With the UK weather Gods providing just a few moments of relief from the grey skied gloom that seems to have engulfed us this winter, the AeroResource team have taken time to look back at 2024’s highlights. 2024 saw the first full year of the new writing and editorial team at AeroResource and we hope that the increased output, both here on the site and across social media haven’t gone un-noticed. We’ve covered a number of events both at home and abroad and hope to provide more articles through the coming year. Similarly we continue to provide aviation news updates across our social media platforms, and also provide bulletins on what the team has been up to between articles. Plans are a foot to bring these news bulletins to the site as we look to develop AeroResource through 2025.

Now looking back on 2024, the year started for AeroResource writer, Nick Thompson at RAF Coningsby in search of images of the 2023 Typhoon display team’s steed, ZJ914, nicknamed among the community as “Blackjack”. The specific Typhoon gained an overall black scheme as part of a short lived trial with IX squadron at RAF Lossiemouth before gaining Union flag designs for the 2023 display season. Thankfully the winter sun was shining and ZJ914 flew twice with 29 Squadron. Little did we know at this point that ZJ914 would be replaced by a striking camouflaged aircraft, ZJ913 for the 2024 season. Nicknamed “MOGGY” due to the war time squadron code displayed on the aircraft, FM-G. The scheme commemorated D-Day, with 2024 being the 80th Anniversary of the allies invasion of Europe in 1944. Unfortunately unlike ZJ914, there will be no local flying of ZJ913 in 2025 with the aircraft transferring to RAF Lossiemouth in December to become a ground instructional airframe.


On the topic of fighter aircraft a 2024 review cannot be complete without a look back at the 50th anniversary of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. The world’s largest military airshow, the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) made this celebration the heart of their 2024 offering with no fewer than 17 of the famed fighter in attendance. Standout highlights amongst these being two examples from the Royal Moroccan Air Force. The colourful two tone camouflaged Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 52 jets (08-8013 / 08-8018) arrived into RAF Fairford in perfect conditions. The weekend saw the crews enthusiastically engaging with show goers and this enthusiasm continued into their departure, those gathered at park and view west were surprised by the aircraft conducting their “last chance” checks in front of the massed crowd. A simply fantastic RIAT moment.





A small theme of this year’s RIAT was the 50th anniversary of the Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) and with it came the spectacular appearance of two Boeing F-15QA Ababils at the hands of Boeing’s test pilots. The aircraft on delivery to the QEAF arrived unmarked into RAF Lakenheath, thankfully of the four aircraft transiting two aircraft lost their temporary anonymity for the Air Tattoo. Displaying one aircraft “clean” and one with a full weapons fit, the Boeing test pilots demonstrated the power of this latest iteration of the Eagle firstly at RIAT and then at Farnborough. The Qatari Eagle’s stay ultimately proved an extended one when one of the aircraft developed issues at Stansted during the next step of their delivery. With two aircraft left behind, one serviceable and one severely broken, both RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall saw some spirited circuit flying whilst the delivery crews awaited fixes to the stricken aircraft.



A full RIAT review is available on AeroResource and 2024’s edition certainly provided a lot to admire! The Royal International Air Tattoo 2024
Continuing with the F-16 and 2024 also saw the start of withdrawal of the type in European skies, as the Netherlands bid farewell to the type. AeroResource headed to the Netherlands in March to photograph the type in Dutch service at their home base, Volkel AB. After 45 years of service 312 Squadron conducted a final flight around the Netherlands on the 27th September. The flight consisting of 8 Vipers that passed as many locations as they could associated with the aircraft in Dutch service, unfortunately low cloud and rain meant the flight was forced to deviate from the planned flightpath. The Netherlands now becomes a solely 5th Generation fighter force with the F-35A securing Dutch skies.




