Aggressor Squadron. During May, F-15C
Eagles of the 57th Fighter Interceptor
Squadron from Ke avík, Iceland, were a
continuous presence having arrived on
April 28. The small detachment, which
varied between two and three Eagles, had
a number of aircraft swap-overs during the
month.
At the time the 509th TFS was moving
in with A-10A Thunderbolt IIs and although
initially operating with their former ‘WR’ tail
codes, they were gradually being rebranded
with the ‘AR’ ones.
The resident 17th Reconnaissance Wing
(RW) and its TR-1As carried out a lot of
ying. To help with crew training, a two-seat
TR-1B was sometimes detached from the
9th RW at Beale AFB, California. Aircraft
01064 was present undertaking such duties
in May.
On the 18th I headed to Cottesmore
as I had heard that eight Tornados and a
pair of Dornier Do 28s from JaBoG 34 atMemmingen AB had arrived and would be
night-stopping. They were there for the
end of a TTTE course on which the nal
crews of the initial Tornado complement of
JaBoG 34 were graduating. The presence
of West German and Italian crews receiving
training led to many visiting aircraft from
those countries with the end of the course
particularly busy with fellow aircrew ying in
to attend the graduations.
By the time I arrived a further Tornado
and Do 28 of JaBoG 31 from Nörvenich plus
an RF-4E from AKG 52 at Leck were present
and then a 60 Sqn Andover CC2 came in.
On my way back down the A1 I called in
at RAF Wittering, Cambridgeshire, to catch
up on Harrier GR5 deliveries. I recorded
ZD324/B and ZD326/C of 233 OCU which
had both recently been delivered. Visiting
were two Tornado GR1s from RAFG – oneeach from 16 Sqn and 20 Sqn and a Fleet
Air Arm Sea King HC4.
I visited RAF Mildenhall on May 19 where
I recorded three KC-135As, three KC-135Es,
two KC-135Rs, an RC-135W and three
KC-10As. There was also a single C-5B
Galaxy, three C-141B Starlifters and an
Army Air Corps Gazelle AH1, XX393. While
there SR-71A Blackbird 17971 made for an
impressive sight taking off.
I then went to RAF Northolt, on the
western outskirts of London, where there
was a Belgian Army Britten-Norman BN.2A
Islander and French Navy Piper PA-31
Navajo present.BUSY BREWER B-52s
On Saturday, May 21, I managed a short
stop at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire,
en route to a family event, to catch seven
B-52G Stratofortress bombers of the 42nd
Bomb Wing (BW) at Loring AFB, Maine
undertaking a Busy Brewer detachment.80 Aviation News incorporating Classic Aircraft May 2016Aggressor Squadron. During May, F-15C Among the visiting aircraft to RAF Alconbury each from 16 Sqn and 20 Sqn and a Fleet
in May 1988 was this F-4G of the 81st TFS.A two-seat TR-1B would often be detached at Alconbury to help with training for 17th RW
pilots as the unit did not have its own trainer aircraft. This example, 01064, was present
during May.77-82_talesDCMFDC.indd 80 07/04/2016 17:24