Athens Flying Week 2024 - Tanagra (Part 1)

[TomG]

Made the trip across to Greece in late September for the Athens Flying Week 2024 show held at Tanagra Air Base. Great weather, superb aircraft and excellent company made for a superb week. Prime driver for making the trip was to photograph the home team(s) aircraft seldom seen away from home turf.

Difficult to chose a selection from the four days spent at this event so have split into a couple of separate posts covering the home teams (Air Force, Army & Navy) and 'others'. These may prove to be a tad image heavy and if you make it through both posts then thank you!

508 Mirage 2000-5BG Hellenic AF/331 Mira 'Θησέας / Thiseas' by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

547 Mirage 2000-5EG Hellenic AF/331 Mira 'Θησέας / Thiseas' by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

549 Mirage 2000-5EG Hellenic AF/331 Mira 'Θησέας / Thiseas' by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

01518 F-4E(AUP) Hellenic AF/338 MDV by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

533 F-16V Hellenic AF/343 Mira by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

125 F-16C Hellenic AF/330 Mira 'Keraunos' (Thunderbolt) by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

374 EMB145H AEW&C Hellenic AF/380 Mira ASEPE 'Ouranos' (Sky) by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

250 M-346B Hellenic AF/362 MEA by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

254 M-346B Hellenic AF/362 MEA by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

037 T-6A Hellenic AF/120 PEA by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

347 Tecnam P2002 Sierra JF Hellenic AF/Hellenic AF/360 MEA by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

441 Rafale DG Hellenic AF/332 Mira by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

547 Mirage 2000-5EG Hellenic AF/331 Mira & MJ755/F-H (G-CLGS) Spitfire LF.IXc Hellenic Air Force Museum/Icarus Foundation by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

69-7192 Cessna T-41D Hellenic AF/360 MEA, Air Force Academy "Ikarus" by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

741 C-130H Hellenic AF/356 MTM 'Iraklis' (Hercules) by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

2464 AS332C Super Puma Hellenic AF/384 MED by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

PN77 MH-60R Seahawk Hellenic Navy/2 MEN by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

ES852 NH90 TTH Hellenic Army /2 TEAS by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

ES852 NH90 TTH Hellenic Army /2 TEAS by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

ES915 CH-47SD Hellenic Army/4 TEAS by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

ES1011 AH-64A Hellenic Army/1 TEEP by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

ES1011 AH-64A Hellenic Army/1 TEEP by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

ES1025 AH-64DHA Hellenic Army/2 TEEP by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

ES590 OH-58D(I) Hellenic Army/1 TEEP by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

[kieron]

Excellent stuff Tom, look forward to part 2

[Thunder]

Nice shots and a great variety. Was planning to do this this year but pulled out at last minute. What were the conditions like in the spotters enclosure? The main reason I decided not to go was that I was told once in the enclosure you couldn’t leave until end of day, and you had to bring in all your equipment, food and drink with you at the start of the day.

On a plus because I didn’t do AFW, I went to Crete later on and managed to catch 5 Egyptian F-16’s instead.

[KeBul]

Fantastic set,

Top quality shots of some lovely aircraft, really enjoyed viewing them

Thanks for sharing

Kev

[TomG]

Nice shots and a great variety. Was planning to do this this year but pulled out at last minute. What were the conditions like in the spotters enclosure? The main reason I decided not to go was that I was told once in the enclosure you couldn’t leave until end of day, and you had to bring in all your equipment, food and drink with you at the start of the day.

On a plus because I didn’t do AFW, I went to Crete later on and managed to catch 5 Egyptian F-16’s instead.

Thank you. I went for the Thursday through to Monday ticket and it was a mixed bag tbh. Thursday we were taken to the eastern end of the runway to the 'Contact Car' area and you did need to have brought your own food and drink - no facilities at all apart from a couple of portaloos due to the location. The worse aspect of that was the continuous (and loud) bird scaring recording that apparently could not be turned off. Even with earplugs/defenders the noise was hard to bear and we ended up asking if we could move to the grandstand area for the afternoon. Friday in the grandstand was good but, understandably we were not permitted to move around outside of that area. Saturday/Sunday in the grandstand was good although if you had paid the premium to be at the top with extra room etc. you had to contend with interlopers who made their way to the top and thought it fine to take up your space. Monday was going to be down to the eastern end again which I and others declined and spent the day doing other stuff away from Tanagra.

