Inspired by the other recent post on this subject I decided to share some of my digitized slides of this event.
Do not expect too much quality.
Because these were taken by my first SLR camera, an all manual East German Praktika MTL3 which I earned by picking strawberries.
Also these are Fuji 100 slides. Only in 1985 I changed to Kodachrome 64 film.
In 1983 me and three of my aviation friends made our first long spotting trip.
We went to the UK for three whole weeks. I was 17 years old then and still a newby.
We ended our fantastic trip with the International Air Tattoo at Greenham Common.
Not a bad ending for three weeks of marvelous aircraft.
I experienced some airshows before but this was other stuff.
I am still good friends nowadays with my travel companions of those days in 1983.
There were to follow many more spotting trips with much better equipment, transportation and living conditions but for me this trip has been anchored in my soul.
54-1638 C-130A USAF 95 TAS AFRES
This is the only time that I've seen a Hercules with a blunt (roman) nose like the prototypes had.
Only the first production batches of the C-130A were built with such a nose.
See the ice still attached beneath the Wings from its high altitude transition.
After phase out in the USAF this C-130A went to the Mexican Air Force where it unfortunately perished in an in flight fire.
XF382 Hunter F6A RAF 79 sqn/1 TWU
You can still admire this lady in the Midland Air Museum at Coventry although no longer in the air.
In 1983 it was still going strong and was based at RAF Brawdy.
64-17980 SR-71A USAF 9 SRW/Det 4
Can you imagine my feelings as a 17 year old lad when this one made a low approach. Ecstatic !
What a spaceship ! It still looks very futuristic 35 years on.
64-17980 SR-71A USAF 9 SRW/Det 4
Still in high visibility marks.
This aircraft is now preserved at Edwards AFB as part of the NASA Dryden Collection.
26+52 F-104G WGAF Jbg33
Another stunner from lockheed and Kelly Johnson !
Volkel airbase, The Netherlands, was my home spotting base.
My late father first brought me to this base to watch the Dutch Starfighters in action during night flying.
I was hooked !
When I saw the Norwegian CF-104D in action again and heard it howling at Leeuwarden last year I have to admit that it was kind of emotional.
26+52 became an instructional airframe at Erding airbase, Germany.
XH558 Vulcan K2 RAF 50 sqn
Another spectacular howling specimen.
Who would have imagined then that this bird was to become a genuine civilian warbird ?
After the Falklands war a few Vulcans were converted to one point tankers. And XH558 was one of them.
It seems the drum and hose housing underneath the rear fuselage was made out of wood.
60 Super Etendard FN 11F
Almost brand new then, this Super Etendard of the AeroNavale.
This elegant type was withdrawn from use by the French Navy in July, 2016.
Nr 60 did not see this happen because it crashed on 07nov1995.
108 Etendard IVP FN 16F
Accompanying the two Super Etendards was this much older first generation Etendard recce aircraft.
A few months later it was no more. It crashed on 21nov1983.
MM61995/46-09 C-130H AMI 50 Gruppo / 46 Stormo
Italian Air Force C-130's have not always been the dull grey birds they are nowadays.
The C-130H has been replaced within the AMI by the newer C-130J.
It was not the end for MM61995 because it was sold to a new operator.
It still flies with the Brazilian Air Force as FAB 2475.
99+35 Canberra B2 WGAF GeoMilAmt
Some of West German military aircraft wore orange dayglow patches during those days.
On their 'secretive' Canberras they overdid on this paintjob.
Look at the small cockpit.
XM597 Vulcan B2 RAF 50 sqn
Man, were we surprised when this aircraft came in !
A week earlier we wrote it down in our books as a non operational decoy at Scampton.
A part of the Vulcans from 50 sqn were temorary based at Scampton then because of runway repairs at Waddington.
XM597 looked much worse than the other Vulcans seen at Scampton and was parked lonely in a corner.
So for us it was withdrawn from use. It proved to be a false assumption.
