Back to my Roots - Estonian Aviation Days

By Raimo Roonet

I have just returned to the Estonian Aviation Museum for the annual Estonian Aviation Days. The event that at some point was like a tradition to me, calling me in every year, like a pilgrimage. This is also the event that started to steer me into aviation photography, culminating with the night photoshoot i did there a few years ago, so this place and the event always hold a special place in my heart. However I recently discovered that I have skipped 7 years from the event and just had to return to the roots of my aviation photography journey. 

Background

Estonia, being a small country and having been occupied for half a century, does not have much history with aviation. Sure, we did have an Air Force during the first Republic era in the 1920s but during the Soviet occupation the Estonian aviation was practically non-existant. It was difficult for an estonian to become a pilot, so the field was in the hands of russians. Believe it or not, this has some effect to this day, after 30 years of re-establishing our independence – many older pilots and air traffic controllers are still russians, speaking Estonian just barely.

The museum

One man however thought that aviation should be brought closer to the general public, founding the Estonian Aviation Museum near Tartu in 2000. Back then it was a little more than a model collection with just a Mi-8 helicopter standing outside the building housing the models. It did not stay like this for long, soon some more aircraft followed, a Polish Su-22 and MiG-21, Ukrainian Su-24 and MiG-23 etc. One of the exhibits – a JA-37 Viggen from Swedish Air Force was even actually flown under its own power to the nearby Tartu airport and handed over by the pilot who also autographed the plane. The writing is now almost faded, being barely visible, as many of the aircraft back then were exposed to the elements. This became really evident with the Su-24 bomber. One winter the snowfall was heavy enough to shift the center of gravity aft of the main gear, pushing the tail down on the ground with the nose pointing up. At first this change was even embraced, the plane was anchored down in that position which made a really eye-catching exhibit. At some point it was decided to lower the plane back down and build a hangar over it.

Since then the founder and owner of the museum has aquired new exhibits almost every year, the grounds have been expanded, most of the aircraft have been sheltered under open-ended hangars and there is even a grass landing strip right next to the museum. Nowdays the highlights of the museum include a Tu-134 passenger plane, a British Harrier and Jaguar, Saab Draken, and MiG-25 Foxbat to name a few.

The event in general

From 2005 the annual Estonian Aviation Days have been held there. It has been the only regularly held aviation event for nearly two decades now, the only exeptions were the two airshows held at Ämari Air Base in 2014 and 2019 which marked the 95^th and 100^th anniversary of Estonian Air Force.

The event has always been a small-scale one, appearance of fighter jets is a rather rare occurence, and if it happens, it is usually just a flyby. L-39 is however a frequent performer, either from Baltic Bees team or Estonian Air Force. Usual guests are also the AW-139 from the Police and Border Guard and Robinson R-44 from Estonian Air Force.

The absolute staple however, mainstay of every single event, has been Jurgis Kairys – a former aerobatic world champion, allegedly the first to pull off Pugachev’s Cobra on a propeller aircraft, now 71 years old but handles his plane with amazing finesse. While most aerobatic / stunt pilots fly Pitts or Extra 300 variants, he prefers Sukhois, namely Su-26, Su-29 and Su-31, which he also helped to develop.

Another frequent performer during the recent years has been Scandinavian Airshow with Jacob Holländer and his Pitts 12S. He has been at times accompanied by another Pitts from his team or the SkyCats wingwalkers.

For some reason the event is held on exactly the same dates as the main airshow in Finland. I have favored the Turku / Helsinki airshow in the recent years, and this also applies for the performers. If they would only hold it the next/previous weekend, there would be so much more possibilities to attract new performers as well.

What it lacks in variety and “oomph”, it does make up with bringing the show close to the crowd. REALLY close. The grass landing strip is right there by the museum, 10-20 meters from the perimeter fence. The aircraft park right behind that fence and you can see and interact with the performers as they stroll behind the fence and sometimes even walk around the museum grounds. The said fence however is a bit of a hindrance for photography as it is about 2 meters high and both main performers like to get LOW.

What makes this venue really special is the public observation tower. This 4-story tower in the corner of the museum grounds is situated right next to the thereshold of the grass runway! Did I mention the main performers like to get low during their passes? Most of those low passes are actually at the same height as the top floor of the tower, or even lower, so you may get a photo that almost looks like an air-to-air!. The proximity however comes with its own set of challenges – during the passes the angular speed is so high, you are really pushing your limits to keep up with the plane. And if the plane gets high, it is neck-breakingly overhead.

So if the show is pretty much the same every year, what is there left to photograph? Well, there are always new angles, new ways to mix things up, especially if you have not been attending for seven years. Armed with more powerful photo gear than before and also some new skills I opted for a riskier approach this time. I went in with a plan to capture as much prop blur as possible, trying to keep the shutter speed slower than usual.

Just checked the pictures I took there the last time to compare – most are 1/1000^th, some 1/640. Sure, it will get you keepers with sharp fuselages, but not very dynamic or eye-catching shots.

The following images were taken the last time I was there, back in 2015:

Estonian Aviation Days 2023

This time I made a concious decision to keep it under 1/125th, most shots were taken at 1/80^th, going even as low as 1/40^th! The result? Keeper count was low, as expected. But the few shots that did turn out were quite spectacular, for me at least, as I have not really tried to do it as intensively. The preformers this year:

The event would not be the same without Jurgis Kairys. He really has become the face of the event!

Scandinavian Airshow, Jacob Holländer, mainly on “Viking”, sometimes on “Thor”, and Gustav Salminen on “Thor”. Both are Pitts 12S.

Estonian Police and Border Guard Board Aviation Group (yes, it is that long and dragging name, now try to file a flight plan writing it down as operator) SAR demo with AW-139.

Estonian Air Force L-39 Albatros jet trainer sporting camo paint and our distinctive triangle “roundels”. While this shape is rare, one other country with a triangle “roundel” has a very similar paint scheme. Do you know which?

Estonian Air Force Robinson R-44 duo show. First appearance at 2019 in Ämari Airshow, this air ballet with the two small simple helicopters is quite spectacular. Opposing passes, low flight, reverse in formation, and circling around one another. Glad to see them putting up a show like that!

 Baltic Air Policing flyby, two Romanian F-16s made an appearance, making some noise.

Even though the show did not offer anything new for me in regards of performers, I still managed to get some new kind of photos! And it still felt good to be back there after all this time. Almost like visiting home.