Air Fetes - RAF Mildenhall

[paddyboy]

'I was guarding them for my mates'

Yeah, Mike, and

1). My dick is a Whitby kipper
2). The Pope is Jewish
3). Bears do not dump in the woods
4). My carp does not stink

'Fess up, buddy, 'cos I bought them 4 at a time as well

TARDIS NOW, please

Paddyboy

[dave_b5678]

Do miss them - even heard rumours of a restart a few years back. Used the be the highlight of the year!

IMG_2027 by David Baines, on Flickr

Got several of the stickers still, but most missing as I stuck them to the window and used to collect all the Participant List booklets!

Amazing they used to pack in so many people - 300,000 in '96. Went on my motorbike from '96 onwards - £5

[slogen51]

I can remember parking around the back of Mickys tea bar and walking in for a pound.

Can't be that many shows that had a SR71 flying.

[rh226]

Was 1984 the first - or was it 1983?? - for Mildenhall that is.

[F3]

Hi guys. This is one of those times when you should appreciate the benefits of age. Feel pity for the younger generation of spotters who never experienced it. Took me a few years but I grew to recognise that one Polish sausage did me for the day and thus saved me quids spent on burgers which just did nt fill the gap. The smells of the Barbies was all part of the experience and sadly not to be found elsewhere. First one I ever attended, about '81 I think, was held August Bank Hol w/end and a sea fret had drifted in so it was freezing. We walked past all the cold beer sellers in search of a nice hot cuppa! On the other hand there were many scorchers, such as the next year when we returned home like tomatoes. Happy days.

[Mike]

There is a remarkable resemblance between Mikes photo and his icon picture (can't remember the word for those pic - gliffs ?)

That's true, I've never thought of that.

[Mike]

'I was guarding them for my mates'

Yeah, Mike, and

1). My dick is a Whitby kipper
2). The Pope is Jewish
3). Bears do not dump in the woods
4). My carp does not stink

'Fess up, buddy, 'cos I bought them 4 at a time as well

TARDIS NOW, please

Paddyboy

Oy Mush !! That's not fair, it's true ! I had to drive the Edinburgh-Inverness sector that night - so I only had a "couple".

[Goosebumps]

A real blast from the past. Sunny days, Beer, Burgers and of course fantastic flying Thanks for sharing

[Lakerdc10]

Fantastic memories...........................

I think in all, I only missed one Air Fete since `79.
I have many memories of aircraft seen, including:
- one year they had the arrival of the first F15E Strike Eagle on a flight direct from the US,
- the B52 "nose down" take-off,
- "Scrappy" the A7
- the SR71 displays
and many, many others.

We were very lucky.

However, there were also unfortunately some low points...........
My first Air Fete in `79. I remember we travelled by coach from London and whilst passing through Red Lodge, we saw in the distance one of the G91 of the Frecce-tricolori go into the ground during their bomb burst manoeuvre.................and also not forgetting the T-34C in `83 and the Vintage Pair in `86.

We will remember.

Graham

[paddyboy]

Hi Graham

I can remember all of those events

The Vintage pair was a sad one, especially, as it happened right in front of everyone: the Frecci Tric one was away from us all, so it was all just supposition

That BUFF take-off was the mutts nuts, and that guy got hauled over the coals for it

Cheers

Paddyboy

[3Greens]

Hi Graham

I can remember all of those events

The Vintage pair was a sad one, especially, as it happened right in front of everyone: the Frecci Tric one was away from us all, so it was all just supposition

That BUFF take-off was the mutts nuts, and that guy got hauled over the coals for it

Cheers

Paddyboy

It was worth it though Paddy


Keith (3Greens)

[Knife 04]

The infamous 'Swashbuckler' - great to see again Keith (no where near that in the box of negs yet!) - can remember this so clearly as everybody thought it was a 'nose in'

Good to see you also defected to the side of the sun mate leaving us mere mortals in the shadows!

