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Army Air Corps Lynx AH7 Retirement
Friday 31st July 2015 saw an historic moment for the British Army Air Corps (AAC), with the retirement of the Westland Lynx AH.7 helicopter. The Lynx has been a key asset to the AAC for just over 38 years, having first taken to the skies in June 1977 as a Lynx AH.1. Throughout the long and illustrious career of the Lynx, it has seen service in over 22 active conflicts including Operation Agricola in Kosovo, Operation Banner in Northern Island and more recently Operation Herrick in Afghanistan. It has been in service with 17 different AAC squadrons as well as being [...]
Anatolian Eagle 2015-1
The annual international Anatolian Eagle exercise held at Turkey's Konya air base took place in early/mid June against a backdrop of continued fighting against ISIL in Syria and Iraq, the conflict in Yemen between Shiite Houthi rebels and pro-government forces along with the constant unease in Libya. With so much uncertainly so close to Turkey's doorstep the need to train and cooperate with NATO and its Middle East allies has never been more important. The first Anatolian Eagle exercise was held in 2001 after the need for their own training facility arose with modernisation of the Turkish Air Forces fighter [...]
G-JOEY Trislander Retirement
June 28th 2015 will see the retirement of a Channel Islands aviation Icon, G-JOEY the Britten Norman Trislander. JOEY is operated by Aurigny Air Services, based in Channel Islands. This much loved aircraft has seen just shy of 40 years service in its lifetime, 34 of those years with Aurigny and is regarded as the flagship of their Trislander fleet. Construction Number 1016 off the Britten Norman production line, who would have thought that this Trislander would have become such an icon for an Airline as well as a recognised public figure. Mark Empson guest reports for AeroResource. The Trislander [...]
Anatolian Eagle 2014
The annual international Anatolian Eagle exercise held at Turkey's Konya air base took place in late June against a backdrop of continuing unrest in Syria and a surge in militant activity in Iraq. With so much uncertainly so close to Turkey's doorstep the need to train and cooperate with NATO and its Middle East allies has never been more important. The first Anatolian Eagle exercise was held in 2001 after the need for their own training facility arose with modernization of the Turkish Air Forces fighter fleet. After the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo the Turkish Air Force gained experience [...]
RAF TriStar Retirement
Originally designed as a civilian airliner in the 1960’s the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar later become a vital asset to the Royal Air Force transport fleet. March 2014 brings to an end the RAF service of the famous ‘trijet’. History In the late 1960’s American Airlines released a specification for a wide-body airliner to fly their medium to long-haul routes. At the time the Boeing 747 was the chosen candidate for such flights but American Airlines needed something smaller with a shorter minimum runway length requirement. Two key manufactures provided proposals for a small wide-body aircraft to the airline; McDonnell Douglas [...]
352nd SOG welcome the CV-22B and MC-130J
On Monday 24th June 2013, the 352nd Special Operations Group took delivery of the first batch of CV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, marking the start of a large expansion and modernisation program at RAF Mildenhall. Ben Montgomery visited the 7th and 67th Special Operations Squadrons at Mildenhall to learn more about their new aircraft. 352nd Special Operations Group The 352nd Special Operations Group (SOG), comprised of 5 squadrons - of which two are flying units has been a fixed point in US Air Power in Europe for many years, and under recent modernisation plans will continue to be so for the [...]