In the same week in September the United States Air Force said goodbye to the final McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender at Travis AFB. AeroResource published an article looking back at 43 years of “Big Sexy” Operations available here; KC-10A Bows Out;
Prior to retirement there was much speculation about when the final UK visits would be so any chance to photograph an Extender before the September out of service (OSD) had to be taken, 2 KC-10s transited RAF Mildenhall in perfect winter conditions in February and AeroResource were on hand to capture the arrivals. RIAT will once again get a mention as the show saw the final airshow appearance of the KC-10! Stay Gucci!




Unfortunately retirements from service was an on going theme of 2024 with many types and even airlines leaving our skies in 2024. In Europe, April saw Italy bid farewell to the AMX, June saw Sweden retire the Saab Sk60 and August saw the end of the venerable Sea King in German Navy Service. Despite officially retiring their Sea King’s a month prior AeroResource were able to see and photograph for a final time the last remaining and specially marked Westland Sea King Mk41; 89+63 from MFG5 based at Nordholz. The Marinefleiger helicopter departed for home via Koksijde in Belgium following a brief stay on the south coast. This was the first visit for this fabulous looking aircraft and the last by a German Navy Sea king to the UK. This particular aircraft will now be retired gracefully at Nordholz, either as a gate guardian or to the excellent museum located near the main gate. An end to an outstanding era lasting 50 years; ‘Long live the King!’.



On the civilian side of aviation, Europe lost the long term national airline of the Czech Republic, CSA. The airline operated its final passenger flight in October after a staggering 101 years of service making it the world’s fifth oldest airline. The airline served the people of Czechoslovakia and latterly Czechia since October 1923. Being an eastern bloc national airline the company predominantly flew soviet built types until 1991 when the first western jets arrived in the shape of the Airbus A310.
Staying with Soviet aircraft, AeroResource’s Ian Harding and Mark Empson travelled to Croatia in May to AIRVG 2024. The show hosted at Zagreb’s Franco Tudman Airport saw the Croatian Air Force celebrate the retirement of the last remaining Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Fishbed’s. As it transpired the MiGs continued soldiering deep into 2024 with flights still being semi-regularly flown until December. As one might expect, the airshow attracted aviation enthusiasts from across Europe and you can find AeroResources article here; AIRVG 2024





Overseas travel for the AeroResource team saw a long weekend in Northern Europe for NATO Tiger Meet in June. The annual exercise saw the 2024 edition hosted by Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 51 “Immelmann” (TLG 51) after a 10-year absence in Germany hosting the exercise. Despite variable and at times torrential conditions AeroResource made the most of the conditions and a full report from the exercise is available; NATO Tiger Meet 2024





Nestled between the Friday and Monday visits to Schleswig, the weekend saw AeroResource travel two hours south to Faßberg. The air base home to Transporthubschrauberregiment 10 (THR 10) was one of a number of Tag Der Bundeswehr open days hosted across Germany. AeroResource and the gathered crowds were treated to two capability role demos over the course of the day with the resident NH90 TTHs conducting troop insertions and simulated car stops with door mounted machine guns. Joining the NH90s were an EC665 Tiger, EC135 and the unmissable presence of a Sikorsky CH-53. The immense CH-53 is in the twilight of their German career with CH-47 Chinooks selected as the replacement. And we couldn’t mention Faßberg without mentioning the K-9 units taking centre stage in their efforts to take down the simulated threats! AeroResource member Ian Harding also continued his European trip with further helicopter action. Ian attended a road block exercise in the Netherlands involving 5 special forces German Air Force Airbus H145Ms from HSG64 working alongside a 300 Squadron Dutch AS532U2 Cougar. Ian’s extended road trip to the Tiger Meet also saw him visit the current home of Top Aces Douglas A-4Ns German detachment that currently see them operating from Nordholz Air base whilst Wittmund AB undergoes extensive overhaul works. The general aviation ramp at Nordholz provides a fantastic vantage point to see these classic jets in action as they undertake their contracted services to the German armed forces.




