Tuesday, 23 December 2008
RAF Jaguar GR3A XZ117
This picture is my Xmas 2009 treat for you.
RAF Jaguar GR3A XZ117 coded "ES" in 6 Sqn colours is shown here overshooting RNAS Yeovilton back in November 2006 just a few months before the type was withdrawn from RAF use. Although wearing 6 Sqn colours this aircraft was operating with the QinetiQ test fleet at Boscombe Down.
I love the way the undercarriage gear is turning as it rotates to fit into the wheel well.
The Jaguar entered service with the RAF back in 1973 and this particualr Jaguar was built at BAe Warton and first flew on 29.4.1976 and so is 30 years old in this photo. The aircraft has a build number of S 118 - UK single seater 118.
XZ117 was modified to Jaguar GR3A standard and this included updating the aircraft's twin Adour turbofan engines with the Mk106 engine so giving greater fuel economy and more power in high ambient temperatures.
I first saw this Jaguar when it was brand new as it was displayed in the static park at International Air Tattoo held at RAF Greenham Common on 31.7.1976 - at that time it was coded "E" of 41 Sqn.
Link to photo of XZ117 41 Sqn "E" taken at RAF Greenham Common on 31.7.1976
XZ117 - RAF Service
first flew 29.4.1976
delivered to RAF 28.5.1976
seen with 41 Sqn coded "E" 31.7.1976
seen with 54 Sqn coded "GG" in 1992
seen with 6 Sqn coded "EP" 23.7.1999
seen with 41 Sqn coded "FB" in 4.2006
seen with QinetiQ coded "ES" 6.11.2006 and 29.6.2007
believed withdrawn from use and parked at Boscombe Down by 2007
The Jag fleet was finally from the RAF in 2007.
Sunday, 14 December 2008
RAF Fairford in
At the end of September 2008 the first members of 140 Expeditionary Air Wing ( EAW
140 EAW lead by Wing Commander Torben Harris will have the duty to bring “fast jet
For the purpose of this exercise 140 EAW deployed to the normally vacate southern
This area was to represent a disused bare base and the job of 140 EAW was to turn this
Everything had to be put in place ranging from the basics such as securing a supply of
Once the Deployed Operating Base ( DOB ) had been built and was operational the air
To help represent the
Deployed Tornado GR4/GR4A aircraft at Exercise Crown Condor table
ZA473 no Code 12 Sqn
ZA543 Code "FF" 12 Sqn - Special 12 Sqn tail markings 1915-2005
ZA556 Code "047" - no Sqn markings
ZD843 Code "106" 15 Sqn
ZD847 Code "108" - no Sqn markings
ZD850 Code "111" - no Sqn markings
ZG727 Code "126" and "AJ-J" 617 Sqn markings - Note GR4A
ZG729 Code "127" 13 Sqn markings - Note GR4A
The Swedish deployment was led by Lt Col Anders Segerby wing commander of F17
The primary mission of 171 Sqn is reconnaissance and air to surface operations. The unit
Deployed JAS 39C / D Gripen aircraft at Exercise Crown Condor table
39209 JAS39C code "209" 2 missile markings under cockpit
39210 JAS39C code "210" PRI tail marking - Priority use re flight hours
39221 JAS39C code "221" Small “Red Flag” badge on tail
39229 JAS39C code "229"
39230 JAS39C code "230" PRI tail marking - Priority use re flight hours
39267 JAS39C code "267"
39823 JAS39D code "823"
The aircraft and crews from 171 Sqn are part of the Swedish Air Force Rapid Reaction
Saturday, 20 September 2008
This grass airstrip is my local airfield - it is high up on the Mendip Hills about 6 miles West of Wells, just north of the village of Draycott.
Since my last visit many of the resident gliders have now applied CAA "G-........" registrations - outside on this beautiful afternoon were,
Slingsby T 50 Skylark BGA 1019 coded "BKA" - this old glider is exempt from having a "G-....." registration.