It is a Falklands Black Buck veteran en is still with us at the National Museum of Flight, East Fortune Airfield, Lothian, Scotland.
2407 T-37C FAP Esq102
The Asas de Portugal. In my opinion one of the most underrated teams of the Eighties.
During arrival two of their aircraft collided on the runway.
Because of that, two replacement aircraft were flown in a day later.
This aircraft became an instructional airframe at Ota, Portugal after phase out.
104893 CF-104 CF 1 CAG
During the whole event this CF-104 was parked on the flightline but it did not move until departure.
Later it became “8-893” of the Turkish Air Force.
The Turks presented it to Hungary after service en it is still preserved inside the Air Museum in Szolnok, Hungary.
XV165 Buccaneer S2B RAF 12 sqn
RAF Laarbruch in West Germany was our secondary spotting homebase.
We had to travel a long way by bike to get there but it was a very interesting base with lots of visiting aircraft.
And the Buccaneers of 15 sqn and 16 sqn made a huge impression.
You could almost touch them. That low they stayed after take off.
I still see them turning to the right after take off and thundering at treetop level into German territory.
This aircraft is not from RAF Laarbruch though but from RAF Lossiemouth.
Only the nose section of XV165 survives at Spanhoe Lodge, Northamptonshire.
XW534/Z Buccaneer S2B RAFG 16 sqn
This is an RAF Laarbruch Brick!
It was on static display during IAT1983 and is seen here taxying out for departure and taking off.
The Laarbruch Buccaneers lacked the refueling probe.
This one was later stored at Shawbury. Scrapped at Shawbury in July 1994.
XV573/D Phantom FG1 RAF 111 sqn
Spare for the RAF Phantom solo display.
Scrapped at Leuchars in April 1992.
80-0023/BT F-15C USAF 22 TFS / 36 TFW
Bitburg Eagles, so common then. Nowadays Birburg airbase is gone.
This one crashed on 15apr1992 when Pilot 1st Lt. Kirk P. Shauger was killed after he suffered G-induced loss of consciousness and failed to recover the aircraft.
The aircraft and pilot were assigned to the 22 TFS, 36 TFW at Bitburg AB.
XR720/DA Lightning F3 RAF LTF
This was the spare aircraft for the RAF Lightning solo display.
Lightnings were godlike creatures !!!
last flight February 1985, to 8930M, scrapped 18jan1988 Sutton-on-the-Forest.
XP753 Lightning F3 RAF LTF
This was the aircraft actively used as the main solo display aircraft flown by Flt Lt Thompson during IAT 1983.
Only a month later on 26aug1983 this Lightning with the same pilot was on a positioning flight from Binbrook to Tees-Side Airport to participate in an air show the next day.
The pilot was asked to perform a fly past at an RAF recruiting event near Scarborough, whilst en route.
While manoeuvring near the coast line the airplane stalled as the pilot attempted to avoid colliding with a cliff top.
Flt Lt Thompson was killed.
26+89 F-104G WGN MFG-2
Another West German Starfighter but this time a German Navy one.
For a while the German Navy two ship team The Vikings thrilled audiences in Europe with their F-104's.
I always found it intriguing that a Naval Air arm was flying the F-104. In my humble opinion hardly a navy-aircraft.
But who cares. F-104's are awesome !
And F-104 pitot tubes make great coat racks.
After serving the West Germans it went to the Greek Air Force as 7435/FG-435.
Mid 2000s "7435' was put on display in Acharnai, Athens, at the front of Menidi Town Hall.
Sadly the local community did not treat the aircraft well and it got damaged and sprayed over with graffity.
The Air Force decided to take the aircraft away and it was removed and brought over to Elefsis AB.
Fate after that ? Scrapped ?
112 Mirage F1EJ RJAF 1 sqn
Exotic birds were the three Royal Jordanian Air Force Mirages taking part ( one on static display and two on the flightline ).
