Translate

Showing posts with label Tornados. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tornados. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

A&AEE Boscombe Down photo's from the 1990's.

In 1992, the A&AEE at RAF Boscombe Down became known as the Aircraft and Armament Evaluation Establishment, formally known as the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment; following the name change, the Experimental side of operations passed to the Defence Research Agency.

Only one year later, in 1993, the Defence Test and Evaluation Organisation (DTEO) controlled the airfield. After, it passed again to the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) headquartered at Farnborough.

The photographs I am showing below are from this period in the Nineteen Nineties and up to the early Two Thousand.

Just to conclude on these operating names, it was 2001 when (DERA) gave way and was split into two, with one part being the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and the other a civilian British multinational defence company QinetiQ, photographs from this era will have to come later.

Tales around the runway caravan. 

ZA267 Tornado F.2 Second ADV Prototype

ZA267 Tornado F.2 (Second ADV prototype) Used by BAE as a Trials and development aircraft.
It later passed to the RAF Marham Fire section before being transported to RAF Syerston as an Instructional airframe.
 
XV292/292 C-130K C.1 Hercules RAF

XV292/292  C-130K C.1 Hercules LTW 
 
XS235 DH.106 Comet 4C A&AEE

XS235 DH.106 Comet 4C 'Canopus' A&AEE

XS235 DH.106 Comet 4C "Canopus" A&AEE

XS235 DH.106 Comet 4C 'Canopus' A&AEE.

ZA195 Sea Harrier F/A.2 British Aerospace

ZA195 Sea Harrier F/A.2 British Aerospace Dunsfold operating out of EGDM.


XS606 Andover C.1 ETPS


ZA326 Tornado GR.1 There appears to be a problem.


ZA326 Tornado GR.1 aborting! Not for the first time in its operational life. This 8th production Panavia Tornado was to have entered service with the TTTE, but after a devasting fire, it had to be rebuilt; following the rebuild, the RAF refused to accept the aircraft, and it later passed to the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Bedford in its prominent 'Raspberry Ripple" colour scheme.
Its final years and flights were made from here at Boscombe Down.
It was the last flying Tornado GR.1. 


XW987 Blackburn S.2B Buccaneer.


XL564 Hawker Hunter T.7 EPTS.


XX830 Sepecat Jaguar T.2 ETPS.
It had been a British Aerospace 'Trials' aircraft.


XX341/1 Hawk T.1 ETPS.


XZ103/FP  Jaguar 41 Sqn RAF.


ZD745/DA Tornado GR.4 31 Sqn 'Goldstars'.


ZD745/DA and XZ103/FP operating multiple paired missions.


ZE432 BAC-1-11-479FU after returning from AIM Aviation at Bournemouth 'Hurn', where it had received this final colour scheme. 
It started its operational flying back in 1973 when it was ordered and delivered to Air Pacific as 
DQ-FBV, later to the ETPS but sadly soon after this photo, was found to have corrosion leading to it being scrapped; the cockpit was saved and now resides at the Bournemouth Aviation Museum.  
 


ZJ647 Alpha Jet ex 98+71 GAF, in total 12 arrived from storage at Furstenfeldbruck in Germany, 6 airframes were initially non-flying, two were destined for the Test and evaluation facility at DERA Llanbedr, seen here one of the four early flying examples still in    
 a GAF colour scheme.
 

XW175 VAAC Harrier is the only fly-by-wire Harrier.


XW175 Harrier was quite an impressive aircraft; not only flyby wire, it was the longest-serving Harrier, 1969 through to 2008, forty years of service and the last fixed-wing aircraft to take off from HMS Invincible. 
It was stripped of its American technology at the end of its service, returning it to a Harrier T.4A.


ZB615 Jaguar T.2A ETPS.


ZD285 Lynx AH.7 Defence Research Agency. 


ZD285 Lynx AH.7 Stored by 2003 at Boscombe Down.


XL612  Hunter T.7 ETPS's primary use with the ETPS was demonstrating how to recover from an inverted spin. Its status is to the civil register, currently at Swansea airport. 


XX105 BAC-1-11, with its unique colour scheme, operated from RAE Bedford (Thurleigh) for 21 years with the Blind Landing Experimental Unit (BLEU) and transferred to Boscombe Down in 1994 in a similar role.


ZH654 Harrier ll T.10 (DERA).


ZH654 Harrier ll T.10 (DERA). 
Sadly, on the 24th of August 2000, whilst landing back at EGDM,
It was slightly higher than this photo when the crew ejected; both suffered back injuries, and the aircraft was written off, damaged beyond repair. The investigation found an inaccurate fuel gauge reading.