G-CFVC is a Schleicher AS K13 formerly BGA 3550 owned by resident Mendip Gliding Club
G-CJAR coded "P3" is a Schempp Hirth Discs BT - this lovely glider has a pop up sustainer engine to maintain flight if needed - seen here being washed prior to dismantling into a trailer. The pilot tells me he operates this glider from both here and Usk in South Wales.
The hanger had 2 gliders and one Fournier motorglider ( G-AVWY ) - this is Schleicher K8B G-DDOY formerly BGA 2307 - this is based and belongs to Mendip Gliding Club. Note that the tailcode of "DOY" was previously "DQY" when it operated as a BGA glider.
Friday, 19 September 2008
Compton Abbas is one of the most beautiful airfields I've visited in the UK, perched high up on top of the hills just south of Shaftesbury. Viewing is easy with good public access and good cafe too.
DH 82A Tiger Moth G-AOIL c/n 83673 is based at Compton Abbas. It is painted in its old Royal Navy colour schem as XL716 and flies air experience flights and was busy on this sunny day with several passengers. The aircraft was built during World War 2 in 1940 by Morris Motors and was delivered to the RAF as T7363. It was registerd onto the civil register in August 1956 as G-AOIL. However just two months later it was sold to the Royal Navy and became XL716.
Eventually the aircraft was withdrawn by the Royal Navy and reverted to the civil registration G-AOIL. By December 2007 this aircraft had flown over 2930 hours.
Another vintage aircraft at Compton is Aeronca 7AC Champion G-ATHK in a lovely red colour scheme.
This aircraft is c/n 7AC-971 and was built in 1946 by Aeronca in the USA and registered as N82339. It was imported into the UK and first registered as G-ATHK in 1965. By December 2006 this aircraft had flown over 7395 flying hours.
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
G-DORS EC135 Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance
Today my local air ambulance helicopter visited my own home town.
G-DORS is based at Henstridge airfield on the Somerset / Dorset border. This helicopter was delivered new to Bond Aviation Leasing and was registered with the CAA on 14th December 2006.
G-DORS was officially handed over to the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance on 15th February at RNAS Yeovilton in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal. The aircraft carries a metal plaque below the c/n plate to commeorate this.
The Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance was operating today as HELIMED 10A and piloted by Max Hoskins a former North Sea oil & gas helicopter pilot flying with Bristows.
Monday, 8 September 2008
The airfield at Lisie Katy is just north of the the large town of Grudziadz. My visit coincided with 24 hour period of intense rainfall ! As such there was only 1 aircraft parked outside.
I was very lucky to find a glider maintence engineer in a workshop and he kindly opened the access doors to the two large wooden hangers for me - many thanks.
One hanger is used by the Aeroklub gliders - in here were 17 gliders, mainly Pirats, Puchacz, Bocians and Jantars. Highlights in here for me were SP-3650 PW-5 Smyk and Cobra SP-3096. Also in here and said to be based was Swedish Grob SE-TTC.
The second hanger held 14 aircraft including two recent imports undergoing re-build, these being D-EEXK R Cessna F150L and D-ELMI Cessna 182. Polish highlights were Wilga SP-ECB and Yak 12 SP-YFA c/n 19003 built in 1959, the Yak is painted white with large red flames !
Also in here was Czech Cora OK-BUT-04.
Unfortuntately both hangers were very dark indeed during the rain storm outside.
Preserved at Chalpowo is the former LOT Polish Airlines Tu-134A SP-LHG. The aircraft is open as a cafe /restaurant and can be found approx 2 miles West of the large town of Wladyslawowo up on the Baltic Sea coast.
SP-LHG was built in 1973 as c/n 3352008 and delivered to the Polish Air Force with serial 102. I saw this aircraft as 102 at London Heathrow LHR on 15.12.76, at the time it was a very rare visitor to the UK.
