FighterControl

Had a superb holiday in Corfu last week and managed a couple of visits to the airport as the location looked great. Lots of bucket and spade flights to be had plus a surprising amount of corporate jets paying quick visits, presumably bringing some wheel heeled folks along to spend time in the sun floating about on some of the fabulous looking luxury yachts anchored in the bay.

The pair of deployed Hellenic Air Force Dromaders weren't particularly active but I did catch one of these fabulous machines returning from a short local sortie.

118 PZL M18B Dromader Hellenic Air Force/359 MAEDY by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

118 PZL M18B Dromader Hellenic Air Force/359 MAEDY by Tom Gibbons, on Flickr

Cheers, Tom

Fantastic machine!

Thanks for sharing these with us, something a bit different too, no afterburners either.

Wow, that's certainly something different. Can't say I'd noted these before, so I had to resort to a light research; as you say Hellenic AF, what function/role do they perform?

Nice pictures, evoking nice memories of Greek Island holidays.

Efharisto Tom.

Freeman

reheat module wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 05, 2024 11:36 am

Wow, that's certainly something different. Can't say I'd noted these before, so I had to resort to a light research; as you say Hellenic AF, what function/role do they perform?

Fire spotting / fighting and crop dusting


https://www.haf.gr/en/equipment/pzl/

reheat module wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 05, 2024 11:36 am

Wow, that's certainly something different. Can't say I'd noted these before, so I had to resort to a light research; as you say Hellenic AF, what function/role do they perform?

They are operated by 359 MAEDY (Public Services Air Support Unit) Info from the Hellenic AF website:

The mission of the 359 MAEDY is to cover the public services demands for the air fire fighting and agricultural section such as crop-dusting and air fertilization.

The main objective to air fire fighting missions is the early spotting and extinguishing of forest fires.

Nice shots Tom. These always look to me like they have been made in a local blacksmiths back yard!

Hope you had a good holiday

A20 DEK wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 05, 2024 8:14 pm

Nice shots Tom. These always look to me like they have been made in a local blacksmiths back yard!

Hope you had a good holiday

Bit harsh on blacksmiths

A20 DEK wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 05, 2024 8:14 pm

Nice shots Tom. These always look to me like they have been made in a local blacksmiths back yard!

Hope you had a good holiday

Thanks Derek, had a superb holiday but all too short as always!

Love these machines, great to see and hear and proper workhorses.

Pauld339 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 05, 2024 10:28 am

Fantastic machine!

Mustang531 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 05, 2024 11:27 am

Thanks for sharing these with us, something a bit different too, no afterburners either.

Freeman Lowell wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 05, 2024 11:47 am

Nice pictures, evoking nice memories of Greek Island holidays.

Efharisto Tom.

Freeman

A20 DEK wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 05, 2024 8:14 pm

Nice shots Tom. These always look to me like they have been made in a local blacksmiths back yard!

Hope you had a good holiday

Thanks all, appreciate the kind words.

Cheers, Tom

Many happy memories of Corfu ! Saw an Orion & a couple of Phantoms during my visit many years ago. Nice catch!