Over the weekend of November 16/17, 2024, the Turkish Air Force (Türk Hava Kuvvetleri) celebrated the 50th anniversary of their F-4E Phantom Terminator 2020 in service at the Ist Main Jet Base Eskişehir; the operational home base for 111 Filo and the test unit 401 Filo. With aviation press and enthusiasts in attendance, what transpired was a truly exceptional event and Chris Lofting was there for AeroResource to provide his own personal experience of proceedings. 

Scheduled for a weekend, the celebrations commenced on Saturday with a day in the hills shooting a pair of 111 Filo F-4Es at low level followed by a base visit to Eskişehir on the Sunday. 

It’s worth noting that the registration process for the event was very simple and and the fact both media and ‘spotters’ received the same open access was well received. To ensure everyone kept abreast of the latest arrangements, a WhatsApp chat group was set for those registered. This proved extremely important with a deteriorating weather forecast ahead of the event raising doubt as to whether the event could take place. With the organisers realising the importance of good weather to produce good photographic results, the Air Force media team set up a poll to assess if those attending were supportive of moving the Saturday low level event to either the Monday or Tuesday if the forecast remained poor. As it transpired, the majority preferred to take a chance and keep it to the Saturday due to fixed travel arrangements and work commitments.

Low Level

A rocky out crop on the south side of the Sakarya river valley in the Çatacik Forest region east of Eskişehir was ultimately chosen as the low level vantage point. This was located approximately 3 hours by road from Eskişehir. A reconnaissance flight had been made by helicopter a few weeks before to decide on its suitability as it was not a valley normally used for day to day low level training. The route to the destination by foot was not too arduous. On arrival at the coordinates we were met by a number of military personnel who were there to guide us to the rocky out crop we would be viewing from. The view looking down the valley into the water below was breathtaking. Most people arrived mid morning and were greeted with low cloud and mist in the surrounding areas but thankfully the weather improved  towards the afternoon. It was a long wait for the jets to arrive as the Air Force were also monitoring the weather and targeting the afternoon as it was looking to improve by then. It was unclear at this point how many F-4Es would arrive, the time and flow direction. 

From a photographic perspective, the main decision was deciding where to stand but with so many people in quite a small location, trying to work out where would be proved difficult. 

At around 3pm the cloud did start to break just as the first F-4E was spotted arriving from the west. This first pass was straight and level and fairly sedate compared with what was to follow. The first jet was 77-0303 and in a wonderfully striking red white and black colour scheme not previously seen by most people present. What a great way to start! He was followed by a ‘standard’ marked 111 Filo F-4E 73-1052 which again made a straight and level pass from west to east. When approaching from the west, both jets had to clear a rocky out crop and this made it difficult for them to fly anything else but a descending straight and level pass. After two such passes, both jets  switched direction making their passes from the east. This meant they could approach down the valley, low over the river and then had a choice on how they performed each pass. Rumour had it they would only make three passes but in the end they made around twelve passes each so over twenty in total. Photographically those  positioned on the eastern side had the advantage of seeing them approaching and had time to prepare. Those on the west side had less time to pick them up as they rocketed around the rock in the last second which definitely made photography more challenging. High ISOs and high shutter speeds were the order of the day if your camera and panning technique could handle it! The numerous passes showed all angles of the jets from topsides to belly shots with   afterburners and vapour off the wings. The exuberance of the pilots made for some ‘very’ close and extremely fast passes which for most of us were too hard to capture but it was nonetheless an absolutely awesome spectacle. Some passes were so close you could feel the jet wash as they passed. With over twenty different passes, it was great to leave the hills with some incredible images and memories which made the 3 hour drive back to Eskişehir more pleasurable given the scenes we had witnessed.

With all the images and videos available to see there will be many very keen on attending any similar event should the Turkish Air Force hold one in the future. If this is the case then a different position may be needed to avoid over crowding and maintain safety on what was a very high and steep hill.

1st Main Jet Base Eskişehir

The second part of the celebrations on Sunday took place on base. There was no let up at all with another full day planned. Despite the poor weather and no hint of sun all day even though it was promised, the days proceedings will also stick in everyone’s minds for some time. After queueing at the main gate and passes distributed, once through security, we were ‘bused’ to the airfield. We were first positioned by a taxi way with a good view of the runway, but once everyone had arrived we were moved across the taxi way and closer to the runway. We were all corralled between the 2000ft and 5000ft runway markers and very close to the runway. From previous experience, an initial thought was we were too close and not far enough down the runway for a take off performance but the mighty Phantom proved us wrong and they were all airborne around the 3000ft marker and much higher than we expected from our chosen spot. Five jets took to the sky and then performed multiple flypasts before recovering as singletons and all releasing drag chutes. Most people in my opinion were too close to the runway but as one person stated “being so close to the runway made for some ordinarily unique shots and they were after quality not quantity”. It was difficult to argue with this view!The positioning was a testament to how relaxed the our Turkish hosts were and there is no doubt being so close gave a lot of those attending an experience they will not forget.

After the mornings flying, everyone  relaxed in one of the hangars which had been laid out with tables and chairs. The queue for patches, hats and T-shirts never seem to shorten nor did the food queue which was excellent. During this lunch break we had the chance to view four F-4Es on the opposite ramp along with most of the armament they were able to carry. They even made a special effort to tow the 50th anniversary jet to the line to join them after it had flown in the morning and then tow it back again for the afternoon flying.

The afternoon session was a repeat of the morning with a small launch of four jets making multiple flypasts. As the sun was still hiding I decided to join the crowd and sit on the edge of the runway and capture some video. On recovering all four jets rolled long and were joined at end of the runway by six more jets which then formed up to make an elephant walk of ten jets back down the runway. The ten jets comprised  eight 111 Filo jets and two 401 Filo jets from the based test squadron. These two rarely seen aircraft made a very nice addition with a splash of orange on their tails. Elephant Walks vary in size from nation to nation but the sight of ten F-4Es all taxying slowly down the runway towards our position was an impressive sight and one which will be etched into our memories and aviation history. On reaching our position all ten jets stopped and held position for around ten minutes giving people plenty of time to run up and down to get their shots. Being so close it was nice just to soak up the sight, sound and feel of what we were witnessing. There was also plenty of opportunities to get the all important selfie! Oh, for a bit of sunshine!

Once the end of the walk was reached all the jets taxied back to their respective shelter areas and our day was complete. 

In summary, this was a truly amazing event which will live long in everyone’s memory. Aviation anniversaries  come and go and all too often with little or no public coverage which is such a shame from an enthusiast perspective. Whilst some air forces make little effort to engage in this respect or charge high prices to attend if an event is held, it is so refreshing to come across a nation who are so proud of their aircraft, their aviation heritage, and are even more proud to show it off to the best of their abilities and for free! The hospitality of the Turkish Air Force was truly outstanding and deserving of the highest praise.

You can find out more about the TURAF F-4E Phantom turning 50 at ; https://www.hvkk.tsk.tr/News/Article/hvkken/7062

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