Flieger Leutnant Walter Hill Fliegerabteilung 45

Flieger Leutnant Walter Hill from the Bayerische Fliegerabteilung 45 photographed in front of his Halberstadt. Hill was KIA with his observer during October 1917

Hawker Sea Fury - greatest ever piston-engined fighter

Eurofighter Typhoon gets airborne at RIAT 2012

Eurofighter Typhoon getting airborne at RIAT 2012, superb sequence courtesy of Nico Charpentier

MiG 31 of 764 IAP

First Rafale sorties of Operation Serval over Mali - RAF C-17 cargo drop, Mirage 2000 D detachment to Bamako

Rafale at N'Djamena airport, Chad   

"...Air Force commanders had just 48 hours to prepare the first Rafale strike against jihadists in Mali and it was mission accomplished. The French Air Force made a big splash Sunday morning. "A perfect mission. Few air forces could have deployed such a strike force in such a short time "  stated the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Denis Mercier. Flying their first sorties under the umbrella of Operation Serval, Rafales destroyed a training camp, several storage depots and logistics buildings belonging to the Islamist group Mujao in Gao and Taoussa. Mission accomplished. Preparing the first Rafale sorties took all  resources of the Air Force over a 48-hour period..On Friday morning, ahead of the decisions being taken at political level, the staff of the Air Force started to bring to readiness  all its Rafale bases, ie Al Dhafra in the UAE, Mont-de-Marsan and Saint-Dizier. By late evening, a strike against jihadist bases was decided. It was to be flown from air base 113, Saint-Dizier. Shortly before midnight, the type of strike to be flown was confirmed. All day Saturday was spent equipping and arming four Rafales at Saint-Dizier. A further two aircraft from Mont-de-Marsan were added to the strike force as eventual replacements in case of possible technical problems with the Saint-Dizier aircraft. On Saturday afternoon the pace quickened. At around 13h00 the pilots were briefed on the first four targets. They prepared the sortie using images of the targets taken by Atlantique 2 reconnaissance machines and by the Pleiades satellite system . The pilots studied their flightplans, selected their weapons. At around 6 pm the decision was taken to schedule take off for 7 am the next morning. At 10 pm , two new targets were added. The pilots incorporated them into their mission on their return to the base after snatching four hours of rest. The time was then 3:30 am, Sunday morning. They would eventually get airborne at 7:30 am. The mission lasted 9 and a half hours in total. Five in-flight refuelings, provided by C 135 tankers were required and the aircraft landed at N'Djamena airport, Chad. Attacks on Gao were quick and made with successive waves of two aircraft. In Taoussa, the strategy is different: a "compressed" attack with the four planes together. The entire operation was followed live from the operational centre of Air Force Command in Paris and the national air operations centre in Lyons...." 

 My translation from http://www.lalsace.fr/actualite/2013/01/16/9-h-35-en-vol



Opération Serval - a detachment of three Mirage 2000 D fighters deployed for air cover of the Mali capital Bamako on 17 January...

https://www.facebook.com/armeefrancaise?ref=ts&fref=ts

latest update from the French Ministry of Defence web site

http://www.defense.gouv.fr/operations/mali/actualite/operation-serval-point-de-situation-du-19-janvier-2013

" .....latest update 18-19 January...

Today aircraft deployed on Operation Serval are continuing their mission flying around ten sorties, of which half were flown by the fighter arm. Our aircraft are continuing to track the movements of terrorist groups while striking at identified ground targets in the region of Diabali..."

Du 18 janvier 18h, jusqu'au 19 janvier à 18h
Aujourd’hui, les avions de l’opération Serval ont poursuivi leurs missions avec une dizaine de sorties dont la moitié pour la chasse. Ils continuent de surveiller les mouvements des groupes terroristes tout en maintenant leurs frappes sur des cibles identifiées au sol dans la région de Diabali.


http://www.canada.com/Canadian+completes+first+cargo+drop+Mali/7839880/story.html

Canadian and RAF C-17s have completed their first cargo drops in Mali

French flying boats of WWII - Biscarosse, home to Pierre Georges Latécoère and his seaplanes (Lieutenant de Vaisseau Paris Latécoère 521 )

Short video in French outlining the story of Biscarosse, on France's south Atlantic coast, home to Pierre Georges Latécoère and his transatlantic seaplanes.  Latécoère is sometimes described as a visionary, the first French aeronautical engineer to design a series of aircraft conceived expressly for transatlantic mail flights via Spain and Africa to the South Americas as the aeronatiucal powers sought to conquer the Atlantic during the 1930s. His Latécoère 521 was a 37-ton monster that soon went on to break long-distance flight records.
Article extract from the remarkable " Flight " archive ...