In September 1978 the aircraft was registered as SP-LHG for LOT Polish Airlines - it became a regular visitor to LHR operating for LOT. LOT retired the aircraft after its final flight on 31.3.94, the registration was cancelled in 12.96.
The aircraft sat WFU at Warsaw Okecie until 10.99 when it was dismantled for the long road journey north up to the Polish seaside at Chalpowo to begin its new career as a tourist restaurant.
Thursday, 28 August 2008
Elblag - Poland 9.8.08
I arrived at 08.00 and was very lucky to find one person just opening up the main hanger - no problem with spotting once I'd introduced myself.
Outside the the hanger in excellent condition was An-2 SP-KBA - this aircraft is c/n 1G185-02 and was built in 1979.
The hanger itself contained 10 gliders and 13 aircraft including,
Two seat trainer SP-3523 a SZD 50-3 Puchacz built in 1989 and suspended from the ceiling to save hangar floor space.
SP-YBU is a Zenair CH 601 Zodiac first registered in 2004 - the "SP-Y....." registration block is used for "Special" aircraft mainly home & kit built aircraft and older aircraft without full type certificates.
SP-YUO is an example of the Polish built ultralight EOL-2 designed by Adam Kurbiel and built at Bielsko-Biala. This example has c/n EK-04-05 and was built in 1995 - it first flew as SP-PUO in 1995 ( the "SP-P...." series being used for prototypes / modified test aircraft etc ) before becoming SP-FUO in 1996. It was then re-registered to the newly introduce "SP-Y..........Special" category in 2003. Following the death of Mr Kurbiel in 2000 the design was accquired by a new company called 3xTrim in Poland and also to Remos in Germany.
Parked among the tall grass behind the hanger was An-2 SP-FDZ, the registration appears under the wing. This aircraft was previously used for "Loty Widokowe - Scene Flights" and is c/n 1G74-43, built back in 1967 and delivered to the Polish Air Force as "7443" - it became SP-FDZ in 1999.
Two other An-2 were on the far side of the airfield, SP-FDW painted yellow and SP-FMH painted red/white.
Two foreign registered aircraft were in the hangar here - D-EEUM TB-10 Tobago and F-JKDX Kappa KP-2U Sova.
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Berlin Tegel airport - 1st June 2008
Tegel is located in the NW suburbs of Berlin -the airport is due to close in a few years, once the major re-development of Schonefeld is complete. Tegel is a good airport for aviatino enthusiasts and photographers as it has a good roof top viewing area that allows you a good view with no obstructing fence or glass. Note that there are no facilities or weather protection up on this roof so bring a drink with you. You are allowed to bring small bags up here but not suitcases. The rooftop viewing area closes at 6pm even in summer.
Tegel is home to Air Berlin with its fleet of FK100 and 737 airliners. All the photos were taken mid to late afternoon.
D-ABAS Boeing 737-800 of Air Berlin in the old c/s
D-AGEL Boeing 737-700 shows the interim Air Berlin c/s without the new tail logo
Air Berlin also operate helicopters - these were busy running shuttle flights to and from the ILA trade show at Schonefeld
D-HCOR AS 355 Twin Squrrel of Air Berlin
A big surprise for me was the arrival of the two JASDF Boeing 747 aircraft bringing the Prime Minister of Japan to Berlin on a state visit
20-1101 Boeing 747-400 of the Japanese Self Defence Force - JASDF
I only saw one Germania aircraft D-AGET - I'd seen this aircraft in 2005 wearing Hapag Lloyd Express c/s
D-AGET Boeing 737-700 of Germania
A good visitor for me was Carpatair FK100 YR-FKB from Romania
Italian airline Air One stretched CRJ-900 EI-DVT
With SAS withdrawing their Dash 8 fleet they now operate this old Bae 146 D-AMGL c/n 2055 - back in 2005 this was operating in Iberia c/s as D-AMGL
SAS BAe 146-200 D-AMGL
This Hapag Fly 737-800 arrived wearing a yellow engine intake cowling that looks like it has been borrowed from a TUIFly aircraft
D-AHFV Boeing 737-800 of Hapag
D-AHXC Boeing 737-700 of TUIFly with winglets
Other aircraft seen included one LTU Airbus A330 D-ALPA operating a flight to Bangkok plus airliners from Meridiana, BA, Air France, Thy, Transavia, Air Europa, Transaero, Air Ukraine and many Lufthansa.
