International Air Tattoo 1983 at RAF Greenham Common

International Air Tattoo 1983 was the year of the Phantom, with an excellent turnout of thirty aircraft and many variants from the RAF, USAF and WGAF. 

Once again, aircraft from across the Globe filled the pans of RAF Greenham Common. Lockheed F-104 Starfighters were to be seen in superior numbers, always pleasing.

 The USAF sent an SR.71A. It was the only one I have photographed in the high visibility markings. The Royal Jordanian Airforce sent at least three Mirage F.1s, one into the static display and two for the flight line with one solo aircraft flying. 

Once again, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Aircraft Establishment turned out some interesting aircraft. They included their Bedford-based Vickers Viscount, the Bristol Brittania and newly captured Argentinian airforce Pucara up from its new home base at Boscombe Down. 

Sadly for Greenham Common, this would be its final International Air Tattoo. The following show in 1985 would transfer to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. 

64-17890 SR-71A USAF 9 SRW/DET-4 Taxis across Greenham Commons runway heading for the static park. Status today preserved Edwards AFB/NASA Dryden collection.

105 and 112 Mirage F.1EJs RJAF 1 SQN on the flight line on a very wet afternoon. Status stored in the desert Shaheed Mwaffaq.

108 Mirage F.1EJ RJAF 1 SQN proudly sits in the static park. Status stored in the desert at Shaheed Mwaffaq.

112 Mirage F.1EJ RJAF is departing for home on Monday morning.

XT661 Vickers Viscount from RAE Bedford taxing for take off. Status sadly scrapped.

XX367 Britannia 312F RAF A&AEE. Scrapped at Kinshasa (Zaire)

ZD485/15 Pucara RAF A&AEE. Status was captured on 14 Jun 1982 and evaluated by the A&AEE at RAF Boscombe Down, now stored at the RAF Museum Cosford.

XT597  Phantom FG.1 RAF A&AEE 25th Anniversary markings, being towed alongside the friends of International Air Tattoo enclosure with its elaborate security measures. Preserved at Bentwaters.

XV501/B Phantom FGR.2 RAF 23 Sqn. from RAF Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. Sadly, W/O 02 Aug 1988.

XV501/B Phantom FGR.2 Whilst on the Falklands, the Phantoms were never used in aggression, but they did look like they meant business.

XV415/P Phantom FGR.2 92 SQN from RAF Germany at RAF Wildenrath. Preserved Boulmer, 9163M.

68-0480/RS F-4E USAF 86th TFW from Ramstein Germany. Greece dumped Tangara airbase. 

38+72 F-4F JG-74 WGAF. Transferred to TTC/20FS 72-1282/HO W/O 16 Oct 1998.

35+65 RF4E AkG-52 WGAF. Status to Turkey as 69-7512.

XT901/Y FGR.2 RAF 56 Sqn. No longer smiling but scrapped.

26+52 F-104G JbG-33 WGAF. Instructional airframe at Erding AFB

22+04 F-104G JbG-33 WGAF. To Turkey as 7074.

26+89 26+83 F-104Gs MFG-2 WGN Silver wings display duo. Status to Greece as 7435/FG435 and 7429, respectively.

FX-99 F-104G  10 Wing FAB. Status preserved at Markham Airport Toronto, Canada.

60 Super Etendard FN 11F. 50 of the same unit has departed for its display, chocks away. Status crashed on 07 Nov 1995.

108 Etendard 1VP 16F FN joins the Alize and Super Frelon of the French Navy in the static park. Status crashed on the 21 Nov 1983.

60 SA321G  Super Frelon 32F FN. Preserved at the Rochefort Naval Aviation Museum. 

56  BR 1050 Alize 4F FN departing for France on Monday of departures. Stored at Nimes Garon.

158566/LA-4 P-3C VP-5 USN. Status to Taiwan as 3302.

