Cheongju (South Korea)

Seoul Adex Airshow Cheongju

24 - 26 October 2013

Early this year we received information that there would be another edition of the Seoul airshow in 2013. In previous

years this was a very interesting airshow which gives you the possibility to get a glimpse of the Republic of Korea Air

Force (ROKAF). The ROKAF is still in the middle of a major modernization process. Despite the fact that some of its

iconic “Vietnam war” aircraft (RF-5A, F-4D, A-37) have been replaced, a large part of the ROKAF fighter force is still 30+

years old. We have 131 TRS with RF-4C (circa sixteen aircraft), 152 FS, 153 FS and 156 FS with F-4E (circa seventy aircraft)

and 101 FS, 105 FS, 112 FS, 201 FS and 205 FTS with the (K)F-5E/F (approx 130 aircraft). Disregarding the three

squadrons of the somewhat younger KF-5E/F, this sums up to a total of 210 aircraft to be replaced in the near future.

Models based on the T-50, like a single-seat FA-50 fighter, are seen as possible replacements for the F-5/F-4E and old F-16s,

while 22 TA-50s have already replaced the A-37B.

Normally the Seoul airshow is being held at Seongnam at the outskirts of Seoul. But due to runway maintenance at Seongnam,

Cheongju AB - home of three squadrons ROKAF F-4Es, was the venue of the Seoul Airshow this year.

With this in mind we decided to go to Korea for the airshow and plan some “sightseeing”. On our agenda was a visit to

Wonju upon arrival, Suwon the next day and Cheongju for the actual airshow.

We left Amsterdam on 21 October in the evening with a three hour delay. Renting a car upon our arrival in Seoul-Incheon

also took more time than expected so we left the airport only around 3 p.m. Because of all the delays we decided to skip

Wonju and go straight to Suwon, in hope to see some RF-4Cs. Our pre-departure preparations consisted of downloading

the complete roadmap of Korea on our smart phones to use this as our GPS. This worked mostly very well but during

critical moments, as always, technology let us down without any route advice. The busy traffic in Korea and road signs,

sometimes in Korean characters only, did not help either. All of these posted a great challenge to venture on Korean roads

being non-Korean.

But we persevered and hoped that flying activities on sight would point us to Suwon Airbase. But there was hardly anything

to see except for two F-16s doing an overshoot. This increased our worries that the RF-4Cs were already being

replaced by the F-16s. Then we spotted two RF-4Cs as a decoy on the north side of the runway, so we really thought we

were too late to see any operational RF-4Cs.

The key to unlock the route to Suwon Airbase turned out to be an old Scramble edition we brought with a detailed route

description which we were sure we would never have found on our own. It was already 4 p.m. when we got there, and

everything on the base was very quiet.

Our next challenge was to find our hotel. The hotel did not have any signs outside in Western script but thankfully very

friendly locals have helped us find it.

23 October 2013

Suwon
50-739	F-5F	101 FS

80-781

F-5F

201 FS

Visitors
20-047	CN235	258 TATS

80-787

F-5F

205 FTS

131TRS RF-4C
41-001, 41-009, 41-026, 50-836, 68-549, 70-435

101 FS KF-5E/F(^)
10-600^, 10-611^, 10-613^, 10-623, 10-589, 10-565

201 FS KF-5E/F(^)
10-579, 10-578, 10-595^, 10-596^, 10-597^

Stored/Decoy
70-461, 60-472 RF-4C

We got up the next day to find that the wind was coming from the south so we tried to find a spot at the north side. We found

a nice place on the banks of a small river but nothing seemed to be flying again. Suddenly we saw some F-5s taxiing but

we did not see or hear them going in take-off. Soon we realised they were flying from the other direction. We quickly

drove to the other side. The spot described in Scramble 308 still works but there were several CCTV cameras, which did

not give us a relaxed feeling. We drove a little further and there we found a nice spot on an unpaved road that leads to

a vegetable field.