Overall a good package but probably at the limits of what I would pay for what you get - I'd probably look at Fri/Sat/Sun only next time around.

Hope that helps.

[TomG]

Excellent stuff Tom, look forward to part 2

Thanks Kieron, most appreciated.

[TomG]

Fantastic set,

Top quality shots of some lovely aircraft, really enjoyed viewing them

Thanks for sharing

Kev

Kind words Kev, many thanks indeed.

Cheers, Tom

[TimFoo]

Quality.....

[SW Sky Blue]

Splendidlios Tomos, now im going to have to find some different angles

[Thunder]

Thanks for the insight into the facilities during the week. I found it very strange that you were asked to book a ticket for a seat in the Grandstand for Wednesday and Thursday, but they were out of bounds. Same as the Friday where you were confirmed to the Grandstand(for good reason), but the static area was out of bounds for the whole day. I felt at the end of the day it just wasn’t value for money. Even if they provided just some shade and water in the runway enclosure it would be an improvement. I’ve been to Tanagra several times and it would be very easy to have an enclosure where you could come and go to your car without all the restrictions. They bird scarer sounds horrendous. Out of interest how busy was it on the Thursday?

[TomG]

Hi there, a few thoughts in response to your questions.

Thanks for the insight into the facilities during the week. I found it very strange that you were asked to book a ticket for a seat in the Grandstand for Wednesday and Thursday, but they were out of bounds.

A bit of digging into what you were actually paying for was required and to be honest I only found this info after a fair bit of looking about. The descriptions gave the following info:

"Arrival of aircraft: On Wednesday 11/09 & Thursday 12/09, in a specially configured area near the runway."

'A 10-row raised grandstand: On Saturday 14/09 & Sunday 15/09, specially configured, raised grandstands (stadium type) give you the perfect angle for unique photos of the aircrafts.'

Same as the Friday where you were confirmed to the Grandstand(for good reason), but the static area was out of bounds for the whole day.

With the static areas split between east and west I guess the organisers (and Hellenic AF) did not wish to have a large group loose in those areas.

I felt at the end of the day it just wasn’t value for money.

Very much a personal decision with consideration of what you expect from the event.

Even if they provided just some shade and water in the runway enclosure it would be an improvement. I’ve been to Tanagra several times and it would be very easy to have an enclosure where you could come and go to your car without all the restrictions. They bird scarer sounds horrendous. Out of interest how busy was it on the Thursday?

Fair comment re: food & water but tbh it wasn't that much of a challenge to take your own with a cool bag. As for 'very easy to have an enclosure' I think that's far easier said than done given the challenges of holding a civilian organised event such as this on an active military base. As for the bird scarer .... yes, it was awful!

Thursday wasn't overly busy and I reckon that the majority of folks there were not Greeks!!

Would I go again? Yes, but as I said previously that would depend on the pricing structure for 2025.

Cheers, Tom

[Thunder]

How long were you in the enclosure for on Thursday, did they grant you permission to relocate to the grandstands in the afternoon? Really wanted to do this, with the HAA stuff being the main goal, along with the E-145 Ouran(seen one was in static this year), did the HN P-3 make an appearance?

[TomG]

How long were you in the enclosure for on Thursday, did they grant you permission to relocate to the grandstands in the afternoon? Really wanted to do this, with the HAA stuff being the main goal, along with the E-145 Ouran(seen one was in static this year), did the HN P-3 make an appearance?

At the east end of the runway until around lunchtime then moved to the grandstand. Stayed there until all planned arrivals were done for the day, circa 1800L. One Embraer to static on Friday and one flew by each day. P-3 was a scrub.

[Professor_M]

That is an excellent set you have shared with us - a great variety of types.

[TomG]

Splendidlios Tomos, now im going to have to find some different angles

Thank you my chum, look forward to seeing those.

[TomG]

Quality.....

Many thanks indeed.

[TomG]

That is an excellent set you have shared with us - a great variety of types.

Very kind, thank you.

[Mustang531]

Thanks for sharing these, great shots.

[747woody]

Lovely stuff Tom!

[TomG]

Thanks for sharing these, great shots.

Thank you, very much appreciated.