Legendary Moments in Military Aviation

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Royal Air Force bid farewell to their Phantom jets at RAF Wattisham airbase July 1992.

RAF Wattisham in Suffolk appeared to be the epicentre of the bad weather across the UK in July 1992. This was the day before the official stand down of a genuinely iconic jet in British Air Force service. We arrived here to see the arrivals for an extraordinary day.

The 4th of July 1992 was officially known as the "Farewell to the Phantoms" at R.A.F. Wattisham. There was more to come of this iconic RAF aircraft. It was, in fact, the demise of 56 Squadron's Phantoms. With 74 squadrons, the Phantoms continued operations, including a mini Tiger Meet in September, and before their stand-down on 1 October 1992, at R.A.F. Wattisham.

It is easy to find images of this legendary meeting, but few are shown of the arrival day, which sadly led to some cancellations due to the cyclonic weather.

XT914 Z Phantom FGR.2 RAF

XT914 (Z) Phantom FGR.2 74 Squadron "Tigers" RAF.

It took off at R.A.F. Wattisham on 3 July 1992 in appalling weather conditions.

74 Squadron "Tigers" RAF.

This aircraft was the , launched with XT914 above.

BAE.

XP693 Lightning F.6 embellished in 56 Squadrons "Firebirds" marks for the "Farewell to the Phantoms meeting."

XP693 Lightning F.6 deploys the brake chute.

J-631 and J-645 F-16A's arrived to join the .

. Arriving from . The coloured panels are for use when carrying out .

It was to join from the newly formed JG72 "Westfalen" that arrived from .

arrives from the for what also became a mini Hawk meet?

Beyond are some of the former that have been dumped.

XT896 (V) Phantom FGR.2 "Tiger"

On the way to the flight line.

Having nearly dried out from Friday's rain, the Saturday morning skies were once again threatening.

For the morning, the weather held out, albeit grey and overcast.

Below are some of the assembled aircraft that commemorated this legendary day. People often reflect on the weather when speaking or reading about this event today. They should have braved the Friday?

74 Squadron's motto was "I fear no man." Sadly, by the year's end, both "Firebirds" and "Tigers" would fear the scrap man.

56 sqn. Phantoms were lined up to spell , as is their , a rising from the flames...

I look here, and I'm caught by NO HOPE?

XV467 (F) Phantom FGR.2 "Firebirds" Majestic to the end!

74 Squadron's unique "Tiger" tail was first exhibited at the .

56 Sqn "Firebirds" RAF.

Sadly, XV470 (D) Phantom FGR.2 ended up at .

XT897 (Y) 'Why indeed'? The was the culprit, resulting in the axing of 56 and 74 squadrons' Phantoms.

ZG770 (AP.) "Firebirds"

The Phoenix would rise again at with Tornado F.3 ZG770 marked for the occasion.

XP693 Lightning F.6 from BAE was also specially marked in honour of the "Firebirds".

56 Squadrons' fast jets, Lightning, Phantom, and Tornado F.3.

56 squadron.

, formerly from and . X1X Squadron was retired in January 1992!

, an ex-19 Squadron aircraft, was seen here on the charge of 74 Squadron.

, former .

38+30 and 38+53 F-4F's from the newly formed JG72 "Westfalen" at Hopsten, formerly known as .

XX289 (289) Hawk T.1 .

ZG725 (J) Tornado GR1A 13 Squadron RAF.

ZE836 (AS) Tornado F.3 56 (R) Squadron RAF Conningsby.

Happy memories, indeed!

Monday, November 1, 2021

Paris flypast (Defile) 2021 practise day at Orléans-Bricy Base Ariene (BA123).

On Monday, June 28, at Orléans/Bricy airbase BA123, the first aircraft observed was a departing CL415 from the 'Securité Civile', not exactly what I expected early Monday evening ahead of Tuesday's practice for the 'Paris defile' (Paris flypast). I had a bad feeling about its departure.

A quick look across the ramp revealed two Alpa jets from the "Patrouille de France." Closer were a Dash 400Q and a B200 from the "Securitéé Civile."

Fingers crossed then for the Tuesday practice of the 2021 "Paris Defile" (Paris flypast).

On Tuesday, June 29, fine rain and threatening skies prevailed across the flat countryside surrounding BA123. This photo was taken after the departure of both the Dash 400Q and B200.

And yes, the flypast practice had been aborted due to the inclement weather conditions.

0033/F-RBAI ()from ET01.061 'Toraine' VB101 'Tete de Hibou' at Orléans/Bricy holds for departure.

As 0033/F-RBAI A400M gets airborne, the sky shows why there will be no practice that day or, in fact, the following.

745/CV DHC-6-300 ET03.061. 'Poitou' F121 'Hibu aux Ailes éployées sur un Croissant de Lune' C/S F-RACV departs, and so did we for 48 hours!

Take two: Thursday morning, July 11, 2021. By 8.00 a.m., the Gendarmerie was taping off an area alongside the Rue du Bourg that is directly under the approach for runway 27.

Minutes later, we had our first arrivals, and the game was on!

E149/8-RS Alpa jet E EE03.008 'Côte d'Or' SPA57 'Mouette de passant au naturel' C/S F-UHRS arriving from Cazaux.

