A Week’s Notice: Inside Bulgaria’s 2022 Open Day
How much notice do you ideally need when planning to attend an airshow? A year? Six months? Try a week. The Bulgarian Air Force’s 2022 open day was poorly publicised, but it was absolutely worth the last‑minute scramble to capture some camera‑shy hardware.
Graf Ignatievo, Bulgaria’s fast‑jet base, opened its doors on 25 June 2022 to give the public a rare look at the assets of the Bulgarian Air Force in action. As the home of the MiG‑29 fleet, it was no surprise that the Fulcrum dominated the flying programme on that hot summer day. The show opened with a dogfight between a pair of twin‑stick MiG‑29UBs, one of which returned an hour later for a solo display, while a wonderfully tenacious single‑seat MiG‑29A closed the event with another punchy routine.
Between those Fulcrum appearances, the flying display showcased a range of uncommon Bulgarian Air Force assets. The AS532 Super Puma and Mi‑17 Hip represented rotary transport old and new in a role demonstration featuring troop fast‑roping and water drops from a Bambi Bucket, while a Bell 206 performed a spirited — if uncomfortably low — solo routine. Continuing the theme of low passes, a pair of C‑27s launched for formation flypasts, with one aircraft peeling away for a series of low runs down the Graf Ignatievo runway. On the ground, the Bulgarian Air Force’s last An‑2 was the star of the static display, parked opposite their sole PC‑12, while a flypast from an L‑410 ensured the fixed‑wing transport fleet was fully represented.
The Bulgarian Air Force’s basic jet trainer, the L‑39, also performed a solo display, although the hot and hazy conditions were far from ideal for such a small and distant aircraft. It was therefore a welcome sight when the jet returned later in the programme alongside a pair of PC‑9s for some formation flypasts. The highlight for many, however, was the arrival of two Su‑25s from Bezmer Air Base midway through the show. The pair — one single‑seat and one twin‑seat — emerged from the June haze, performed go‑arounds at Graf Ignatievo, then landed and parked on the taxiway directly in front of the somewhat sparse crowd. At the time, it was believed that no more than 14 Su‑25s remained in Bulgarian service, making the presence of three examples at the event — including a third aircraft in the static display — particularly notable.
For completeness, the only non‑Air Force participant in the flying display was an AS365 Panther from the Bulgarian Navy. Despite its rarity on the airshow circuit, the helicopter struggled to make an impression with a distant routine that seemed to vanish into the heat haze.
The Bulgarian Air Force’s occasional open days are a must for any enthusiast, but following the fatal L‑39 crash during the 2024 practice day, there is naturally some uncertainty over whether these events will return in the future.
