Bob at Mildenhall 19/05/2019 - 03/07/2019

[rh226]

That was a bit of a bu**er, Phil - particularly as the B-52 isn't likely to go anywhere in the near future and KC-135R 72599 is on TDY.

But it is not as though I haven't made the same miscalculation at times. LOL.

[rh226]

Saturday 29th June 2019

Extremely hot but with a reasonable breeze to make things slightly more bearable.

And the day's enthralling movement was a based KC-135R 58-0100 returning from Souda Bay AB, Crete.

Hopefully, there will be a tanker coming in tomorrow for Monday's drag across the pond.  I have a nasty feeling (per Mildenhall AMC terminal Facebook page www.facebook.com/RAFMildenhallPassengerTerminal) that it will be an Ohio ANG KC-135 - and I've seen all of those.

(55)

[rugbyref]

There were 5 V22 on the field, but haze prevented me reading the serials. One had no rotor blades; does that make it possible to identify, perhaps? cheers Phil

[rh226]

I've put in a request on FC for you, Phil. Hopefully, someone ("arch"?) will be able to supply the necessary.

[rh226]

Sunday 30th June 2019

My suspicion of yesterday came to pass...

Mildenhall
Arrival
09:51BST "BLUE31" 59-1458 KC-135R 166ARS/Ohio ANG

And that was it for the day. Looks like two/three "LN" F-15s will go off to rework tomorrow morning.

So, visitors at present are the above, plus the TDY KC-135 (57-2599), the TDY RC-135 (64-14846) and, of course, the BUFF (60-0009). Lakenheath visitors are the two F-35s (13-5081/5083) and the French Rafale (352/4-FS)

(55)

[rh226]

Monday 1st July 2019

Mildenhall

Arrivals

12:46BST    "FLC85"             N85    CL604        FAA

13:32BST    "BLUE31"    59-1458    KC-135R    166ARS/Ohio ANG......RTB after receiver developed fault.

Departures

09:34BST    "BLUE31"    59-1458

14:46BST    "FLC85"             N85

Lakenheath

Arrivals

13:10BST    "RETRO81"    96-0202/LN b    F-15E    492FS...…...RTB

13:10BST    "RETRO82"    91-0602/LN r    F-15E    494FS...…….RTB with IFE.....took the cable

14:27BST    "HKY832"      08-8603/RS      C-130J    86AS

Departures

09:38BST    "RETRO81"    96-0202/LN )……….to rework at WR-ALC, but returned

09:38BST    "RETRO82"    91-0602/LN )

15:40BST    "HKY832"      08-8603/RS

As I needed one of the F-35Bs that had gone on deployment, I went up to Marham to see them return this afternoon.  Sadly, the one I needed (ZM146) was one of the two that, apparently, have moved on to Italy for training purposes.

Marham

Arrivals

14:29BST    "RRR9521"    ZM147    F-35B    617Sqdn

14:30BST    "RRR9522"    ZM144    F-35B    617Sqdn

15:16BST    "RRR9525"    ZM145    F-35B    617Sqdn

15:16BST    "RRR9526"    ZM143    F-35B    617Sqdn

The Lakenheath F-15s turned back over the Atlantic as one of them had developed a fault.  Their tanker returned also.

The 617Sqdn F-35Bs were returning from a six week deployment to Akrotiri, including OP SHADER duties and a one-day exercise ("Tri-Lightning") with USAF and Israeli F-35s.

The FAA Challenger is here from flight checking duties and was on its way back to CONUS.

(55)

[rh226]

Tuesday 2nd July 2019

Our last day here and not a lot happened.  The tanker for the "LN"s bailed out and the newest French A400 arrived as support for the French visit.  The broken Rafale went home.

Mildenhall

Arrival

13:36BST    "CMB161"    N715CK    B744F    Kalitta Air

19:01BST    "CMB138"    N485MC    B744F    Atlas Air

Departures

08:50BST    "BLUE31"    59-1458

18:30BST    "CMB161"    N715CK

21:??BST    "GTI8937"    N485MC

Lakenheath

Arrival

13:15BST    "CTM2023"    0089/F-RBAO    A400M    French AF

Departure

17:59BST    "FAF7160"       352/4-FS

Not much will happen tomorrow.  The TDY "NACHO" KC-135 will go home to Seymour Johnson AFB in the morning and the French A400 will depart in the afternoon.  With the base totally shut for 4 days, nothing wants to be stuck here over the Independence Day long weekend.