Seen but to far away to photograph were a pair of LGW Dornier Do 228.
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Deutsches Technik-Museum - Berlin Germany - June 2008
A trip to Berlin to attend the bi-annual ILA airshow gave me the opportunity to visit this excellent museum.
The Deutsches Technik-Museum is located close to the U-Bahn station at Mockernbrucke on Line U1 and the aviation section was opened in 2005.
Suspended from the roof over a balcony is C-47 45-0951 in a silver USAAF c/s.
The exhibits in the museum are in excellent condition, some are hanging from the ceiling - the aviation section is tightly packed with aircraft and artefacts - take your time and enjoy the visit.
The rare Arado 96 B-1 was an advanced tandem trainer with retractable gear - this example is a composite rebuild of three airframes recovered from Sweden and is coded "U + CF".
The Etrich Taube was a widely used monoplane by the Luftwaffe in World War 1 - this aircraft was part of the original Technik-Museum collection of airframes pre WW2 - many of these exhibits were destroyed during - others were dispersed to storage in Poland during the War. Today many of those original exhibits can be seen at the excellent aviation museum in Krakow, Poland. This Taube is displayed as serial A-180 / 14 but is thought to be really serial A-118 /13.
The Bucker Bu 181 G2 Bestmann basic trainer with side by side seating was used by the Luftwaffe during WW2. This example is shown carrying Panzerfaust anti tank weapons, a last ditch attempt to halt the advancing Soviet armies in Spring 1945 by adding unguided weapons to this slow basic trainer. This example is serialled 501659 coded "RM + HE"
Swedish Air Force Fieseler Fi 156 Trop Storch serial 3810 code "20" of unit F3. This airframe is an ex Luftwaffe example. The Storch had an exceptional short take off and landing roll and was used for observation, artillery spotting and ad-hoc transport into remote locations.
The Polish Air Force Lim-2 is a Polish licenced built Mig-15 fighter jet from the 1950s and was widely used by Warsaw Pact nations during the Cold War. This example serial 1323 has c/n 1B-01323.
The F-86 Sabre was a direct adversary to the above Mig 15. The F-86 served with many NATO countries in the 1950s and 1960s. The type underwent a lot of development resulting in the F-86K . This example is an F-86K licenced built by Fiat in Italy and originally delivered to the Dutch Air Force as serial Q-256. In 1963 the aircraft was passed onto the the Italian Air Force, serialed 41256 and is preserved today coded "51-50".
Perhaps one of the most striking exhibits is this wrecked Junkers Ju-87 R2. This aircraft serial 5856 crashed into a fjord in Norway in July 1942. The deep dark cold water held onto this Stuka until it was recovered in 1995. The R2 version was used for anti shipping missions and had internal wing fuel tanks to increase range, but this reduced the weapon load to just one bomb. There are very few Ju-87s in existence today and this wonderful example is a very welcome addition.
Another exhibit recovered in recent years is this Messerschmitt BF 110 F-2 - serial 5052 this aircraft landed on a frozen lake in Northern Russia in January 1943 - it was abandoned and sank. The F-2 version was a long range hunter often used against allied bomber aircraft armed with 4 machine guns in the nose plus two cannons below. It was recovered from the lake in 1991 and underwent a long re-build with the Technik Museum into this fantastic condition. This aircraft is coded "LN + NR "
Take a look at the Technik Museums own aviation web pages here