Brought to my attention by Melanie Belz, a reader of The Aviation Geek Club, the gorgeous footage in this post shows two Koninklijke Luchtmacht (Royal Netherlands Air Force, RNlAF) F-35As (actually the first two Dutch F-35A aircraft, AN-1 (F-001) and AN-2 (F-002)) going verticalimmediately after take-off.

Noteworthy the video was taken during RNlAF Open Days 2016 airshow, held at Leeuwarden Air Base Jun. 10-11, 2016.

This event marked the first European airshow to debut the F-35A Lightning II.

However the F-35’s visit to the Netherlands was not limited to RNlAF Open Days 2016.

Since landing at Leeuwarden Air Base on May 23, 2016 in fact, the jets have conducted successful aerial and ground environmental noise tests, and performed a scenic flight for selected media over the North Sea range. In addition, hundreds of local community members, officials, and RNLAF personnel have had the opportunity to visit Leeuwarden to see the jet up close, learn more about the program from program experts, and even “fly”the cockpit demonstrator.

This first appeared in Aviation Geek Club here.