XX342/2 Hawk T.1 ETPS.


ZB615 Jaguar T.2A ETPS.


ZH102/02 AEW.1 8Sqn RAF.


ZA267 Tornado F.2


ZA267 was the second ADV prototype.
The BAE company designation was  A.02. There was also an A.01 ZA254 and A.03 ZA267. 


ZA267 was one of the three ADV aircraft, all dedicated to different roles. 
A.02's strengths were engines, general systems and armaments; I imagine it was spending time at RAF Boscombe Down.


ZG501 Harrier GR.7 (AWC) SAOEU

'Strike Attack Operational Evaluation Unit
Formed back in 1983 with the introduction of the Panavia Tornado GR.1 into RAF service, by 1988, they had added ZG501 Harrier GR.7, which later became a GR.9.


ZE756 Tornado F.3 AWC (Air Warfare Centre)


ZE756 Tornado F.3 RAF. 
Flying missions with the Tornado GR.1 and a GR.1A.
 

 ZA353 B-53 Tornado GR.1 (TTTE) was seen here whilst serving with DERA at Boscombe Down.


ZA449 Tornado GR.1A recovers to Boscombe Down.


XZ570 Seaking HAS 5+ or Mod! (DTEO) at Boscombe Down in 1996.
It had been used for testing Merlin helicopter engine filters.


XV211 Lockheed Hercules C.1 LTW RAF.


XV211 Lockheed Hercules C.1, accompanied by FT375 Havard IIB,  sadly, was sold by Tender in May 1996 and became G-BWUL on the civil register. 


XV208 Lockheed Hercules W.2 'Snoopy" operated by DERA/MRF.


XS596 Andover C.1 (DERA) modified to a (PR) photo-reconnaissance type and used for the British Open Skies Treaty flights.

I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

Happy days!






























Saturday, January 16, 2021

Mig-21bis Polish Navy displays at Gdynia Babie Doly Airshow 1995.

The Polish Navy's 34th Fighter Regiment (34 Pulk Lotnictwa Myśliwskiego) hosted its premiere airshow on the first weekend of July 1995. It was a memorable event with the Navy displaying fascinating older aircraft types like the An-2 "Colt" and Mil Mi-2 "Hoplite." 

They were well supported by the Polish Air Force units, including an Iryda I-22 M-93K. The European Marine teams were Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, and the UK. Also displayed is a USA Marine Corps F/A-18C from VMFA-312 "Checkerboards" from Operation Deny Flight. They are part of an extensive flying program featuring aircraft from the "Cold War" era to modern-day jets and helicopters.

I had arrived earlier in the week to photograph the MiG-21 BIS aircraft from the 34th's two Fighter Squadrons (esk A/B). See the link below.

https://legendarymilavia.blogspot.com/2021/01/mig-21s-of-polish-navy-in-show-of.html

My photographs are taken from the Friday practice and Sunday's airshow. I hope you find them interesting.

8705 MiG-21bis Polish Navy

8705 MiG-21bis Eskadra 'A' "Siuksow"(Sioux) 34th Aviation Regiment Polish Navy.


0511 W-3RM Anakonda 1DLMW/C esk
Eskadra 'C' was the third squadron based at Babie Doly with the W-3RM Anakonda, M28R "Bryza", Mil Mi-2, and An-2 transport aircraft.


0506 W-3RM 1DLMW/C esk demonstrating a SAR mission.


1005 Mil Mi-14PL, 40EZOPR from Darlowo.


0405 An-28R "Bryza" 1DLMW/C esk.


0404 An-28R "Bryza" 1DLMW/C esk.
Both are based at Babie Doly.


1242 Mil Mi-2RL NATO calling "Hoplite."
Today, it resides in the Lennundusmuusem in Tartu, Estonia.


0615 Mil Mi-2P, they were mainly used for training and liaison.
Status: it is sadly withdrawn from use and on the dump at Nadarzyce.


5338 Mil Mi-2R visiting from Dęblin. Today, this colourful aircraft is stored.


2950 Mil Mi-2RM It had arrived from Darlowo and is believed to be stored there today.


2703 Mil Mi-2 RM 40EZOPR also from Darlowo. I was pleased to see that all these Mi-2s had different colour schemes. Behind is An-28 1022 1DLMW/C esk's third aircraft. 
 

New kid on the block 0209 W-3T Anakonda. A mere twenty-one years after this photo was taken, it was converted for the SAR role in 2006. I imagine it became a W-3RM. It also now wears a new stunning grey and orange colour scheme.
 