156863/AG-404 A-7E  VA-12 USN  USS Eisenhower. Status to the 309th AMARC scrapped.

161440/AG-212  F-14A VF-142 USN  USS Eisenhower. Scrapped June 2008.

72-0175/PT A-7D  146 TFS Penn ANG USAF. 72-0194 was parked alongside in the static, their support tanker 59-1484 KC-135E Penn ANG was also in the static and an EC-130E 63-9817 193rd ECS Penn ANG USAF. Status of 72-0175 preserved at Tinker AFB, 72-0194 scrapped HVF West. The KC135E was transferred to the 309th AMARG again, and EC-130E was dumped at HVF West.

79-1713 KC10A 2 BW USAF arrives at Greenham, outshining all comers in its high-vis colours. Still active with the 60th AMW.

80-0544/HR F16A 50th TFW USAFE partnered by 80-0563 in the static, having transitioned from their F-4E Phantoms and making their first appearance with the F16A. They were the first USAF overseas unit to receive the F-16A. Status transferred to Jordan as 220.

69-6609 HH1N 67 ARRS USAF. Status is now an instructional airframe at Fort Eustis.

113/312-BM Nordatlas GI-312 FAF. Status to the civil register as HB-BPU

256/V  Atlantic  321SQN MLD, seen before its incident with the photo bus, which damaged a wingtip. 

I later read that the same bus driver was involved in a collision with a boat. Neither accident was of his making? 

Status was first transferred to France as 63 and then Pakistan as 94, preserved at the Karachi Air Force Museum.

XP753 Lightning F.3 LTF RAF.

 Status. Whilst being flown as above by Flt Lt Thompson on the 26 Aug 83, the aircraft stalled trying to avoid the clifftop near Scarborough where it was due to display, sadly claiming the life of its pilot.

99+35 Canberra WGAF GeoMilAmt. Preserved at Berlin/Gatow.

41+27 Alphajet JbG-43 WGAF. Transferred to Portugal as 15244.

40+67 Alphajet JbG-49 WGAF. Transferred to Portugal as 15222.

MM61961 PD.808 71 Gruppo AMI Taxis for take-off on departure day. Preserved at the Museo Storico del' Aeronautica Militare Italiana.

62-4462 T-39A 58 MAS USAF visiting the show. Now an Instructional airframe at Charleston.

XR443 Sea Heron C.1, RN Yeovilton station flight. Exported to the US civil register, serial unknown.

NZ7271 B.727 40 SQN RNZAF. Stored on New Zealand's South Island at Christchurch.

132001 CC132 412 SQN RCAF. Transferred to the civil register as C-GUSZ.




136232 and 136228 CH136 444SQN CF both in static.232 became N7237J while 228  past to Australia as VH-OSX.

J-252 F16A 322 SQN RNethAF 40th Anniversary SQN marks. 

Sadly, it suffered a mortal bird strike on 04 Oct 83, with the pilot's loss.

K-3021 and K-3026 both NF5A 314 SQN RNethAF. Transferred to Turkey as 70-3021.

XT459/D Wessex HU.5 845 SQN RN. W/O 07 Nov 1983.

XM597 Vulcan B.2 50SQN RAF. Preserved at the National Museum of Flight East Fortune airfield Lothian Scotland, it was a Falklands veteran.

Once again, a fantastic four days of pure military aviation joy and a nostalgic trip back in time reading this report.

Happy Days!  

Historic Royal Saudi air force aircraft found in the desert after the Jeddah Kandara airport closes in 1981.

For years, Jeddah Kandara airport was the gateway to the Western provinces of Saudia Arabia and, for the Hajj pilgrims, the pivotal commencement of their pilgrimage to Medina and Mecca.

For an aviation enthusiast, it was home to the number 8 wing of the RSAF and their C-130 Hercules. Air France also had a facility for its international flights. This, in turn, produced many FAF C-160 Transall flights from Djibouti and transits of Pakistan airforce Mirage111s and Singapore airforce T-33s on delivery flights. 
   