Two based tankers have relocated to Lakenheath (57-1440 and 58-0100) so that they are available if needed.  This will leave the visitors as being only the broken BUFF and the TDY RC-135 - which could (I suppose) relocate to Lakenheath - plus the two F-35As tucked away in HAS at Lakenheath.

(56)

[rh226]

Wednesday 3rd July 2019

The one and only visitor departure before I left was:-

Lakenheath

Departure

08:53BST    "CTM2023"    0089/F-RBAO

However, in the hour after I left, Mildenhall saw the TDY KC-135R depart and the arrival for a gas & go of 2x AC-130Us 89-1056 and 90-0167.  Guess who needed one of them.  grrrrrr !

So ends the 1st long stay of the year in East Anglia.  Made 56, which is not bad at all for me.

Thanks for all the views everyone.  Until the next one (September/October) and, of course any "emergency" visits.

[christoff]

Fantastic reports as usual Bob, its been a pleasure reading them.

Chris

[zz]

Cheers Bob.
Always enjoy the reports and appreciate the help given! Thanks

[rh226]

Thanks, guys.

[brizewatcher]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading as usual, Bob. Many thanks!

I hope the return journey wasn't too bad?

[graham]

Yep, great and informative reports Bob, I just wish my missus would be happy with me disappearing for a few weeks at a time!

[rh226]

Thanks, chaps.

Ollie - the journey home was very good, thank you. Traffic was quite light and we made excellent time, doing the 170 mile journey back to caravan storage in only 4 hours.

Graham - can't you invent a week's course or something like that? Just spending a week at the two bases would probably net you a lot of numbers.

[graham]

It would for sure Bob, I haven't visited either since way back in 2001, here's the Mildy log of what I potted on that day

Sat 26 May 2001 Mildenhall

15226 Dassault-Breguet Dornier Alpha Jet 0080 Portuguese Air Force
163836 Beech UC-12M Huron BV-1 United States Navy
164404 Boeing E-6B Mercury 24502 United States Navy
39186 SAAB Gripen JAS-39 A 39186 Swedish Air Force
43+38 Panavia Tornado IDS GS016 German Air Force
508 Dassault Mirage 2000 B 51 French Air Force
59-1459 Boeing KC-135R 17947 United States Air Force
60-0022 Boeing B-52H Stratofortress 464387 United States Air Force
60-0053 Boeing B-52H Stratofortress 464418 United States Air Force
60-0360 Boeing KC-135R 18135 United States Air Force
61-0302 Boeing KC-135R 18209 United States Air Force
63-8012 Boeing KC-135R 18629 United States Air Force
64088 Aeritalia-Fiat G.222 C-27A 4088 Afghan Air Force
64-14829 Boeing KC-135R 18769 United States Air Force
66-0166 Lockheed C-141B Starlifter 6192 United States Air Force
81-0992 Fairchild A-10A Thunderbolt II A10-0687 United States Air Force
86-0110 Rockwell B-1B Lancer 70 United States Air Force
89-26146 Sikorsky UH-60L Blackhawk 701376 United States Army
89-26151 Sikorsky UH-60A Blackhawk 701383 United States Army
90-0022 General Dynamics F-16D Fighting Falcon 4S-016 Turkish Air Force
90-0024 General Dynamics F-16D Fighting Falcon 4S-018 Turkish Air Force
91-0307 McDonnell Douglas F-15E Eagle E172 United States Air Force
91-0339 General Dynamics F-16CM Fighting Falcon CC-37 United States Air Force
96-26684 Sikorsky UH-60L Blackhawk 702219 United States Army
E22 SEPECAT Jaguar E E22 French Air Force
E6 SEPECAT Jaguar E E6 French Air Force
FA-103 General Dynamics F-16AM Fighting Falcon 6H-103 Belgian Air Component
G-THUN Republic P-47D Thunderbolt 399-55731x Fighter Aircraft Engineering
J-5008 McDonnell Douglas FA-18C Hornet SFC008 Swiss Air Force
J-5015 McDonnell Douglas FA-18C Hornet SFC015 Swiss Air Force
J-635 General Dynamics F-16AM Fighting Falcon 6D-67 Royal Netherlands Air Force
L9-67 Pilatus PC-9 M 640 Slovenian Territorial Defence Force
MM55062 Aermacchi MB.339 CD 6859 Italian Air Force
MM7125 Aeritalia AMX IX037 Italian Air Force
Q-05 Boeing-McDonnell Douglas NAH-64D Apache DN5 Royal Netherlands Air Force
XX217 Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1A 41H-312053 Royal Navy
ZD707 Panavia Tornado GR.4 BS111 Royal Air Force
ZG506 British Aerospace Harrier GR.9A P.77 United States Marine Corps

