Canberra Anniversary Photo Call - May '89 Wyton

[F3]

While sorting through my slide collection I came across a few of the above event which had been ignored for many years due to their poor quality. Those who attended will doubtless recall the extreme weather conditions which were experienced in the form of an apocalyptic downpour at the opening of the event followed by bright sunshine thereafter as the dark sky cleared to the north. The sensitive slide film I'd loaded the camera with either could nt cope or I'd messed up the exposure setting but the slides came back badly over exposed and I binned the worst ones but kept a handful of the salvable ones in the hope that some day I might be able to improve them and now I have the software to do that I decided to have a go. While the results are nt brilliant they are at least half decent so I've decided to post them despite my embarrassment in view of the interesting subject matter. While the vast majority of the static line-up was made up of Canberras of all marks (altho' I don't recall seeing an example of my favourite B.8 with the fighter style cockpit) there were also a number of visitors most notable of which was a 6 Sqn. Jaguar in 75th Ann mks (the only time I ever saw it) plus a selection of Tornados and a Wessex. In the background of one of the shots you can see a 51 Sqn Nimrod spy plane parked on the other side of the airfield but as they were still highly secret we were nt allowed anywhere near, altho' it did depart on a mission while we were still on the premises. This was undoubtedly one of the best photo calls of the decade (if not ever) and I'm very glad that I applied for tickets.

Canberra T4 WJ827 in prototype paint scheme Wyton '89 by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Canberra T18 CR 100 Sqn Wyton '89 by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Canberra T17 WH734 Wyton May '89 by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Canberra T17 WH902 360 Sqn Wyton '89 by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Canberra T17 WJ607 360 Sqn Wyton '89 by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Wyton - 6 Sqn. Jaguar in Ann. mks. by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Tornado GR1 CM 17 Sqn - Wyton '89 by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Tornado GR1 BK 31 Sqn. - Wyton '89 by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Wessex WT668 S 72 Sqn Wyton '89 by Michael Britton, on Flickr

[Mustang531]

Thanks for sharing these with us, I attended although arrived after the downpour. Very enjoyable afternoon and great to see all the other types, all from squadrons that at one time operated Canberra's. I recall the Nimrod too and managed a quick shot when it departed, but worth bearing in mind that 51 Sqn once operated Canberra's too.

[binbrook87]

Oh yeh I remember this well! I took photos of every aircraft present inc all those lovely Canberras! A fantastic event with a great turnout from ex Canberra operators so there were quite a few RAFG Tornados present which never appeared at UK events very often. I even managed a couple of snaps of the Nimrod R1 which was active on the airfield too Thanks for sharing another event that sadly like so many others will never be repeated

[3Greens]

Hi Mick, great memories of indeed one of the best Anniversary do's staged by the RAF. The weather was so bad we nearly turned around en route but decided to press on, thankfully as the depression moved away north.
The 40th Anniversary sky blue painted frame marked as 'VN799' in the line was I believe ex. WJ877 'BG' of 231OCU.... however I did get a sneek peek into the 100 Sqd hangar where the anniversary 'spare' jet was stowed painted in identical blue scheme and marked as 'VN799' - this one was ex. WT478 'BA' of 231 OCU.
Hope you don't mind but I've put a shot up of it with a couple that I had recently scanned









Best regards
Keith (3Greens)

[Blue Diamond]

That was a grand day out. Thanks for sharing.

[Blue Diamond]

That was a grand day out. Thanks for sharing.

[paddyboy]

Hi Mick

It was indeed a foul start to the event, weather-wise, but the assembled planes more than made up for it

Defo no B(I)8’s about, just the similar-looking PR9’s

The ‘Sidewinder’ ‘frame in the hangar made me chuckle, as did the ‘Green Marrows’

Thanks for posting and jogging my old memory cells

Paddyboy

[capercaillie]

Missed the event totally which was really annoying. I believe the SC9 was there in one its last outings, a machine I never got to see.

Nice memories.

[Sparts99]

I was at that event and remember the 51 Sqn Nimrod take off well, everyone turning to watch and the clacking of all the cameras.

[Yammer]

One of my memories from this event on 12th May 1989 was Gazelle ZA774 coming in from Northern Ireland with a heli telly ball fitted and being pushed into a hangar ( EW hangar I think ) - a quality visitor on the day.

[Pi]

Remember the rain started to make one of the Blue Canberra's paint run ! and as my mate was Runway controller I was down the caravan getting pics but while looking through my view finder Roly's Canberra wing tip nearly hit my head, that would have been an injury to talk about ! If I had survived !!

[Buccs2b]

Sorry to gate-crash the thread, the Nimrod R.1 fly-through

Wyton_1989_0071 by Tony Adams, on Flickr

Other movements I recall were a Hercules C.1 and a Hawk T.1 XX311

[F3]

Thanks Keith and Tony for your valued additions to the thread. Any others will be gratefully rec'd. BTW Keith how did you manage to get that shot of a deserted 100 Sqn. line? When I tried it was busier than Piccadilly Circus.

[roughcutter]

Was a really good day out, despite frequency of the showers. I remember undergoing the many security checks before we were allowed onto the base.

[Shawfarm]

Thank you for your post, which I have just found. I spent the full day there and used an awful lot of Kodachrome 25. Someone at the time published an aerial view from overhead the entire lineup, a really impressive photo.

[andrewn]

Sorry to gate-crash the thread, the Nimrod R.1 fly-through

Wyton_1989_0071 by Tony Adams, on Flickr

Other movements I recall were a Hercules C.1 and a Hawk T.1 XX311

A few movements from the day:

Phantom FGR2 XT897/CC 228OCU arrived AM as "Victor 24" and joined the static
Hercules C1P XV191 LTW Photoship "Ascot 4928" but went tech then photo sortie canx, may have departed PM
Nimrod R1 XW664 51Sq "MODD 42", departed PM
Sea King HAR3 XZ591/S 202Sq flew multiple local photo trips as "Sea King 168" - may have been the source of the overhead shots referred to in this thread
Gazelle AH1 ZA774 665Sq arrived as "Army 477"
125 XW789 32Sq arrived PM possibly as "Ascot 1739"
Andover CC2 XS637 60Sq arrived PM
Hawk T1 "VYT 01" (XX182?)
Canberra T4 VN799/P (really WT478/BA of 231OCU) started up as "Uniform 07" but don't think it ever got airborne as the weather in the AM was so atrocious.

[Buccs2b]

I've got a poor shot of Hawk T.1 XX311 rumbling down the runway