At first we only saw F-5s making several touch-and-goes. Around 11 a.m. we saw two F-4s flying at a distance. Nothing

happened further. Suddenly around 11:30 two RF-4Cs made an overshoot and went in the break. Releasing the very

well-known howling sound of an early J79 engine clearly announced to the whole Suwon area that the RF-4C is still

alive and kicking in Korea!

Around noon we went back to Incheon to pick up the fourth member of our group. We were back at 2 p.m. and saw a lot

more F-5s and four more RF-4Cs flying.

When the sun disappeared below the horizon we drove to Cheongju. The same search challenge was at hand as the previous

day but again friendly Koreans helped us find the exact location of the hotel luckily.

24 October 2013

Cheongju

152 FS F-4E
60-493, 60-499, 60-497, 60-501, 60-510, 60-500

153 FS F-4E
80-737, 80-743, 80-734, 80-736

Visitors
92-044	F-16D	ROKAF (no batch)

80-785

F-5F

105 FS

80-787

F-5F

205 FTS

00-007

KT-1

215 FTS

01-020

KT-1

ROKAF (no batch)

04-085

KT-1

236 FTS

Static
45-006	C-130H-30	251 TAS

10-044

CN235-220M

258 TAS

950902/902

P-3CK

61 AG

05-022

T-103

212 FTS

06-016

KA-1

237 TCS

01-009

KT-1

ROKAF (no batch)

08-030

T-50

ROKAF (no batch)

11-069

TA-50

115 FTS

01-760

HH-60P

223 CSRS

05-004

HH-32A

235 SRS

19-082

HH-47D

235 SRS

50-523

F-5E

202 FS

80-728

F-4E

153 FS

01-522

KF-16C

ROKAF (no batch)

08-042

F-15K

11 FW

1107/K

Boo-Hwal

preserved

HL1138, HL1157

Ce172S

Korea Aviation

HL1168

SR20GTS

n/t

HL2028

Seneca I E

West Air

JA4030, JA4032

Malibu

n/t

N521HN

G650

Gulfstream

VH-IPB, VH-UPD

S-1S

Sky Aces

Flying/Otherside
01824, 01868	UH-60P	not known

CSAR Demo
01-619, 01-772	HH-60P	223 CSRS

06-009, 06-007

KA-1

237 TCS

QRA Demo
80-737, 80-743	F-4E	153 FS

Base attack
02-029, 02-015, +1	F-15K	11 FW

90-940 +2

F-16C/D

ROKAF (no batch)

Solo displays
02-008	F-15K	11 FW

93-116

KF-16D

ROKAF (no batch)

KUH003

KUH-1 Surion

Korea Aerospace

Black Eagles
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8	T-50B	239 SFS

Flightlines
04-085	KT-1	236 FTS

00-007, 01-020

KT-1

215 FTS (no batch)

06-007, 07-013, 07-018

T-50

ROKAF (no batch)

Stored (at south side)
Ten F-4Es stored in revetment area:

80-514, 60-382, 80-534/D5, 70-347, 80-358, 80-401/D6, 80-341/D8, 80-441, 80-431

plus one with code D7 and 67-0715 on the data block.

Two F-86s were also here.

Hangar:
04-003	HH-32A	35 SRS

01-871

HH-60P

33 SCRS

Hangar:
0.-00.	H-32A	235 SRS

19-083

H-47D

235 SRS

01-715

H-60P

233 SCRS

2X

HH-60P

233 SCRS

The two hangars checked were next to the preserved UH-1B. It was not possible to identify all five helicopters in the second hangar.

Preserved in this area:
30505	Bell 212	preserved

63-8560

UH-1B

preserved

66-0870

T-37C

preserved

40957

The preserved Bell 212 was in a restricted area,but visible from the sidewalk outside the base.

Elsewhere (near main entrance, parked before their respective hangars)
982	Mi-17KF	Police

HL9433/630

Ka-32T

HL9456

Ka-32T

Before our departure we received an email that there would be a rehearsal day on 24 October, one day before the actual

show. Also in the email was the schedule that we could enter the base at 9 a.m. before the rehearsal which started at 1:30 p.m.

