Minsk Mazowiecki Air Base

Day 4 of the Polish Air Force Press Tour takes us to Minsk Mazowiecki Air Base (23.blot - 23rd Tactical Air Base), east of Warsaw. The Polish Air Force operates two squadrons of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29, one of which is based at Minsk Mazowiecki.

The 1st Tactical Squadron (1.elt) flies the MiG-29 from Minsk Mazowiecki and it continues the tradition of the 7th Squadron "Tadeusz Kosciuszko" which was formed in 1920. Since 1.elt was initially based in and tasked with the protection of Warsaw, the squadron uses the name "Warszawa" while all the squadron aircraft are marked with the Warsaw city mermaid symbol. Minsk Mazowiecki is also home to the 2nd Search and Rescue Group who are equipped with PZL W-3WA Sokol SAR helicopter.

Today was a much brighter day than the previous 3 days in Poland but unfortunately it was very windy, resulting in the cancellation of the afternoon flying. Still, the opportunity to photograph aircraft with sunshine made a welcome break from the previous few days. During our visit we got to visit the aircraft that are preserved on the base as well as visiting the very outdated but immaculate and fully functional MiG-29 simulator which entails a camera moving along a diorama of the airfield and bombing range to create the cockpit imagery instead of being computer generated.

IrishAirPics would like to thank all the personnel at both Minsk Mazowiecki Air Base and at Polish Air Force Headquarters for making the visit possible and for their help & assistance during the visit.