These are my highlights for aircraft in service with an air force or military contractor. I’ll kick off with the first sad farewell, I saw a few at Mildenhall but it was good to see about 30 of them on their home turf at Travis for a few flybys and A2A demo in March:
KC-10A 83-0078 USAF 60th AMW by Aquila427, on Flickr
KC-10A 85-0033 USAF 60th AMW by Aquila427, on FlickrThe nearest base for me to visit is Fairford (160 mile round trip), and on a few occasions I popped down on the off chance. Usually it is sleepy hollow but if anything is flying the quality makes the journey worthwhile…
U-2S 80-1070 USAF 99th ERS by Aquila427, on Flickr
U-2S 80-1096 USAF 99th ERS by Aquila427, on FlickrAnd nice to see one of the oldest flying U-2 airframes pass through, although the tail had changed since seeing it earlier in the year at Travis.
U-2S 68-10337 USAF 99th ERS by Aquila427, on Flickr
67 by Aquila427, on FlickrStaying at FFD I didn’t make it for any of the winter BTF deployment but enjoyed seeing a few B-52 movements earlier in the year.
B-52H 60-0037 USAF 69th EBS by Aquila427, on Flickr
B-52H 60-0037 USAF 69th EBS by Aquila427, on Flickr
B-52H 60-0012 USAF 69th EBS by Aquila427, on FlickrSticking with the heavies I have a soft spot for Hercs so here’s some nice ones from this year:
C-130H 747 HAF 356 MTM by Aquila427, on Flickr
C-130H CN-AOG Moroccan AF by Aquila427, on Flickr
C-130H 357 JorAF 3 Sqn by Aquila427, on Flickr
89 EC-130H 73-1581 USAF 55th ECG by Aquila427, on Flickr
C-130J 170000 USN (prev RAF ZH885) by Aquila427, on FlickrIt’s been a good year for Mirages, with 2000’s at Andravida, Cosford, and RIAT plus very happy to see four ATAC F1’s at Luke AFB:
Mirage 2000-5EG 555 HAF 331 Sqn by Aquila427, on Flickr
Mirage 2000D 682 FrA&SF by Aquila427, on Flickr
Mirage 2000-5 38 FrA&SF EdeC 1/2 by Aquila427, on Flickr
82 F1CR N625AX ATAC by Aquila427, on Flickr
85 F1CT N624AX ATAC by Aquila427, on Flickr
86 F1CR N615AX ATAC by Aquila427, on FlickrIn terms of old Soviet types it’s been slim pickings, a Vertol Systems Hind aggressor at Yuma was nice, plus a few Hips here and there, and a couple of MiG-17’s on the east and west coast show circuits in the US were ok but not current military, so the highlight was the Croatian AF Fishbed farewell in Zagreb:
MiG-21 BisD 116 & Rafale F3-R 150 CroAF 191st FAS by Aquila427, on Flickr
MiG-21 UMD 165 CroAF 191st FAS by Aquila427, on FlickrAnother retirement in 2024 was the A-10 Demo Team, I’ve already posted a bunch of Warthog photos so will stick to three in each flavour:
07 A-10C 80-0244 USAF 357th FS by Aquila427, on Flickr
39 A-10C 79-0094 USAF 47th FS by Aquila427, on Flickr
51 A-10C 78-0651 USAF 357th FS by Aquila427, on FlickrIt was a pretty interesting year for the ‘F’ types still in service, in descending order. I’ll mostly restrict myself to three of each, including the final of the four farewells in the form of the lovely Dutch F-16A at RIAT:
134 F-22A 08-0163 USAF 27th FS by Aquila427, on Flickr
136 F-22A 04-4076 USAF 27th FS by Aquila427, on Flickr
F-22A 02-4040 USAF 1st FW by Aquila427, on Flickr
130 FA-18F 165887 USN by Aquila427, on Flickr
241108b by Aquila427, on Flickr
F/A-18A 46-21 Spanish AF Ala 46 by Aquila427, on Flickr
F-16A J-197 RNLAF 312 Sqn by Aquila427, on Flickr
125 F-16C 91-0395 USAF 55th FS by Aquila427, on Flickr
109 F-16B N847TA Top Aces by Aquila427, on Flickr
F-15QA QA538 QEAF by Aquila427, on Flickr
F-15E 91-0310 USAF 494th FS by Aquila427, on Flickr
70 F-15C 83-0024 LA ANG 122nd FS by Aquila427, on Flickr
71 F-15C 85-0102 LA ANG 122nd FS by Aquila427, on Flickr
SF-5M 23-10 Spanish AF ALA 23 by Aquila427, on Flickr
240722e by Aquila427, on Flickr
44 Yuma USMC VMFT-401 by Aquila427, on Flickr
F-4E 01522 HAF 338 Sqn by Aquila427, on Flickr
F-4E 01530 HAF 338 Sqn by Aquila427, on Flickr
F-4E 01518 HAF 338 Sqn by Aquila427, on Flickr
241116b F-4E 73-1052 TuAF 111 Filo by Aquila427, on Flickr
241116q F-4E 77-0303 TuAF 111 Filo by Aquila427, on Flickr
241117m F-4E 73-1049 TuAF 111 Filo by Aquila427, on FlickrLastly I ended up seeing the Blues 11 times while chasing KC-10’s/F-5‘s/A-10’s and they’re the best team in my opinion so here’s a few to end on.
95 FA-18E 165539 USN by Aquila427, on Flickr 
98 FA-18E 165539 USN by Aquila427, on Flickr
99 FA-18F 165673 USN by Aquila427, on Flickr
100 FA-18F 165805 USN by Aquila427, on Flickr
103 USN Blue Angels by Aquila427, on Flickr
105 USN Blue Angels by Aquila427, on Flickr
106 FA-18E 165666 USN by Aquila427, on FlickrIf you got this far well done! Merry Christmas folks, all the best for 2025.
