Aviation News - May 2016

COLD WAR

FLASHBACKFLASHBACK

MAY 1988

W

hen looking through my logs

covering the past 40 years it is

noticeable that the number of

aircraft types and the variety

of locations where they could be seen has

changed dramatically.

In 1988 the Cold War was still the world

order and Europe was heavily forti ed on

both sides of the Iron Curtain. This extended

to Britain with the US having a huge

presence. There was also the regular round

of exercises to keep air forces sharp.

At the time I was living in Brampton in

Cambridgeshire, which meant I had plenty of

air bases close by. I was doing shift work so

had time during the week to visit the many

bases in East Anglia and elsewhere.

The start of the month was very busy and

although the initial two events occurred in

April, the departures ran into May.

RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk usually

hosted the annual United States Air Forces

in Europe (USAFE) fast jet competition

Excalibur. On Friday, April 29 it did so

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 77

Peter R Foster describes the wide variety of military aircraft

that could be seen at air bases in the East of England in an

average month during the 1980s’ period of the Cold War.

One of the most impressive aircraft to be

stationed in Britain during this period of the

Cold War was the SR-71A Blackbird. Aircraft

17971 blasts off from RAF Mildenhall on a

mission on May 19. All photos Peter R Foster

77-82_talesDCMFDC.indd 77 07/04/2016 17:25