E46/8-RF EE03.008 'Côte d'Or' SPA57 'Mouette de passant au naturel' C/S F-UHRF.

05/709-FG EAC 00.315 arriving from BA709 at .

13/709-FO . Sadly, the P-21s are not yet? Wearing individual squadron markings.

04/709-FF PC-21 EAC 00.315.

07/709-FI PC-21 EAC 00.315. Two of the BA709 PC-21s have now formed a new aerial demonstration team.

F-ZBPP EurocoptSecurité Sécurité Civille.

1372/F-WWRC SOCATA, destiné à l'Armée de l'Air. This aircraft was part of the 60th anniversary celebration (1961-2021), which featured five aircraft types in the flypast.

1372/ F-WWRC TBM-940. The order for four TBM-940s will allow the DGA to carry out the same missions as their TBM-700s and conduct instruction flights as part of the training provided by the flight school and test and acceptance, all with the added benefit of not having to borrow aircraft from other services.

2897/F-ZAJB DGA-EV C/S FZAJB.

2897/F-ZAJB H225LP seen landing at Orléans?Bricy.

The DGA-EV 60th anniversary participants really made the trip worthwhile.

80/BY TBM-700A DGA-EV C/S F-ZVBY.

5119/61-PC departs Bricy.

5119/61-PC C-130H from ET02.061 C/S F-RAPC.

133/30-GL leads the practice along with Rafale 'B' 324/30-HW.

R211/64-GK C-160R EEA01.054 'Dunkerque' C/S F-RAGK takes pride in place in the flypast.

Next were fast jets from the DGA; two Alpha jets flank 501 of the DGA-EV C/S F-JTX. This was the Rafale nose cone aircraft.

E-3F 204/36-CD heads up 4 -5s and a Mirage 2000C.

Left to right.

Mirage2000C 124/115-YT EC02.005 'Ile de France'.

Mirage 2000-5's from GC01.002 'Cigognes'.

38/2-EI, 55/2-EU, 40/2-EX, and 67/2-MH.

E-3F 204/36-CD EDCA02.036 'Berry', SAL257 'Masse d'armes'.

6x Mirage 2000D from BA133 at Nancy/Ochey, all units are represented, and two aircraft have no marks.

The fighter groups are without their Tanker aircraft.

6x Rafael over the top.

109/4-IM Rafale 'C' ETR03.004 'Acquitaine' heads up...

142/30-GU Rafale 'C' EC03.030 'Lorraine' et 102/30-EF Rafale 'C' EC02.030 'Normandie-Niemen'.

Last wave top to bottom.

328/4-IC Rafale 'B' EC01.004 'Gascogne'.

132/30-GK Rafale 'C' EC03.030 'Lorraine'.

314/4-HP Rafale 'B' EC01.004 'Gascogne'.

E2C Hawkeye '2' + 8 Rafale M's. Aéronavale.

Rafale 44 leads 16, 3 and E2C, 2. Aéronavale.

Falcon 50 and a pair of Atlantic ATL-2, Numbers 13 and 4. Aéronavale.

0073/F-RBAN A400M (Atlas) from Bricys ET01.061 'Touraine'.

071/62-IE CN235M ET01.062 'Vercors' d'Évreux. One CN235M (unknown).

5890/61-PR KC-130J ET02.061 'Frache-Compte'.

5890/61-PR KC-130J ET02.061 'Franche-Comté' Armée de l'Air.

F-ZBFK Beech B200 Sécurité civile.

45/F-ZBMF CanadSecurité 15 Sécurité civile.

Practise finished, team leaders return to Bricy for the de-brief.

E80 (BO) Alpha Jet E DGA-EV.

E8 (BQ) Alpha Jet E DGA-EV.

668/3-IG Mirage200D EC01.003 from Nancy-Ochey.

109/4-IM Rafale 'C' ETR03.004 'Acquitaine' Armée de l'Air.

344/4-FK Rafale B EC01.004 'Gascogne' SPA37 'Charognard' St-Dizier.

One not identified earlier.

16 Rafale M from 12F at Landivisiau.

What a great moment - the 501 Mirage 2000B from the DGA-EV has to go around again due to runway congestion.

5 Falcon 50MS cutting short for a fast landing.

5 Falcon 50MS 24F de Lann-Bihoué Aéronautique Navale. Just a friendly aircraft?

501 Mirage 2000B on finals.

108/115-LC Mirage 2000C EC02.005 'Ile de France'.

13 . Making a steep approach ahead of some heavy aircraft.

13 Atlantic ATL-2 Aéronavale, from 21F at Lann-Bihoué.

5890/61-PR KC-130J ET02.061 'Franche-Comte'.

0073/F-RBAN A400M (Atlas) ET01.061 'Touraine'.

from SAL259 at Evreux.

FSecuritéech B200, Sécurité Civile à Nîmes-Garons (Groupeement des Avions Bombardiers d'Eau)

45/F-ZBMF Sécurité CL-415, Sécurité Civile à Nîmes/Garons (Groupeement des Avions Bombardiers d'Eau).

R211/64-GK C-160R EEA01.054 'Dunkerque' C/S F-RAGK.

The rotary participants now have their moment to practise. Some years, they practice before the fast jets and transports and others after. It's great to see so many different aircraft types flying.