Now this is what I call a nice camouflage color scheme.
This one was last seen stored at Shaheed Mwaffaq in the Jordanian desert.
Part of our Dutch contingent:
K-3021 NF-5A KLu 314 sqn
The Dutch NF-5 solo display team was run in 1983 by the Eindhoven based Redskins.
Lt. Hans Iseke was that year's display pilot.
The Dutch Air Force sold it to the Turkish Air Force where it became 70-3021.
Current fate unknown.
J-252 F-16A KLu 322 sqn
This was the first F-16 delivered to Volkel airbase on 18jan1982.
It was however not meant to be the first operational F-16 for 311 sqn at Volkel.
Instead of that it was a temporary familiarization tool for the technical personnel at Volkel to prepare them for their future aircraft.
When Volkel received their first own operational ones it went to Leeuwarden air base and joined 322 sqn.
On 04oct1983 it ran off the runway at Leeuwarden AB. The pilot was unfortunately killed in the incident.
The accident resulted from the ingestion of a heron into the engine at high speed during a heavy weight take-off roll. Since the hook system did not function correctly, the arrestor cable was missed and the aircraft left the end of the runway with a speed of approximately 100kts. Immediately thereafter it overturned and came across a ditch which tore off the nose gear and the nose section. When the aircraft came to a halt, everything ahead of the fuel tank was gone.
If you search for ‘crash f-16 J-252’ you can see photos of the aftermath of this crash.
A-350 SE3160 Alouette III KLu 300 sqn / Grasshoppers
Another aircraft type appreciated when they are gone.
The most boring team on earth. That's how we viewed our Grashoppers at the time.
In retrospect it was a great team! Much mimicked later by other helo teams.
A-350 was last seen as stored in Goteburg Save, Sweden.
256/V Br1150 Atlantic MLD 321 sqn
The Dutch Navy presented this Atlantic in the air.
We had two types of patrol aircraft at that time. The other being the P-3C Orion.
This one was sold to the French Naval Air Arm as '63'.
They again sold it to the Pakistan Navy where it became '94'.
It was seen at aircraft type's retirement ceremony held at PNS Mehran Naval Air Station, Karachi, on September 5, 2012, and has been preserved at the Paksitan Air Force (PAF) Museum in Karachi.
XV574/Z Phantom FG1 RAF 111 sqn
Although not a very good picture I still like the dynamics.
The RAF display Phantom taxying by our photo bus.
XV574 was scrapped at Wattisham in 1991.
XS792 Andover CC2 RAF 32 sqn
This Andover brought in VIP's for the IAT 1983.
After RAF service it became G-BVZS in 1995 and later went to Kenya as 5Y-IAK and was later sold as 9XR-AB.
Damaged beyond repair landing at Old Fangak, South Sudan in February 2005.
VP981 Devon C2 207 sqn
Built in 1946 it was still in active military service in 1983. Amazing.
Became G-DHDV and in 2016 It was operated by Weald Air Services Ltd at Headcorn.
XX752/06 Jaguar GR1 RAF 226 OCU
In those days I thought of Jaguars as underpowered and not interesting.
I saw lots of them at RAF Brüggen and RAF Laarburch and RAF Coltishall.
In the same year, 1983, I saw XX752 doing a touch and go on the grass airfield at Sanicole Hechtel, Belgium !
Later on I started to admire these aircraft more and more.
This Jaguar went tot RAF Cosford as an instructional airframe.
XZ964/P Harrier GR3 RAF 233 OCU
This is why the International Air Tattoos at USAF Fairford were better.
At Greenham Common you faced the sun.
But during the showdays the sun was absent for most of the time.
Lots of Harriers crashed during their service but this one survived its ordeal.
It is beautifully preserved at the Royal Engineers Museum Gillingham, Kent
The US Navy contingent:
155703/AG-505 A-6E USN VA-65 USS Eisenhower
Delivered in 1969 to the US Navy as an A-model it was flown to AMARC at Davis-Monthan air base om 16nov1993 for storage.
