DH de Havilland Vampire T.11. IWM Duxford

 This recently conserved de Havilland Vampire T.11 went on display at the IWM Duxford last year in the Battle of Britain exhibition.

" Wonderful day at IWM Duxford - the sun has shone, we've had the buzz of a busy day with lots of visitors and Colonel Richard Graham has been thrilling audiences with tales of the SR-71 Blackbird..."  reposted from the IWM FB page

Stirling re-posted from Andy Saunders FB page

Spitfires 19 Squadron, spring 1940

This great image was posted on Andy Saunder's Facebook page and re-shared - it is possibly the first colour air-to-air Spitfire photo ever. The photo was snapped by F/O MD Lyne of 19 Sqdn during the spring 1940.Spit I, QV-K S/L G Stevenson, QV-O F/O Watson. Both men were shot down near Dunkirk on 26 May 1940. Stevenson became a PoW and Watson was killed. Photo AVM MD Lyne. Ref book, The RAF of WW2 in Colour by Roger Freeman.

Brian 'Sandy' Lane 19 Squadron CO

More RAF colour; below Royalty paying a visit to a Lancaster base

Flying the Avro Anson - Classic Fighters Omaka

photos shared via the Classic Aircraft Photography Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Classic-Aircraft-Photography/265224834712

Lake Michigan's lost WW II aircraft

 Podcast available from the Pritzker Military Library  - the secret mission to train 15,000 pilots on makeshift carriers on the waters of Lake Michigan during WWII. Those aircraft lost are gradually being pulled out of the fresh water over 70 years later..

Daily Ebay photo find

The majority of these images are currently on offer and reproduced here courtesy of Ebay seller Kurmark-Antik (Oliver Rogge). 

Access all Oliver's Ebay sales via the following link

http://www.ebay.de/sch/kurmark-antik/m.html?hash=item5aef4ed178&item=390561976696&pt=Militaria&rt=nc&_trksid=p4340.l2562

Above; Arado 95 torpedo floatplane and below Henschel Hs 123, pilot is Fritz Karch later Kommandeur II./ JG 2

Heinkel He 60 being launched from Schlachtschiff Tirpitz

PZL 11 and Ms 406

SM 82 Condor Legion

National Naval Aviation Museum on facebook

http://www.facebook.com/NavalAviationMuseum

Aircraft of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3 off the carrier John F. Kennedy (CV 67), including A-7E Corsair IIs of Attack Squadron (VA) 72 and and A-6 Intruder of Attack Squadron (VA) 75, tank from a KC-135 Stratotanker in skies over Saudi Arabia on February 1, 1991, twenty-two years ago today. The aircraft were participating in Operation Desert Storm.

A Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 152 KC-130 Hercules pictured being refueled en route to Naval Air Facility (NAF) Atsugi, Japan, as part of Operation Tomodachi, the humanitarian mission to support Japan’s earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in 2011.

A rare sight in the history of the service of the A-5/RA-5C Vigilante was to see this many operating from one carrier at the same time, in this case A-5s of Heavy Attack Squadron (VAH) 1 spotted on the flight deck of the carrier Independence (CVA 62) during exercises in the Mediterranean Sea on January 31, 1964, forty-nine years ago today. Note the Fighter Squadron (VF) 41 F-4 Phantom II joining the line of Vigis.

View of the only XT3D-2 built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for evaluation by the Navy. In this image, which was taken on January 30, 1933, eighty years ago today, note the wing folding and unusual looking cockpit canopy arrangement.

A E-2C Hawkeye female crew was in Pensacola to be part of a new “Women in Naval Aviation” exhibit at the National Naval Aviation Museum. The exhibit is currently in production with plans to open later this year. It will feature a dynamic multimedia presentation featuring personal interviews and artifacts that chronicle the history of women in naval aviation.

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