Exercise Avon Express mid to late 1970's

[Heatseeker]

does anyone have any records of this exercise that took place in the 1970's? i think the planes were using fairford, greenham common, lyneham and brize. quite a number of transport aircraft types were involved from various nato forces as well as usaf.

[plmc135]

The following were noted at Fairford on 20 November 1977 in connection with Avon Express:-

CH05 C-130H Hercules 10 Wg
CH08 C-130H Hercules 10 Wg
CH12 C-130H Hercules 10 Wg
77+54 SA.318 Alouette II HFSt 5
77+55 SA.318 Alouette II HFSt 5
MM61990 C-130H Hercules 46 BA 50 Gr 46-04
70-0467 C-5A Galaxy 436 MAW
64-0633 C-141A Starlifter 437 MAW
65-9405 C-141A Starlifter 437 MAW
66-7948 C-141A Starlifter 438 MAW
73-22079 UH-1H Iroquois 71 AvCo

[rh226]

Sadly all my logs for 1977 have long gone. I lived in Reading at the time and everything routed over WOD (NDB beacon still exists) to and from BPK. I had a week off at the time and had a pretty extensive radio log of those 9 days.

However, I've found the following information from the Dec 1977 and Jan 1978 issues of SEAR. I hope that it will be of some use.

Reports only for Fairford, Yeovilton and Keevil.

Fairford
12th November 1977
50+36 C-160D WGAF
MM62000/46-14 ItAF 46ABg

13th November 1977
96582 C-130E USAF 317 TAW c/s "Ask46"
01260 C-130E USAF 317TAW
51+09 C-160D WGAF LTG-61

15th November 1977
XV301 Hercules C.1 LTW
(64-)17681 C-130E MAC
42065 C-130H MAC
60175 C-141A MAC c/s "Avon403"
00467 C-5A MAC c/s "Avon404"
CH-04/05/06/08 C-130H BAF
50+32/37/58/66/86, 51+09/12 C-160D WGAF LTG-61

16th November 1977..................this looks suspiciously like the contents of plmc135's post above....is the date wrong on that one??
70020, 67948, 60146, 60155 C-141A USAF 438MAW
60175, 59405, 40633 C-141A USAF 437MAW
00467 C-5A USAF 436MAW
(73-)22079 UH-1H USArmy
50+09/52/92 C-160D WGAF LTG-63
MM61993/46-07, MM61990/46-04 C-130H ItAF 46ABg
CH-07/12/05/08/04 C-130H BAF 15 Wing
77+54/55 Alouette II WG Army
XV191/192/193/301 Hercules C.1 LTW
XW616 Scout AH.1

17th November 1977
CH-07 C-130H BAF c/s "Avon017"
CH-08 C-130H BAF c/s "Avon018"
CH-04 C-130H BAF c/s "Avon019"
CH-06 C-130H BAF c/s "Avon020"
60175 C-141A MAC c/s "Avon436"
70020 C-141A MAC c/s "Avon437"
59405 C-141A MAC c/s "Avon438"
50+09 C-160D WGAF c/s "Avon161"
50+52 C-160D WGAF c/s "Avon162"
50+33 C-160D WGAF c/s "Avon163"
50+79 C-160D WGAF c/s "Avon164"
60155, 60146 C-141A USAF 438MAW
00467 C-5A SAF 436MAW
MM61991/46-05 C-130H ItAF 46ABg
50+36/91/51 C-160D WGAF LTG-63
51+12/15, 50+59 C-160D WGAF LTG-61
XV296 Hercules C.1 LTW

18th November 1977
50+84/78/67/76/36/34/51/52 C-160D WGAF
CH-07/06/10 C-130H BAF 15 Wing
60175 C-141A USAF 437MAW
60155 C-141A USAF 438MAW

19th November 1977
70020, 60146 C-141A USAF 438MAW
59405 C-141A USAF 437MAW
MM61990/46-04 C-130H ItAF 46 ABg
CH-07/10/03/09 C-130H BAF 15 Wing
A67 Alouette II Belg. Army
51+09/12/15, 50+62/77, 51+10, 50+58 C-160D WGAF LTG-61
72+44 UH-1D WG Army

20th November 1977
60146, 70020 C-141A USAF 438MAW
50+17/36/41/46/50/60/67/76/78/79 C-160D WGAF LTG-63
CH-04/05/07/10 C-130H BAF 15 Wing

26th November 1977
40624, 60209, 70016 C-141A USAF 437MAW
50+62 C-160D WGAF LTG-61
73+20 UH-1D WG Army HFR-30
XV219 Hercules C.1 LTW

27th November 1977
60209, 40644, 60167, 40624, 70016 C-141A USAF 437MAW
41692 C-130H USAF 463TAW
50+77 C-160D WGAF LTG-61
73+20 UH-1D WG Army HFR-30
CH-06 C-130H BAF 15 Wing

29th November 1977
60167, 70016, 50279, 40624, 60209 C-141A USAF 437MAW
CB-02 Boeing 727-29C BAF 15 Wing
MM61990/46-04 ItAF 46ABg

02nd December 1977
60167 C-141A USAF 437MAW


Yeovilton - These arrived for the duration
15th November 1977
MM6633/3-27 RF-104G ItAF
MM6647/3-29 RF-104G ItAF
MM6635/3-31 RF-104G ItAF
MM6593/3-41 RF-104G ItAF
MM6522/3-45 RF-104G ItAF
MM6633/3-27 RF-104G ItAF