September continues to cement itself in the AeroResource calendar owing to the numerous airshows and exercises that routinely fall in the month. The year’s second edition of the Royal Air Force’s live air exercise “Cobra Warrior” takes centre stage through September in the UK and 2024’s 3 week exercise was blessed with great weather. Deployed to RAF Waddington were F/A-18 Hornets from Canada and Finland which were joined by F-16C Fighting Falcons from Poland. Other participating assets were Norwegian F-35A Lightning IIs and USAF F-16s deployed to RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall respectively. Tanker support for the exercise was provided by a Canadian CC-130H Hercules, although a bird strike early on in the exercise curtailed full involvement by the aircraft. Whilst AeroResource visited RAF Waddington for the exercise, memory of CW 24-2 will perhaps be remembered by stunning images of the exercise participants within the UK’s low fly structure.




Another repeat calendar entry for September is the Netherland’s Falcon Leap exercise. The multinational exercise led by the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s 11th Air Assault Brigade and Air Mobility Command sees participants practice paratrooper landings and cargo drops over the Netherlands. The set piece of the exercise sees the gathered nations perform a mass static line jump at Ginkelse Heide near Arnhem commemorating the events of World War 2’s battle of Arnhem “Operation Market Garden”. AeroResource attended the 2024 finale at Eindhoven AB where the participants gathered for the exercise. 2024 brought together personnell from 12 NATO and partner nations, with aircraft from the Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Poland, Romania, Portugal, Spain and the United States. Across the same weekend and a short distance across the border in Belgium, Sancole flying club hosted Belgium’s largest airshow of the year. AeroResource attended nearby Kleine-Brogel AB for one of their regular spotters days hosted in conjunction with the Sanicole airshow. 2024’s spotters day saw a sharp ticket price hike, which left the team members wishing for a little more from parting with their Euros. However blessed by glorious sunshine there were still positive moments to take away from the event, particularly the close proximity of the spotters enclosure to the runway.






Prior to the aforementioned September events and exercises the month started for 2 of the team in Austria, nestled in the Styrian mountains at Zeltweg’s Fliegerhorst Hinterstoisser for AirPower 2024. AirPower, Red Bull, the Austrian Air Forces and local governments set piece event is famed amongst aviation enthusiasts for its superb photographic backdrops and impressive enthusiast package, that provides unrivalled access to the airfield when compared to other major European airshows. Austrian military aircraft rarely travel abroad for training or airshows so of course the home team were a major draw to the team, although we continue to be left confused on the major set piece of the airshow provided by the the home team. It was as a baffling routine centred around the Greek legend of the Argonaut, that featured multiple Austrian types and of course, why wouldn’t it, a JCB set ablaze! This was the AeroResource team’s first experience of the airshow and whilst it may not have provided the remarkable attendees of previous shows (PLAAF Y-20 for example) the predominantly sunny weather and the hospitality extended certainly left us thoroughly content with the week, despite British Airways best efforts! We think they may of regretted cancelling a flight home comprising predominately of aviation photographers!






AeroResource would like to thank Thomas Howe for providing images for our Iniochos 2024 article and Chris Lofting’s account of Turkey’s spectacular 50 years of Phantom extravaganza. The Phantom celebration held at Esikseher AB will surely stand alone as THE highlight of the year for those in attendance and the full write up can be found at: Turkish Air Force Phantom’s Turn 50!




Whilst reflection on 2024 seems to have seen retirement take the headlines, RAF Fairford played host to 2 Bomber Task force deployments from a type that has no retirement in sight, the B-52 Stratofortress. RAF Fairford has played host to two Bomber Task Force deployments in 2024, A June deployment for BTF-24-3 involved four Boeing B-52H from the 5th BW at Minot, North Dakota
60-0012/MT
60-0037
61-0005/MT
61-0018/ MT
The four jets under the 69th EBS arrived from May 20th, 2024, and flew with multiple missions with European nations as well as heading further south to Morocco.

