Mark IV, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/7.1

EOS-1D Mark IV, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/9

EOS-1D Mark IV, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/8

EOS-1D Mark IV, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/8

EOS-1D Mark IV, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/7.1

EOS-1D Mark IV, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/8

EOS-1D Mark IV, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/8

EOS-1D Mark IV, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/8

EOS-1D Mark IV, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/9

EOS-1D Mark IV, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/7.1

Click on images to enlarge.

At the fence: Leeuwarden Air Base [Weapons Instructor Course]

At the moment the Weapons Instructor Course is taking place at Leeuwarden Air Base. Pilots from Denmark, Norway and The Netherlands train to become weapons experts in their F-35 Lightning II jets. 

EOS 5DsR, EF 100-400mm f/3.5-5.6L II USM, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/7.1

I was able to make it to the first phase of the exercise. Denmark deployed five F-35's to Leeuwarden. F-35's from Volkel and based F-35's from Leeuwarden also participated, as did a single MQ-9. On this day, the MQ-9 was the first to take off, followed by the Danish and Dutch F-35's.

EOS 5DsR, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1000 sec, f/8

EOS 5DsR, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/7.1

EOS 5DsR, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/6.3

EOS 5DsR, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6

EOS 5DsR, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/6.3

EOS 5DsR, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/6.3

I brought my GFX 100S II and EOS 5DsR to Leeuwarden. It was a sunny day and the flying was good, what more do you want?

EOS 5DsR, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/6.3

EOS 5DsR, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/6.3

EOS 5DsR, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/7.1

EOS 5DsR, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/6.3

EOS 5DsR, 100-400, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/6.3

GFX 100S II, 500mm, ISO 200, 1/640 sec, f/6.4

GFX 100S II, 500mm, ISO 200, 1/640 sec, f/9

GFX 100S II, 500mm, ISO 200, 1/640 sec, f/9

GFX 100S II, 500mm, ISO 200, 1/1000 sec, f/8

GFX 100S II, 500mm, ISO 200, 1/640 sec, f/5.6

GFX 100S II, 500mm, ISO 200, 1/640 sec, f/6.4

Click on images to enlarge. 

At the fence: Lelystad Airport

Now, Lelystad Airport is not mentioned here often. But ten days ago they were host to a rather special guest: The Lithuanian Air Force.

Canon EOS 5DsR, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

A special guest

The Lithuanian Air Force (Lietuvos karinės oro pajėgos) brought one of their L-410 Turbolets to Lelystad. It was on its way to the air show at Lann-Bihoué and Lelystad was the place they decided to stop for the night.

The Lithuanian Air Force operates the L-410UVP model which is an updated version that incorporated lessons learned by the Soviet State airline Aeroflot. Built in Czechoslovakia by Let Kunovice in fact most of the Turbolets ended up in Soviet Union. They were used as multi-engine trainer aircraft for the military and passenger aircraft for Aeroflot where the type replaced the An-2. 

As Lithuania is a former Soviet Republic you would expect this L-410 to be one of those aircraft supplied to the Soviet Union. However, this is not the case. This L-410 with construction number 820739 was delivered to the East German Air Force on the 21st of January, 1982. They allocated serial number 324 to the aircraft. After the reunification of Germany  in 1990 it became property of the Luftwaffe who re-serialled it to 53+03. They flew it for three years before donating the aircraft to Lithuania. It was transferred on the 23rd of March, 1993 and received serial number 02 blue in Lithuanian service.

An old 'new' camera

This rather unique visit provided me with the perfect opportunity to test my Canon EOS-1D Mark IV. I've acquired this camera recently and, other than to check if still works, I hadn't taken any photos with it. I also brought a 70-200 f/2.8L USM telephoto lens. I must say that I really liked working with the Mark IV. I replaced my last Canon EOS-1D series camera (the 1Ds Mark II) with the Canon EOS 5DsR ten years ago so it had been a while. However, it was like there was no ten-year hiatus when shooting with the Mark IV. As I've explained in my Canon EOS-1 review the EOS-1 buttons work slightly different than the buttons on other EOS cameras but that didn't bother me at all. It all felt very natural. So here are some shots of 02 blue taken with the Canon EOS-1D mark IV.

Click on any photo to enlarge

Port visit: L-400 TCG Anadolu

The Turkish drone carrier TCG Anadolu was anchored in the harbour of Rotterdam this weekend. This was the perfect opportunity to pay the Anadolu a visit and learn more about its aviation assets.

The flight deck of TCG Anadolu

Steadfast Dart 2026

TCG Anadolu had just returned from NATO exercise Steadfast Dart 2026 in the Baltic Sea. With Türkiye in command of NATO's Amphibious Task Force and Landing Force in 2026 and 2027 it contributed four ships to the task force. In addition to TCG Anadolu, the flag ship of the task force, frigates TCG Istanbul and TCG Orucreis and fleet replenishment ship TCG Derya were part of the Turkish contribution.

Anadolu is the biggest ship in the Turkish navy and combines amphibious assault and light carrier functions. Built as a Juan Carlos I class amphibious assault ship it was commissioned in 2023. It is the first ship built from the start to operate a fleet of unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from its flight deck and as such brought a new element to Steadfast Dart. 

Air Wing

The air wing of the Anadolu consists of four aircraft types. It is centered around the Bayraktar TB-3 Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV), of which three operated from the Anadolu. Additional air power comes from three AH-1W Cobra helicopter gunships. Troop transport is handled by three Turkish Army AS.532UL Cougar helicopters and one S-70B Sea Hawk in support of naval operations.

AH-1W on deck

Flight line

Another AH-1W

During my visit two AH-1W Cobras and all three AS.532UL Cougars were on the flight deck. The rest of the fleet was tucked away in the hangar below deck.

A TB-3 in the ship's hangar

Another TB-3

An AH-1W below deck

The third TB-3 of the air wing

The sole S-70B Sea Hawk helicopter

TB-3 operations

The TB-3 made its operational debut during Steadfast Dart 2026. Baytar Technology, the manufacturer of the TB-3, supplied me with a couple of photos for publication. Shown is a TB-3 operating from the deck of Anadolu during Steadfast Dart on February 18th, 2026. Although not my photos, these shots are interesting enough to include them.

Click on photos to enlage.