At the gate we were questioned on our early arrival. The organizers did not quite understand our surprise visit was

due to what was written in the email we received, which we showed on our phones. Luckily after some internal discussions

they allowed us to enter the base.

Almost the entire static was already present and we were able to photograph them with no obstructions.

Unfortunately the organizers got so anxious and asked to see the email again and again to reconfirm our early visit. After

30 minutes we were kindly “requested” to leave the base immediately but, to our surprise, we were invited to come

back at 1 pm for the rehearsal. Because of our e-mail confirmation we got permission to join a small group of press/

photographers to go to the other side of the base in order to make pictures with better light conditions.

For the meantime, we decided to find a spot on the approach because a lot of F-4s were still flying despite the air show

preparations. The location described on the Scramble forum is indeed a very risky location. This spot is very visible from

the base. Also some locals stopped and started to drive by to check on us.

When the flying stopped we tried to find another place. A very nice spot was found, near road 511 from a village called

Naesu Eup to Cheongju. Before the road overpasses/crosses a railway track you can take a small exit to go down. If you

continue this road till the railway track, a 300 mm is what you need to capture landing aircraft.

25 October 2013

Seongmu
HL1083	An-2	RoK Army

212 FTS

T-103
03-001, 04-002, 04-003, 04-004, 04-005, 05-007, 05-009, 05-011,

05-013, 05-014, 05-017, 05-019, 05-023

Friday was the first day of the airshow but the show started only at 1 p.m. We then decided to visit the museum at the

nearby AF Academy at Seongmu. This museum is on the base, freely accessible by following the instructions from the gate.

In the museum we suddenly saw five An-2s going in take-off and doing some circuits. We ran back to the car and drove to

the approach side just in time for one touch & go of an An-2. We didn’t see them returning till we left at 11 a.m. We also

saw many T-103s doing several circuits.

After this we went back to Cheongju to see the opening celebration of the Seoul airshow.

Cheongju

Static (extra aircraft only)
13-001, 13-002	FA-50B	ROKAF (nb)

65-328

E-737

271 AEW&CS

13015

KUH-1 Surion

Army Aviation School

Opening Flypast

Wave 1

CN235
30-088 (256 TAS)

KT-1
00-005, 01-013, 01-017, 01-025, 02-029, 02-033

Wave 2

C-130H
95-180 (15 TATW)

KA-1
05-001, 05-004, 06-006, 06-014, 06-015, 06-020

Wave 3

T-50
07-013, 08-028, 09-034 (115 TFS)

Wave 4

F-16C
85-583, 86-594, 86-589

F-16D
84-370, 90-940

Wave 5

TA-50
11-063, 11-064, 11-061, 12-075, 12-078

Base attack
02-015, 02-029	F-15K	11 FW

3x

F-16

CSAR Demo
01-619, 01-772	HH-60P	223 CSRS

06-008, 06-013

KA-1

237 TCS

93-101, 93-110

KF-16D

ROKAF

Solo display
02-025	F-15K	11 FW

93-116

KF-16D

ROKAF (no batch)

KUH003

KUH-1 Surion

Korea Aerospace

Paradrop
19-084	HH-47D	223 CSRS

Black Eagles
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8	T-50B	239 SFS

Arrival
02-257, +1 noted later	AS332L2	233 CSRS

Departure
00-007, 01-020	KT-1	215 FTS (nb)

06-007, 07-013, 07-018

T-50

ROKAF (nb)

Visitors
04-085	KT-1	236 FTS

05-183, 05-185

C-130H

251 TAS

10-045, 20-049

CN235-220M

258 TAS

30-087

CN235-100M

256 TAS

45-019

C-130H-30

251 TAS

06-27088

UH-60L

US Army

Thanks to the efforts of Korean Aerospace Industries and of course the commander of 17 TFW, who gave us the final permission

to go to the other side of the base, this edition of the Seoul air show turned out to be a superb event with spectacular

photo conditions and in general a very relaxed attitude towards photographers. Thanks also to Martin from Aviation

Korea for additional serials.

Credits: Ronald Stevelink and others.

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