16th November 1977
(66-)13553, (64-)14639, (64-)14652 OV-10A 601TCW
(68-)10924 CH-53C 601TCW +1

17th November 1977
(67-)14666 OV-10A 601TCW

22nd November 1977
(66-)13556 OV-10A 601TCW


Keevil..........for the duration
72+31/32/44/45, 73+20/24/51/59 UH-1D WG Army HFR-30.....these are known to have arrived on 18th November 1977
A57/A67 Alouette II Belgian Army
61097, 66-16498, 73-22079 USArmy 71 AvCo
77+54/55 WG Army HFS-5
MM80592/EI-527, MM80884/EI-616 AB206 ital. Army

All the best

Bob

[plmc135]

16th November 1977..................this looks suspiciously like the contents of plmc135's post above....is the date wrong on that one??

No it definitely is not the wrong date, I still have my logs from way back when.

Paul

[Heatseeker]

ace! thank you for the details.

[Tangopapa]

Just to add a bit more info to the thread, these are my sightings at Fairford over the exercise period:

15th November

CH-04/05/06/08/12 C-130H 15Wg
XV176/186/191/192/301 Hercules C.1 LTW
00467 C-5A 436MAW
64-17681 C-130E 435TAW
42065 C-130H 463TAW
60175 C-141A 437MAW
60146/67948 C-141A 438MAW
50+37/49/58/66/80/86/51+09/12/15 C.160D Ltg61

17th November

CH-04/06/07/08 C-130H 15Wg
MM61991/46-05 C-130H 46AB
XV296 Hercules C.1 LTW
00467 C-5A 436MAW
40633/59405/60175 C-141A 437MAW
60146/60155/70020 C-141A 438MAW
50+59/51+12/15 C.160D Ltg61
50+09/33/36/51/52/79/91 C.160D Ltg63

20th November

CH-05/07/10 C-130H 15Wg
70020 C-141A 438MAW
50+67/76/78/79 C.160D Ltg63

29th November

CB-02 B.727 15Wg
MM61990/46-04 C-130H 46AB
40624/50279/60209 C-141A 437MAW

Nothing additional to add for Keevil or Yeovilton but there was a press/review event at Lyneham 24th November where the following were noted:

XH174 Canberra PR.9 39 Sq
XW769/24 Harrier GR.3 1 Sq
XZ133/A Harrier GR.3 233 OCU
XV753/C Harrier GR.3 233 OCU
XX760 Jaguar GR.1 6 Sq
XZ117/E Jaguar GR.1 41 Sq
XX758/18 Jaguar GR.1 226 OCU
XX750/22 Jaguar GR.1 226 OCU
XW236/CQ Puma HC.1 33 Sq
XV719/AA Wessex HC.2 72 Sq
MM6635/3-31 RF-104G 3 St
67607/WR F-4D 81TFW
66-13553 OV-10D 20TASS
73+00 UH-1D HEER
73+24 UH-1D Lhftr30

Hope this is of some interest.

TP

[IanM]

I have the following callsign/serial tie-ups.....

15/11/77
Avon 604A C-130K XV176
Avon 603A C-130K XV186
Avon 101A C-160D 50+44
Avon 102A C-160D 50+80
Avon 005A C-130H CH-05
Avon 408A C-141A 66-0175

16/11/77
Avon 144A C-160D 50+55
Avon 146A C-160D 50+66
Avon 148A C-160D 51+01

17/11/77
Avon 618A C-130K XV296
Avon 173A C-160D 50+09

18/11/77
Avon 449A C-141A 66-0155
Avon 187A C-160D 50+36
Avon 188A C-160D 50+51
Avon 189A C-160D 50+52
Avon 184A C-160D 50+76
Avon 186B C-160D 50+34
Avon 193B C-160D 50+84
Avon 192B C-160D 50+94

19/11/77
Avon 201A C-160D 50+77

20/11/77
Avon 201A C-160D 50+79
Avon 049A C-130H CH-04
Avon 047A C-130H CH-10

From memory the Alpha suffixed callsigns were inbound flights, Bravo for outbound.

Ian

[John Tyler]

It is a while since anyone posted any information about this exercise. My 1977 log includes lots of sightings of German Transalls and Belgian C130s, many of which are accompanied by Avon callsigns. Ian M's post was useful in identifying a few of the Transalls, as noted below, but I would be delighted to identify more of them if anyone has any records.
16/11
AVON 137B, 138B, 139B, 140B, 141B, 142A, 143A, 144A (50+55), 145A.
18/11
AVON 191B, 192A/192B (50+94), 193A/193B (50+84), 194A/194B, 195A/ 195B.
19/11
AVON 033A, 037A, 038A (Belgian C130s), 196B, 197B, 198B, 199A, 200A, 203A, 204A, 205A, 207B, 208A and OLD 127 (USAF C130 to Fairford).
20/11
AVON 044A (Belgian C130), 218A, 224A, 226A/ 226B, 227A, 229A.
27/11
AVON 266A

And while looking at 1977 logs, can anyone help me identify four German CH53Gs that I saw over Essex on 3/10/77?

Regards
John Tyler

[tim_raper]

bump. This brings back memories, at the time I lived just south of heathrow and the airways from biggin-woodley and brookmans park-woodley more or less converged there and they were the routings that the vast majority of transports used, very busy times