Later scrapped at HVF West, Tucson, AZ.
156863/AG-404 A-7E USN VA-12 USS Eisenhower
In September 1986 this one was put into storage at the AMARC bone yard.
Later scrapped ?
161440/AG-212 F-14A USN VF-142 USS Eisenhower
A very bad picture but the only one I have got from this airframe.
Luckily I could take much better pictures of the mighty Tomcats in 1988 during a trip in the USA.
On 18jun2004 161440 was transferred to AMARC with inventory number 1K0149.
After June 2008 it was scrapped at HVF West, Tucson, AZ.
72-0146/ZR RF-4C USAF 38 TRS / 26 TRW
This Zweibrucken RF-4C later went to the 1 TRS / 10 TRW at Alconbury.
On 24jul1986 it crashed whilst giving a display at the air show at RAF Brawdy during bad weather.
Unfortunately the crew was killed.
ZD485/15 IA58 Pucara RAF A&AEE
Unfortunately the best picture I've got of this one.
A real rarity ! Because it only flew for a very short while in RAF marks.
Former Força Area Argentina A-515, it was captured by British forces at Stanley, Falklands on 14jun1982 and taken to the UK, where it was given the serial ZD485 and evaluated by the A&AEE at Boscombe Down.
You can nowadays see it preserved in the RAF museum in Cosford.
108 Mirage F1EJ RJAF 1 Sqn
The static aircraft departing Greenham Common for a long journey home.
I like Mirage F1's with these silver pylon tanks.
Also this one was last seen stored at Shaheed Mwaffaq in the Jordanian desert.
RT-684 TF-104G RDAF Esk 726
This was the Danish Starfighter with the highest number of flight hours. Finally 4,476 flight hours in nearly 21 years of operation.
It was withdrawn from Danish use in 1986 but in 1987 was delivered to the Republic of China Air Force ( Taiwanese Air Force ) as 63-12684/4153.
Operated by 8 TFS of 3 TFW and withdrawn from use 1992; scrapped 1999.
R-345 F-104G RDAF Esk 726
Also withdrawn from Danish use in 1986 and also in 1987 delivered to the Republic of China Air Force ( Taiwanese Air Force ) as 62-12345/4413.
BR 03 Mirage 5BR FAB 42 Sm / 2nd Wing
Our Belgian neighbour departing Greenham Common to Florennes air base.
BR03 is preserved in France, Eco Domaine de L'Etrillet, in a sorry state with a French Mirage 3 nose crafted on
FX99 F-104G FAB 31 Sm / 10th Wing
One of the last four Starfighters still operational within the Belgian Air Force then.
The Belgian 104's had the best colourscheme, period !
This one survives in Toronto, Canada. Preserved without engine at Markham Airport.
66-0382 F-4E USAF 57 FIS
One of the four Keflavik, Iceland, Phantoms I saw and photographed during my spotting career.
These USAF aircraft were very rare, even in those days.
This one went to the ROKAF ( South Korean Air Force ) as 60-382.
In October 2009 it was on display at the airhow in Osan in excellent condition.
68-0480/RS F4E USAFE 512 TFS / 86 TFW
We stick with Phantoms. This being a Ramstein based aircraft with a fantastic Shark mouth.
The Greek Air Force became the new owner later.
In 2008 it was seen dumped at Tanagra air base in Greece.
XR726/DF Lightning F6 RAF LTF
This EE Lightning is almost taxying into my lens. What a spectacular aircraft !
Later scrapped and nose section preserved Harrogate area, North Yorkshire.
That was it.
A journey back in time.
My god it is more than 35 years ago and it seems like yesterday.
Hope you all appreciate these shots taken in a time when one did not have to travel far to see many, many interesting and sensational aircraft.
I still have to get used to the quality of these pictures so spoiled we are nowadays with our digital kit.