Later in the year BTF 25-1 kicked off later than what we normally see and welcomed Boeing B-52H’s from the 20th EBS Barksdale AFB, Louisianna. Four jets arrived direct from their home base between the 5th and 7th November.
60-0008/LA ‘Lucky Lady IV’ Marked ‘8th AF’
60-0024/LA ‘Posse’
61-0010/LA ‘Junkyard Dog’ Marked ‘343rd BS’
61-0036/LA ‘Immortal Soul’
One of the main factors of the BTF is integrating with NATO partners, and BTF 25-1 was the first time that three nations participated in a trilateral bomber task force planning conference, with the Royal Air Force and Royal Norwegian Air Force joining up with the 20th EBS at RAF Fairford.
One of the nine missions flown during the deployment, was two jets participating in Vanguard Merlin, a live bombing mission up to the Lithuanian bombing range at Cudgel.

And from the seemingly un-replaceable , the United States also provided a glimpse into the future for UK aviation enthusiasts when 2 MH-47G Chinooks deployed to the UK as part of exercise Dark Lightning hosted by 7 Squadron at RAF Odiham. Perhaps some of the rarest military helicopters to grace our shores in recent years the helicopters of the United States Army’s elite 160th Special Aviation Regiment visited multiple locations across the UK. This visit came following a March 2024 announcement for the UK MoD that the Royal Air Force would be receiving extended range Chinooks comparable to the United States’ own MH-47Gs.


So often in the UK Mildenhall and Lakenheath visitors provide stand out memories for the year and 2024 was no different for the AeroResource team. The year started with 4 RAVN Aero ex Korean Hawk Mk67s taking up residence at RAF Lakenheath providing red air services to the based unites. The aircraft arrived in late 2023 as “Harbinger 11-14” and provided a vibrant change to the usual F-35s and F-15s we’re used to seeing at RAF Lakenheath. Later in the year AeroResource joined the many gathered at RAF Lakenheath in August for the rapid deployment East of 12 United States Air Force F-22A Raptors from 3 Wing based at Joint Base Elmendorf, Alaska. With the sun slowly setting the fighters supported by 6 KC-46A Pegasus aircraft arrived in two cells as TRENT 81-76 and TREND 81-86. The aircraft transited RAF Lakenheath to provide additional security to CENTCOM’s area of responsibility in what was a deteriorating Middle East security situation.
Whilst AeroResource were able to capture these arrivals not all movements can be captured by our team and we are thankful for those in the UK that have provided images to support AeroResource news articles on social media. Jay Carter has provided multiple images of RAF Mildenhall’s unexpected and noteworthy movements. AeroResource would like to thank him for images of 6 Hornets from the USS Harry S Truman that diverted due to a fuel emergency as well as capturing the arrival of RAF Mildenhall’s latest resident type the C-146A Wolfhound. Agreed in March the Wolfhound will be stationed with the 352nd Special Operations Wing and will improve response times to missions such as emergency airlift , disaster response and provide increased security in the US European command.
The Teams’s personal Highlights
Mark Empson
Overall 2024 offered some great highlights as well as finally managing to see and photograph aircraft have been after for some time, mainly Slovakian Fokker F100 and Israeli Air Force Boeing 707 in the latter part of the year. Despite the grey beginning to 2024 in the UK, a highlight came in the form of a visit to Amsterdam Schiphol airport and seeing a French Air Force TBM-700 land on the Poldabahn runway, I dread to think how long the taxi to parking took them! The day after saw Surinam’s striking yet short lived A340-300 (PZ-TCW) arrive in morning sunshine, but little was it known that the aircraft would be withdrawn from use by the airline only a week later. The rest of the year for me was made up predominantly of airshow / Exercise visits including Nato Tiger meet, AirVG, AirPower and RIAT all of which previously mentioned but all offering the chance to photograph a wide array of different aircraft. Keeping it more local to me, the south coast offered a few note worthy highlights during the year, N98TP Grumman Albatross looked glorious arriving back into Southampton on a couple of late summers evening’s, multiple French Navy Xingu visits and of course some of the few remaining active Airbus A340-600s operated by European Air Cargo as well as Draken’s Falcon 20s all on my doorstep. The final images of the year saw an old friend in the form of M-STAR, a stunningly painted Boeing 727 I have seen a number of times over the years, performing a maintenance engine run keeping the aircraft active for possible onward sale. Fingers crossed 2025 see’s this classic take to the skies once more.