7356 An-2T  Nato calling "Colt." 
Passed to Olesnica as Instructional airframe.


1317 An-2R.
Preserved at Rudzienice.
 

1465 An-2P
Stored at Random AB.


301 Iryda I-22 M-93K 58 training combat regiment (58 LPSzk-B) arriving from Dęblin.

The First of just 17 registered jets. The PZL-Mielec I-22 project must be one of Poland's more controversial home-built aircraft.
It flew at Dęblin between 1992 through 96.
By early 2001, it was rumoured that the fleet of seventeen stored airframes would pass to the Navy, but the financing of this aircraft project went from bad to worse, especially for the manufacturer PZL-Mielec.
 With a sad end in sight, aircraft were passed to museums. 
A dejected end for an aircraft said by pilots who flew the jet to be a superior training aircraft. One test pilot marvelled that it could self-recover from a flat spin.
 Number 1 aircraft, ANA 003-01, was registered SP-PWI/301 in 2008. It was to be seen at the Airforce Institute of Technology in Warsaw, but sadly no longer flying.
  

044 Yak-40 36SPLT Warszawa.

Today, it is preserved at the Wojska Polskiego Museum wearing the VIP Red and White paint scheme.

See more below.



045 Yak-40 36 SPLT.
Preserved at Dęblin museum Sil Powietrznych.

See more in the link.



043 Yak-40 36 SPLT.
Sold to the civil market as 9L-LDI


039 Yak-40 36 SPLT.
Sold to the civil market as 9L-LDY


728 Mil Mi-24V Polish Army.


728 Mil Mi-24V 
 The good news for this aircraft is that it still flies with the 56 Blot.


The 3617 SU-22-M4 unit has yet to be discovered but is presumed to be 6PLM at Swidwin AB, arriving for the airshow static display.
It is preserved at Swidwin AB and carries the 6 PLM markings.


3911 Su-22M4 6PLM, one of the three flyings, makes a late afternoon low pass.
Today, it is stored at Bydgoszcz.


3811 and 3812 Su-22M4 from 7PLM lead 3911 of the 6PLM as seen above.


455,456, and 459 MiG-23MF  28PLM, scorching the air above Babie Doly AB.


016 PZL-130TC-1 "Orlik" 60 LPS.
013 was the spare aircraft.


016 made a spirited display. Status is no longer flying, but fate is unknown.


728,742, 956, and 737 Mil Mi-24V's 56 Blot arriving to display from their home of Inowroclaw/Latkowo.


As 728,742, 956, and 737 swept in, I was reminded of the 1979 film Apocalypse Now and the "Ride of the Valkyries." 


742 Mil Mi-24V was wound off in Afghanistan in July 2009 whilst operating with the SGPsz (Independent Air Group) flying night missions. Also damaged was the 737 Mil Mi-24V, which was again flying here in the overhead transparencies.
 

728 Mil Mi-24V from 56 Blot's 3rd Escadra arrives for their display's fantastic climax. 


 728,742, 956, and 737 Mil Mi-24Vs are flying an incredible manoeuvre and one I have never witnessed again, sadly!


956 and 737 Mil Mi-24 job done and move out. Aircraft 737 wound off in Afghanistan, and Aircraft 956 is still flying.


633 Mil Mi-8Ps today, the remaining MiL Mi-8Ps are part of 1BLTR, and their aircraft bear the red and white VIP colour scheme. 


164274/AJ-340 F/A-18C VMFA (AW)-312 "The Checkerboards".


164274/AJ-340 F/A-18C VMFA (AW)-312  with the motto "The Fight's on"


XZ921/CU-587 HAS6 Seaking 706 Squadron RN participating from RNAS Culdrose.


XV661/CU-824 HAS5 Seaking 771Sqn "Ace of Clubs" also from RNAS Culdrose.


30 Super Etendard 11F FN participating from its base at Landivisiau in Brittany. 
 Preserved at Montélimar airport.


45+36 Tornado IDS MFG-2 GN  from Eggebek.
Status scrapped. 


For me, 45+36 Tornado IDS was the best fast jet of the flying display.


From fast passes to touch and goes.


Tornado IDS 45+36 finally makes a landing to applause.


89+59 MK41 Seaking GN and beyond S-142 Lynx Mk80 Søv Fl.


Challenging but friendly 11 TS-11 Navy Trainers form the "Anchor".
 

In the typical Baltic weather, they are back in the Blue for a few minutes before the rain sets in to end the day.


8552 An-2T in the early evening light.


1320 An-2T, rain, fumes, and noise, wow! The An-2s depart Sunday's airshow. 

It was a fabulous few days for sure, and great memories.

More Polish Navy MiG-21BIS Photos link below.