Silver Jubilee Review - Finningley July '77

[F3]

Am feeling a sense of deja vu at present given the unremitting hot weather, scorched grass and high profile RAF celebrations with the Queen's Silver Jubilee Review of the RAF @ Finningley 41 yrs. ago. Heard a story (which maybe apocryphal) that the station CO was so upset about the burnt colour of the grass that he had the 'erks paint it green. If anyone out there served @ Finningley then I'd be interested to know if this was true. Anyhow here's a selection of pics that should give a flavour of the event. Note the culture change. No shorts or bottled water being carried back then!

Panavai Tornado by Michael Britton, on Flickr

royal review - jaguar gr1 229 ocu (2) by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Royal Review - Flares + 111 sqn Phantom by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Royal Review - Lightning F6 5 Sqn by Michael Britton, on Flickr

royal review - hawker harrier gr3 3 sqn (2) by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Royal Review - Gnat + Nimrod by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Royal Review - Hawker Siddeley Hawk CFS by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Royal Review - Air Defence Formation by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Royal Review - Maritime formation by Michael Britton, on Flickr

vulcan scramble (2) by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Royal Review - F-111C 6 Sqn RAAF by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Royal Review - C130 Hercules RNZAF by Michael Britton, on Flickr

[slogen51]

Excellent

I had only been mil spotting for about a year then - we went up from London four up in an already ancient MK1 Cortina with rust falling off the front wing.

Thanks for the memory jogger.

[anthony martin]

Those were the days

[Ratrace]

Excellent stuff as always.

[Ridge Runner]

Now that was an air forces! 'Buff said! Martin

[paddyboy]

Hi Michael

Enough to make one weep (if you are old enough)

Thanks for posting

Paddyboy

[ST24]

Excellent, always good to see shots from this epic event. However '77 was a poor Summer overall, in fact on the public day of this show it took the aussie vark to warm us up with its dump n burn...

[Cyberfox]

What an amazing Air Force we once had.

[Vulcan74]

May have been already asked, anyone know of the call signs for the formations used on that event!

[eLaReF]

My album of the show - I won't show them all here!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/elaref/se ... 897584785/

[Nighthawke]

Could have gone through my Dad working on an RAF station but he booked too late. Bless him! Another one for the time machine!

[reheat module]

I grew up about 5 or 6 miles away from Finningley and joined the RAF in 1977, so it would be rude not to attend (especially with free entrance)
Lovely to see some of the airframes that I would work on later in my career.
As has been said earlier - 'When we had an air force'
And yes... I've seen grass being sprayed green before Royal visits!

[Mustang531]

If I'm right and the Queen was in attendance, it was a warm day, the then Defence Minister was sitting next to her and fell asleep. Or was it another event? Either way, 'Orf with his head!'

[captain scarlet]

Brilliant times, possibly my 2nd ever airshow (the first being greenham common in 1976) so I really did get spoiled!

[Seahornet1]

My album of the show - I won't show them all here!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/elaref/se ... 897584785/

Given the wonderful level of nostalgia in those images, I was surprised to find amongst them, an airframe that is still in RAF service today....

...XW213

[mancman]

Thanks for posting. Only took a few photos at the time, more interested in the numbers, so it's great to see more images from this event. It was the only time I saw a 4 ship Vulcan scramble which was fantastic.