Looking out across the airport from my advantage point, one could observe a distant group of aircraft dumped in the desert. With temperatures touching 50 degrees Celsius, the heat haze inevitably made serial reading and closer identification of types difficult.

In 1981, the new King Abdulaziz's airport north of Jeddah city opened with all the latest high tech and glitz, and the now-defunct Kandara airport became a development site. As with most construction programmes in Saudi Arabia, speed being the critical factor, a new highway was to be found progressing across the disused airport.

Amazingly, the new highway drove straight through that group of dumped aircraft, and once the tarmac was laid, I made a trip to the site.

It was not that straightforward as with photography banned and many construction workers busy along the route, I would have to be very careful not to be seen, especially photographing military aircraft. Driving out in a GMC pickup truck would allow me to blend in with the work teams.

Some aircraft had been moved or pushed aside at the site by heavy machinery. It was an impressive sight with MK52 Vampires, T-28s, T34s, C-54, A-26 Invader and many more planes dumped in a dust bowl.

Unfortunately, it was more complex than I had thought not to be visible whilst trying to achieve the photographs.

Below are the photographs I took while worrying about a passing police car and puzzled looks from the construction crews.

  

Looking out over the vast airport's barren desert, you can see the dumped aircraft in the top left-hand corner. Rumore was that the Catalina (bottom right) belonged to Jacques Costeau.

To my advantage point, photography was always tricky due to the enormous heat haze that was only exaggerated by using a 500mm lens. This is one of my last photographs at the old Jeddah airport.

Driving out to the dust bowl, this is the first view of the wrecks.

Vampire Mk52s and DHC-1 Chipmunks 

55281 T-34A RSAF

450 C-54 RSAF is now preserved at the Riyadh Museum, static outside.

Cambrian Airways DC-3 serial unknown. Interestingly, the sand has stripped away some paint to reveal the RAF Auxillary Airforce marks. Any information on this aircraft would be much appreciated.

A closer study of those markings is undoubtedly far from Cardiff Rhoose.

Vampires Havard and Chipmunk with the city of Jeddah beyond.

205 T-6 Havard RSAF.

Probably HZ-ABE, but the star here was the far A-26 of the RSAF. Sadly, a police car stopped on the new road 'gulp.' I am not a hundred per cent sure, but this aircraft was TA-26B 301 RSAF, now displayed at the museum in Riyadh's capital.

5B-CAV Cypriot registered DC-3. Looks like it suffered a fire. I am unsure if this was a Haji transport aircraft bought for spares. I have a reference to 5B-CBD being preserved, or is it the same aircraft?

Beech 18, under the cheatline, clearly carries Kingdom of Saudia Arabia, but above, It is too badly weathered to enable reading. This aircraft is now perched on a pole and found on a roundabout in Jeddah. 

A historic 'seal' the similarity to this Saudia airline wingless F-27 and a beached seal?

450 C-54 RSAF and other various types.

611 DHC-1 Chipmunk RSAF.

49-1681 T-28A RSAF preserved.

603 DHC-1 Chipmunk RSAF and Vampire MK52.

509 Vampire MK52 RSAF.

Vampire MK52 RSAF Identity is unknown. These two aircraft, presumed to be instructional airframes, were moved to the engineering faculty of King Abdulaziz's University in Jeddah. 

51-7723 T-28A RSAF.

51-7723 T-28A RSAF.

What an impressive aircraft the T-28 was! 51-7723 still looks great after years of neglect in the desert.

There you have it, looking back some thirty-eight years. Thank goodness I was not arrested, and I can enjoy looking back on the slides of a past era. They were all captured on Kodachrome 64.

Anybody familiar with Jeddah back then would probably know of the Hotel Kandara standing right opposite the Kandara airports terminal and Haji terminal, quite the oasis for a Western worker based in Jeddah. 

Happy memories, indeed!