@bernd1151  flying over jungles is an acquired taste, isn't it ?   Here are more  jungles in Laos. The aircraft is the Flyingiron bird  in Ezer Weizman "Black Spitfire" livery. Weizman, a former RAF pilot during WW2, became the 7th president of Israel. You can see the aircraft in the Hatzerim AFB base in South Israel, along a Mustang and... an Avia S-199 (aka Messerschmitt Bf 109G) all in IAF livery.  @David Roch may confirm that she still is in flying condition.

This was in a flight between Vientiane and Luang Prabang. The awful blue haze ruined earlier pics in the flight.

Look at the ingenuity of humankind, taking everysquare meters for cultivation

I started my descent a little early to make an approach over the river Nam Khan which flows into the Mekong in Luang Prabang

 

 

 

 

Luang Prabang along the Mekong river which looks a decent brown, at least close.

 

And, as a finale, for the contrast to the lushness of Laos, a shot of arid  Turkmenistan 😄 !

 

 

Thanks for sharing, Dominique.
Beautiful pics and nice trip in this gorgeous region!! 🙂

AFAIK, the Spit is no longer maintained due to lack of funding.
One of the last IAF's relic of past which is still in flying condition is this Fouga CM -170 Magister, where I did my first solo flight.... after 10 hours training. 😄

And here is the Avia S-199, the Me-109 which was modified by the Czechs and offered to Israel in 1948. Pilots were affectionately nicknamed her the "flying coffin" because of its poor performance and the many accidents and failures.

Great shots, Dominique. I have lived with my family over 20 years in SEA, so flying over those jungles (even if it's nowadays only in the sim) has always been a special treat.

7 hours ago, David Roch said:

Pilots were affectionately nicknamed her the "flying coffin" because of its poor performance and the many accidents and failures.

Nice photos, David. It's a pity that those birds cannot be maintained anymore due to a lack of funds. Do you know, why the Avia had so many accidents and failures? Is it because of the Jumo engine instead of the DB version?

Yes indeed, the Junkers Jumo was much heavier than the Daimler Benz engine, but not only.
The synchronization of the hood machine guns was chaotic, the brakes locked without reason, the plane was tricky on take-off and landing, because of its narrow-gauge landing gear.
The original propeller's blades were also replaced by those huge Heinkel HE-111 ones which were wider, perfectly adapted for this brilliant bomber, but much less for a light fighter like the Me-109 so pilots had to always worry about the very high torque generated by the heavy engine and its huge three-bladed propeller.
The synchronization of the hood machine guns was far from perfect and the brakes locked without reason...

But we were happy to have them, together with 3 Piper Cubs for reconnaissance missions! 🙂
 

On 5/22/2021 at 10:49 AM, David Roch said:

 

AFAIK, the Spit is no longer maintained due to lack of funding.
One of the last IAF's relic of past which is still in flying condition is this Fouga  

 

Black Spit' : how sad ! Part of Israel history.

Fouga : I am sure I have somewhere a pic of me on the seat 😄 . Can't put my hand on it. 

Is the deuch' (deux chevaux) still in the hangar ?