Phantom Pharewell - Wittmund Germany June 2013 German Air Force JG 71 Richthofen F-4F's retiring this weekend

The GAF retires its F-4F this coming weekend in a ceremony at JG 71's base at Wittmundhafen - 37+01 was the first in service and flew a few passes at Volkel last weekend. It will fly for the last time on 29 June.. the tail fin inscription in German reads " ich melde mich ab.."  (lit. 'signing out')

And the final flight at Wittmundhafen captured by PlanesTV
"..JG-71 says Pharewell to its McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantoms with a blistering flying routine at Wittmund. A rare A-4 Skyhawk and the F-4's Typhoon replacement make a guest appearance. DVD coming soon from PlanesTV.."

Viggen at Volkel - Royal Netherlands Air Force 100th anniversary of military flying at Volkel Air Force Base

Starting a series of posts from Volkel and Le Bourget 2013 courtesy of Jet & Prop's resident photographer Nico Charpentier...As usual click on the image for a full-screen view..

Contrary to what you might have imagined from the youtube videos there was some blue sky for the Volkel air show (June 2013) for the centenary of the Dutch AF. Here the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight's SAAB 37 Viggen. The display was part of the Royal Netherlands Air Force 100th anniversary of military flying at Volkel Air Force Base, 14 June 2013. The skies were a little grey on Friday, a bit of blue on the Saturday...

B-29 Superfortress, Calcutta, India April 1944

On 02 April 1944 the first United States Army Air Forces B-29 Superfortress arrived near Calcutta, India, after an 11,530-mile (18,567-km) trip from Kansas, including stops at Presque Isle, Maine; Gander, Newfoundland; Marrakech, Morocco; Cairo, Egypt; and Karachi, and a 2,700-mile (4,348-km) non-stop transatlantic flight between Gander and Marrakech. Before it could land, 6,000 U.S. troops and 27,000 Indians laboured for two months to build the runways and bases. At the same time, since the B-29s would be based In India, out of the reach of the Japanese, thousands more Chinese were busy constructing staging areas in the neighborhood of Chengtu, China. By 10 May, the Chengtu bases were ready for the B-29s. These bases were within the range of the Japanese homeland, although not yet within range of Tokyo.

Re-posted via the Aviation Times Facebook page

Classic Fighters Omaka - Triplane line up

 A couple more stunning shots from Classic Aircraft Photography on FB from the Omaka fighters show in New Zealand..what a great shot of the seven Triplanes in the air together. Bottom; a short clip of the Triplanes' flypast during the 2011 Omaka airshow, a single click to view here..

Air France Airbus A320

During this week in March 1988 Airbus Industrie began deliveries of Airbus A320s to Air France. One of my memories of working for AF was a number of trips out of LHR Terminal 2 as 'ballast' on some A320 test trips - and having to hold on tight as the aircraft was literally thrown about the sky....

Below;    A319-111 F-GRXC




AIR FRANCE AIRBUS A318-111 F-GUGE at BHX via Paul Evans flickr images

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.