Latest Articles
Belgian Sea King Retirement
March 21, 2019 was a memorable day in the calendar for both 40 Squadron and the Belgian Air Component, as it marked the retirement of the Westland Sea King Mk 48 helicopters after 43 years of loyal service providing the Search and Rescue (SAR) capability to the people of Belgium. The baton has now formally been handed over to the NHIndustries NH90 NFH (NATO Frigate Helicopter) which first entered service with the Belgian Air Component on August 1, 2013. During the past six months, Mark Empson has visited Koksijde airbase; home to 40 Squadron on a number of occasions spending [...]
JMSDF Atsugi – Kawasaki P-1
The Japanese territorial waters cover a vast area around the Japanese islands. For example, Okinawa in the South to Chitose in the North is a distance of around 1400 miles in a direct line. To oversee and protect those waters the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) has utilised a fleet of around 100 Lockheed P-3 Orions since 1984. However, since 2013 the JMSDF has started to replace these ageing aircraft with its own indigenous built modern aircraft – the Kawasaki P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA).
RAF Fairford 2nd Bomb Wing B-52 Deployment
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 Fairford, which will have been a welcome sight for local businesses around the area, to oversee B-52H operations during what has been referred to as Bomber Task Force 2019. Operationally, this is the largest European deployment of a single bomber platform since 2003 when 17 [...]
115 Combat Wing
The largest of all the Greek islands, Crete sits to the South of Greece’s mainland and is home to the 115 Combat Wing - Hellenic Air Force (115 CW) based on the sprawling Souda Air Base situated near Chania. Commanded by Colonel Ioannis Birmpilis, 115 Combat Wing is tasked primarily with protecting the southern flanks of both the countries airspace and waters. Along with two squadrons of around 20 Lockheed Martin F-16 C/D variants, namely 340 Mira (Fox) and 343 Mira (Star), the 115 Combat Wing base at Souda is also home to the Operational Conversion Unit, or SMET as [...]
Royal International Air Tattoo 2018
With over 300 aircraft arriving at RAF Fairford to help celebrate the Royal Air Force’s centenary, AeroResource’s Jamie Ewan joined the masses descending on the airfield with one question on his mind – would the Royal Air Force and Douglas Bader House (DBH) pull out all the stops for what was their official ‘international’ celebration of RAF100 at the Royal International Air Tattoo 2018? When the Royal Air Force came into being on April 1, 1918, little could anyone have known what its somewhat troubled and quizzed start would eventually lead to. A century later the aircraft may have changed, [...]
Luke AFB Airshow 2018
2018 falls exactly 100 years on from the end of the First World War and it was not by coincidence that this significant anniversary was celebrated during Luke AFB Airshow 2018. At the home of the 56th Fighter Wing (FW), Luke Air Force Base (AFB) is itself intrinsically linked to the First World War through Second Lieutenant Frank Luke Jr, a Phoenix native and the first aviator in the US military to be awarded the Medal of Honor – the nation’s highest military award. Frank Luke Jr was awarded this huge accolade posthumously after gaining eighteen ‘kills’ in the air [...]
RAF100 Centenary Celebrations
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 [...]
Lightning Preservation Group Nightshoot
February. Bruntingthorpe. Lightnings. Yes, it is that time of the year again at which the Lightning Preservation Group opens their season with a dedicated photoshoot of their world-renowned English Electric Lightnings. Jamie Ewan was there and took time to chat with [...]
Spanhoe Photocall
Found in rural Northamptonshire, Spanhoe Airfield was once called home by both the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force. Now, some 70 years after the airfield was returned to the farmers [...]
Baltic Bees Jet Team
Lying in the west of the Baltic State Latvia, the newly refurbished Jurmala Airport resides near the small historical town of Tukums. Since their inception in 2008, the Baltic Bees Jet Team have based themselves [...]
Jurmala Airport Air Zoo
Just 40 miles west of the Latvian capital Riga in the small sleepy town of Tukums sits Jurmala Airport. Once a Soviet air base, the site is now home to an interesting yet largely unknown [...]
Lightning Preservation Group – ORP Scramble
With the 2017 ‘offseason’ in full swing, November 4th saw the turn of the Lightning Preservation Group and their English Electric icons to provide an aviation solace with their annual Twilight run. Billed this year [...]
Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40 (VRC-40) ‘Rawhides’
“Here we go, here we go, here we go!” - No, not the chant from fans at a football match, but the cries emanating from the two loadmasters of VRC-40 ‘Rawhides’ sat at the rear [...]
Joint Base Andrews Air Show 2017
Situated just across the Potomac River from Washington DC, Joint Base Andrews is home to a number of units that include the Presidential Airlift Group. Over the weekend of September 16-17 though, the base opened [...]
East Kirkby Season Finale
With the sun slowly sinking and its last light picking out the features of Lincolnshire’s flat plains, AeroResource’s Jamie Ewan made his way into the heart of ‘Bomber County’ for an evening with an aeroplane [...]
Northolt Nightshoot XXIII
Once more, as summer makes way for autumn on its way towards winter, the nightshoot season draws ever closer. Perhaps the most well known of event of its type, RAF Northolt once again opened its [...]
NAS Oceana Airshow 2017
Home to the United States Navy’s east coast strike fighter squadrons, Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana is one of the largest navy bases in the United States. Every year in mid-September, the base opens its [...]
Royal International Air Tattoo 2017
Tracing its roots back to North Weald in the year of 1971, the first Air Tattoo saw just 100 aircraft from across Europe descend on the Essex found airfield – the idea of the show [...]