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1935/1935%20-%200181.html?search=latecoere%20lieutenant%20vaisseau%20de%20paris

The various sub-assemblies of the Latécoère 521 were constructed at Montaudran, Toulouse, and then taken by road to Biscarosse on France's Atlantic coast where they were assembled. Biscarosse was soon designated France's 'hydro-base transatlantique' and became a hub for transatlantic flights with Pan Am Boeings and BOAC Short seaplanes regularly touching down on the lake..

During the war the Germans also deployed their seaplanes from Biscarosse and post-war the new Air France launched the six-engined Laté 631 from Biscarosse - the 631 is still the largest sea-plane ever operated..the video was produced by the office du tourisme de Biscarosse

 Also on this blog the Latécoère 631 six-engined flying boat http://falkeeinsgreatplanes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-latecore-631-six-engined-flying-boat.html

Nord 1402 Noroit 1949-1954 by Guy Thévenin (Ardhan)

...recently published by Ardhan is this handsome 300 page volume devoted to an obscure French flying boat  designed in the immediate post-war period for the French Aeronavale. Like many French ventures of the time a number of the first examples of the Nord Noroit constructed were powered by German powerplants, in this instance the Jumo 213. Designed for a variety of missions from anti-submarine warfare to air-sea rescue, the Noroit featured a 'flattened' gull-wing with a two-step hull with a cantilever horizontal tail surface with three vertical surfaces. The floats were not retractable. It had an enclosed cabin for the seven crew with a forward viewing compartment and a large rear cabin for use in rescue operations.  The prototype first flew on 6 January 1949 powered by two 1600hp (1193kW) Gnome Rhone 14 R radial engines. The second aircraft was fitted with a retractable tailwheel landing gear for amphibious operation which was later retrofitted to the prototype. The next two aircraft first flown in 1949 were designated the Nord 1401 Noroit and were fitted with two 1800hp (1342kW) Junkers Jumo 213 engines and both were also tested with two Bristol Hercules radial engines. These two aircraft were modified to production standard as the Nord 1402 Noroit and were followed by 21 production aircraft. The last flight of the type was made on 2 November 1954 -like many French types in the immediate post-war period service life was brief and the type claimed a number of lives. The small number of aircraft constructed did see service with escadrilles 12S, 33S and 53S.  Only 500 copies of this book have been printed. The author Guy Thévenin is a former French naval Grumman Tracker pilot.

Concorde F-WTSA , Musée Delta, Orly, Air Inter Caravelle & Mercure

Some very sad photos of a vandalised Concorde posted on the concordeSST forum recently. This is/was F-WTSA which is on 'display' at the Musee Delta, Athis-Mons, located just a few hundred metres from the runways at Orly airport. Due to planned airport expansion the museum itself is under threat of closure. Devoted to telling the story of the delta wing, the Musée Delta opens for only a handful of hours each week..

Concorde 02 F-WTSA was the fourth aircraft to be manufactured (the second pre-production aircraft) and never saw commercial service, essentially serving as a test-bed for the series aircraft. Sierra-Alpha was the first Concorde to have the dimensions and the shape of future production aircraft: it had the extended tail cone fitted as well as the production specification secondary engine nozzle, with the thrust reverse buckets. 02 was the first Concorde to visit the United States, flying into Dallas, Texas on 20 September 1973. F-WTSA made a total of 314 flights

Recent French TV presentation of the museum, an interview with the owner Jacques Bossuet and a look inside the museum's Air Inter Mercure.

Le Musée Delta (Athis-Mons) by telessonne

Legion Condor selection, Heinkel He 51, Fiat CR. 32

selection of Legion Condor aircraft currently on offer from Heiko Fuchs

http://www.ebay.de/sch/antikfuchs1/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25&_trksid=p3984.m1543.l2654

Luftwaffe Savoia Marchetti SM 82

Savoia Marchetti SM 82 Balkenkreuz Ostfront Kamary? 1944

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Foto-Luftwaffe-Flugzeug-Savoia-Marchetti-SM-82-Balkenkreuz-Ostfront-Kamary-1944-/380533069960?pt=Militaria&hash=item589989d888#ht_500wt_1167

Tours airfield, June 1940 - Arsenal VG 33

Scenes photographed at Tours airfield during June 1940, including an example of the rare French fighter type, the Arsenal VG 33 alongside a Dewoitine D.520. From an expired Ebay auction
 - photos sold for over 300 euros

More on the Arsenal VG 33 on this blog
http://falkeeinsgreatplanes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/arsenal-vg-33.html