January 2018 FLYPAST 111Thu
l ks back l g s vice life G ek RF-84Fs, clud g c s w h RAF Lightn gs 1964
and the ’Flashes could also carry
bombs. From the 1960s a pair of
drop tanks was additionally fitted as
standard.
Each 348th MTA pilot was trained
on T-33A ‘T-Birds’ at Larissa before
starting conversion to the RF-84F.
From day one of their instruction,
they practised flying at low altitude to
keep away from enemy radars. Pilots
would climb to a suitable altitude for
photography, and would stay there for
just seconds.Rad si nce
Britain granted Cyprus independence
on August 16, 1960 while
maintaining sovereign bases at
Dhekelia and Akrotiri. It was not
long before ethnic clashes escalated
between Greek (mostly settled in the
south of the island) and Turkish (to
the north) Cypriots. [From March1963 a United Nations peacekeeping
force was stationed on the island –
ED.]
In 1964 the HAF conducted a
secret mission in support of the
legitimate Cypriot government to
detect military activities of the Turkish
Cypriot militias. Six RF-84Fs of the
348th MTA were deployed to 115th
Combat Group at Souda on Crete.
According to Georgios Konteas,
the 110th Combat Wing’s deputy
commander at the time, HAF
headquarters issued a directive at 0900
hours on the day of the operation.
Efthimio Roulia, (348th MTA
CO and mission leader), Theofanis
Dimopoulos, Nikos Papadopoulos,
Stavros Drania, Ioannis Printzios and
George Papasis were selected to pilot
the RF-84Fs.
Technicians, cameras, film rolls and
printing equipment – as well as spareparts and ground support equipment- were sent ahead on-board Douglas
C-47 Skytrains, departing Larissa at
- One hour later the two three-
ship formations of RF-84Fs took off.
At Souda the pilots were briefed
about the situation on Cyprus and
were instructed to operate under
full radio silence. This was to avoid
confrontation with RAF English
Electric Lightning interceptors from
Akrotiri. Adding to the tension,
the day after the deployment of the
RF-84Fs, Turkish Air Force fighters
regularly overflew Cyprus on their
own recce operations.
Lightn g c s
Each of the RF-84Fs carried different
combinations of K-17C panoramic
cameras for photography in low
and medium altitude, K-38s for
high altitude along with forward-Below
RF-84Fs at Larissa
during the handover
ceremony on August
6, 1956. F-84Gs
can be seen in the
background. ALL
VIA AUTHOR