Keep them coming everybody - must be loads more out there - would post more but not got round to them yet but will do in time. Thanks for all the recent comments

All the best

Darren

[roadstar1845]

Memories indeed, on that tragic day I entered via the main gate and actually waited next to the Vintage Pair crews,not dreaming of what was going to unfurl hours later.
The following week at work my boss spoke to me, had I seen the incident?
Replying in the affirmative he informed me that he had flown during the war with the father of one of the crew,very upsetting all round.

[Voodoo1]

If Carlsberg did Air Fetes......

My first Mildenhall Air Fete was circa '89 when I was 11! Nothing prepared me for Mildenhall. For a child who loved planes this was like Disneyland! I had read about all the fantastic aircraft in books but to see so many types at once and the sheer scale was breathtaking at first.
So many things that made my love and enthusiasm for this hobby all stemmed from Mildenhall. As previously mentioned, my memories are the wet burgers, polish dogs, buds in the buckets of ice, smell of BBQs all around the grounds.
Leaning over the barriers to get a better look at the SR-71. Asking the flight crew of the F-117 all the technical questions a 11 year old can throw at them so you can impress your mates (it didn't matter if the guards were holding guns!). The variety of aircraft was amazing! (I still remember the buzz that everyone talked about the EF-2000 and how good it was going to be etc - if only you knew back then!)
The free stuff (tat!) that you collected like the RAF fluffy things with the googly eyes, stickers, posters & pamphlets, toys etc. The suntans I got were superb as every year I visited were scorchers.
The sea of cars, campervans and RVs parked up close to the crowdline. Families and friends all enjoying their own little part of the airfield for the day. Trying to find where you left the family on the crowdline. The smell of aviation fuel in the air! (I can smell it now...aahhh! )
I'm now in my late 30s and I'm glad I experienced the Air Fetes, locally everyone still talks about Mildenhall whenever you mention airshows, it's like folklore.
There will never be anything quite like it! Memories will live on.
Thanks for creating this thread Knife

[jetnoise]

Just to add my 2p worth:
I managed to get to a few Fetes from the late 70s through to the mid 80s (even after I got hitched). Never got in to the Bud - although the burgers bbq;d on split 45 gal drums were something else! I was there on the Saturday the year of the Vintage Pair accident, but was there when the Frecce lost one (i seem to recall the pilot heroically stayed with the jet to ensure it didn't hit residential areas, and the T-34C when it ploughed in at the bottom of a loop - fortunately missing two nearby KC-135s. Sadly these things do happen at shows - but less frequently these days.

More uplifting memories were the variety of types (esp. fighters) and the SR-71 displays.

Can I hitch a ride with you in the TARDIS PAddy?

[paddyboy]

EVERYONE is welcome in my TARDIS, if I can ever get the blasted thing to de-materialise

Just found out: K9 has been cocking his leg all over the console

[patrick73]

What happened after the vintage pair crash, did they abandon the show?

[quid21]

One thing I liked about Airfete was that they always tried to get new stuff. They even had the competitor to the C-17, YC-15 was it, not sure, but it looked very modern and had similarities to the Antonovs 'Coaler'.

The F-15E was in camouflage too as it was a demonstrator of some kind.

[H.A.Bucken]

Was there that year too; Boeing's YC-14. My calendars might reveal if it was the same year that a NASA DC-8 (?) turned up while on its way to Paris.

[rh226]

One thing I liked about Airfete was that they always tried to get new stuff. They even had the competitor to the C-17, YC-15 was it, not sure, but it looked very modern and had similarities to the Antonovs 'Coaler'.

The F-15E was in camouflage too as it was a demonstrator of some kind.

It was the YC-14 that was reminiscent of the An-72 "Coaler" and , yes, it ("01874") was at Mildenhall in 1977 together with the YC-15 ("01875") - the two competitors in the AMST program, which was cancelled.

Only this one of the two YC-14s was ever in the UK, but the other YC-15 ("01876") was at Farnborough the previous September.

Incidentally, the C-17 was developed out of the YC-15, but was in response to the later C-X program.