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On Monday October 23rd 2023, three 665 Squadron, 5 Regiment Army Air Corps Westland Gazelle AH1s departed RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland for a short tour of UK landmarks. This brings to an end this chapter of the aircrafts UK military service life with the official end of service date being October 31st 2023. Ian [...]
The latest Bomber Task Force deployment of B-52 Stratofortress aircraft into RAF Fairford has commenced, which has so far seen six of the behemoth aircraft arrive at the Gloucestershire Air Base. The arrival of the 2nd Bomb Wing aircraft from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, has seen around 400 support personnel arrive at RAF [...]
Wednesday June 6, 2018 marked a historic event in UK Aviation, which saw the first batch of RAF F-35B delivered to RAF Marham, Norfolk. Whilst public opinion may be divided on the long awaited delivery of the Lightning II, the arrival of the first four aircraft welcomes the most advanced combat system to be fielded [...]
With April 1, 2018 marking the 100 year result of the amalgamation of the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps, Jamie Ewan looks at what the Royal Air Force has planned to commemorate, in this their centenary year, under the banner RAF100. Three words - Commemorate. Celebrate. Inspire. These are the basis of the Royal [...]
On July 23, 2017 the Lightning Preservation Group’s F3, XR713, was rolled out in a fresh new scheme representing two revered squadrons that once operated the type. Having been partly funded by the Centre of Aviation Photography (COAP), a photoshoot was arranged for a limited number of photographers to capture the first public outing in [...]
When compared to so many other types it once shared the skies with, the Blackburn Buccaneer has survived in far better numbers - some 48 complete airframes are still in existence today. The first production example of the S2 variant, Blackburn Buccaneer S2 XN974, has been the focus of a near 18-month restoration effort at its [...]
The gradual drawdown of the Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 fleet hits a significant milestone in 2017, bringing an end to the Tornado fleet in Scotland, and an end to 23 years of a familiar sight around the Moray skies. March 31st will see the last RAF Tornado unit based at RAF Lossiemouth disbanding and thus [...]
Fast, sleek, agile and sporty; words which are often used to describe and sum up the Westland Lynx - a helicopter that, in March 2017, will finally reach the end of a remarkable forty-one years of service with the Royal Navy. Mark Kwiatkowski reports from the last home of the Royal Navy Lynx, RNAS Yeovilton. [...]
If social media is to be believed, 2016 was the worst year in the history of the world, with several “shock” events like the EU referendum result and the election of Donald Trump dominating headlines. In the aviation enthusiast community, it has seemed somewhat quieter. 2016 saw additional retirements from the UK military – notably [...]
On August 31, 1956 at just after 1pm local time, a new Boeing jet took to the skies for its first flight. That jet, Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker 55-3118 named ‘City of Renton’, started a story that is now 60 years old – and continuing! In 2016, the KC-135 is still the backbone of the United [...]