Ian Harding
Aside from the above my highlight or highlights remains the chase for aircraft in the old fashioned sense. In an era of seemingly increasing dominance of expensive organised aviation events on the ground and in the air, the challenge and enjoyment for me remains chasing and viewing aircraft around the fence and elsewhere. Plenty of highlights can still be produced close to home with of course a little bit of patience! Aside from capturing the aforementioned German Sea King retirement, and Croatian MiG-21 event there have been a plethora of rarities at local airfields. In the types’ 60th year RAF Brize Norton has seen me capture C-130 Hercules visits from nations from around the globe including Poland, Romania and Australia. Whilst eastern bloc types continue to disappear from European skies, I still had opportunities in 2024 to capture a Ukrainian Air Force AN-26 and Romanian Air Force AN-30 at RAF Northolt and Brize Norton respectively. Also seen this year were increasingly rare Portuguese and German Air Force P-3C Orion’s at MoD Boscombe Down and RNAS Yeovilton, Pakistan Air Force Airbus A319-112 visit to Farnborough Airport and United States Air Force Bombardier E-11A at Biggin Hill of all places.








Westleigh Bushell
For me, 2024 had some very welcome highlights, concluding the year with a visit to RAF Fairford to interview the crews from Barksdale for BTF 25-1 was a nice way to end the year.
However, the real highlight will be the visit to FAAM at Cranfield to learn what their BAe 146-301 G-LUXE carries out. This aircraft was noteworthy for myself, as I had seen the jet on the production line at Hatfield when it was the first built BAe 146-100, all while in a push chair, so to then join FAAM to fly on a unique low-level mission was a real high point. You can read the full article here: The Original BAe 146


My two local airfields have also kept me ticking over, RAF Fairford with a well-executed RIAT this year, which was blessed with a real lack of cloud. Plus, two lots of Boeing B-52’s for the bomber deployments and of course the based U2 operations. The other local, Cotswold/Kemble airport also had a nice variety of retiring airliners arriving for scrap. The fully marked China Southern Airbus A319’s being the best of the lot.





Nick Thompson
Perhaps its the relentless grey skies of this winter on the South coast that have led me to looking back fondly on a number of warm sunny summer evenings for my 2024 highlights. Along with the masses it was fantastic to capture the arrival of the quickly deployed USAF Raptors transiting RAF Lakenheath. RAF Brize Norton also provided two stunning evenings for me this year. The first in late June was capturing Japan’s presidential Boeing 777-300ERs they positioned to RAF Brize Norton in support of the Emperor and Empress of Japan’s official state visit to the UK. The two aircraft operated by Hikotai 701 fully backtracked the runway utilising the 07 end loop at RAF Brize Norton providing multiple photo oppurtunities. RIAT arrivals are routinely some of the first dates submitted for annual leave each year and this year was no different and thankfully the days were blessed by good weather. The Friday afternoon airfield beat-up by two Hellenic Air Force F-4E Phantoms perhaps took the top spot over the arrivals but earlier in the week I was fortunate to photograph some early arrivals for the show at RAF Brize Norton. RIAT 2024 celebrated 100 years of the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian solo Hornet display returned to RIAT after a 10 year absence. Again blessed by a warm summer’s evening it was a perfect start to a RIAT week to capture one of the stars in perfect conditions alongside the increasingly uncommon Airbus CC-150 Polaris.





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