The air force base in Hsinchu City is holding an open day today from 9am to 4pm, where the nation’s Thunder Tigers aerobatic display team is to put on a performance in their AT-3 trainer jets.
The day is also set to feature F16s, Mirage 2000s and the nation’s Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDF) in action.
Ministry of National Defense officials said the event is a rare opportunity for civilians to enter the Hsinchu Air Base, interact with military personnel and to tour a display of aircraft and weapons, so that the public can be confident of the professionalism and combat readiness of the nation’s troops.
Photo: CNA
The ministry gave Hsinchu residents and reporters a preview of the open day on Thursday, with the Thunder Tigers undertaking the first public performance of aerial stunts and formation flying since a training accident that killed one of the team’s members in October last year.
The preview saw spectators burst into applause after a thrilling air show by the Thunder Tigers, followed by equally impressive aerial performances by Taiwanese pilots in IDFs, F16s and Mirage 2000 fighters.
On the runway, the public can get a close-up look at the fighter jets and gain an understanding of Taiwan’s weapons modernization program over the past decade, with armored personnel carriers, radar equipment, artillery cannons, truck-mounted missile launchers and other types of military vehicles on display.
Another section of the runway is to showcase a range of US-made aircraft, including an E-2K Hawkeye early warning airplane, a C-130 Hercules transport airplane, an AH-1W Cobra helicopter, an AH-64E Apache helicopter and a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.
Air Force Major General Tsao Chin-pin (曹進平) invited members of the public to visit and have a good look inside the air base, which houses the 499th Tactical Fighter Wing, of which he is the commanding officer.
In between the air shows, the public is to be entertained by the Air Force Marching Band and a performance by its Honor Guard Rifle Drill Team, Tsao said.
There will be shuttle buses to the base between 7am and 3pm from the bus stop next to the rear exit of Hsinchu City Station, as well as from the High Speed Rail’s Hsinchu terminal in Jhubei City (竹北).
Entry to the base requires a visitor to present their ID card to verify they are Taiwanese.
Foreign nationals who are married to Taiwanese must show their ARC or APRC and be accompanied by their spouse to enter the military facility.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
RSS