[graham]

And here's my first trip to Lakenheath in 1975, where I potted a sackful of based F-4s

158921 Lockheed P-3C-III Orion 5593 United States Navy 5593 P
20+62 Lockheed F-104G Starfighter 683-2072 West German Air Force 683-2072 M
21+53 Messerschmitt F-104G Starfighter 7022 West German Air Force 7022 M
25+28 Fokker F-104G Starfighter 8305 West German Air Force 8305 M
25+81 SABCA F-104G Starfighter 9049 West German Air Force 9049 M
27+34 Lockheed TF-104G Starfighter 583D-5736 West German Air Force 583D-5736 M
28+18 Lockheed TF-104G Starfighter 583F-5948 West German Air Force 583F-5948 M
28+28 Lockheed TF-104G Starfighter 583F-5958 West German Air Force 583F-5958 M
32+82 FIAT G.91 R-3 D552 West German Air Force D552 M
56-3621 Boeing KC-135A 17370 United States Air Force 17370 J
63-7754 McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II 586 United States Air Force 586 M
64-0613 Lockheed C-141B Starlifter 6026 United States Air Force 6026 J
64-0648 Lockheed C-141B Starlifter 6061 United States Air Force 6061 J
64-0674 McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II 901 United States Air Force 901 M
64-0688 McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II 927 United States Air Force 927 M
64-0959 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1398 United States Air Force 1398 M
64-0973 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1445 United States Air Force 1445 M
64-0977 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1459 United States Air Force 1459 M
65-0608 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1545 United States Air Force 1545 M
65-0614 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1560 United States Air Force 1560 M
65-0615 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1562 United States Air Force 1562 M
65-0635 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1613 United States Air Force 1613 M
65-0646 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1639 United States Air Force 1639 M
65-0659 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1671 United States Air Force 1671 M
65-0682 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1713 United States Air Force 1713 M
65-0683 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1715 United States Air Force 1715 M
65-0685 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1717 United States Air Force 1717 M
65-0689 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1724 United States Air Force 1724 M
65-0690 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1725 United States Air Force 1725 M
65-0699 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1740 United States Air Force 1740 M
65-0701 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1742 United States Air Force 1742 M
65-0718 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1768 United States Air Force 1768 M
65-0731 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1788 United States Air Force 1788 M
65-0737 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1797 United States Air Force 1797 M
65-0738 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1799 United States Air Force 1799 M
65-0739 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1801 United States Air Force 1801 M
65-0740 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1802 United States Air Force 1802 M
65-0741 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1803 United States Air Force 1803 M
65-0742 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1804 United States Air Force 1804 M
65-0747 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1810 United States Air Force 1810 M
65-0748 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1812 United States Air Force 1812 M
65-0769 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1839 United States Air Force 1839 M
65-0773 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1844 United States Air Force 1844 M
65-0775 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1847 United States Air Force 1847 M
65-0777 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1849 United States Air Force 1849 M
65-0779 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1851 United States Air Force 1851 M
65-0788 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1863 United States Air Force 1863 M
65-0789 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1865 United States Air Force 1865 M
65-0793 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1869 United States Air Force 1869 M
65-0794 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1871 United States Air Force 1871 M
66-0243 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1903 United States Air Force 1903 M
66-0249 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1911 United States Air Force 1911 M
66-0251 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1913 United States Air Force 1913 M
66-0256 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1920 United States Air Force 1920 M
66-0262 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1927 United States Air Force 1927 M
66-0272 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1940 United States Air Force 1940 M
66-0273 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1941 United States Air Force 1941 M
66-0278 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1948 United States Air Force 1948 M
66-0279 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1949 United States Air Force 1949 M
66-0280 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1952 United States Air Force 1952 M
66-0282 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1954 United States Air Force 1954 M
66-0283 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1956 United States Air Force 1956 M
66-7456 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1958 United States Air Force 1958 M
66-7475 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1982 United States Air Force 1982 M
66-7484 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1994 United States Air Force 1994 M
66-7485 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 1995 United States Air Force 1995 M
66-7496 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 2009 United States Air Force 2009 M
66-7497 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 2010 United States Air Force 2010 M
66-7498 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 2011 United States Air Force 2011 M
66-7500 McDonnell Douglas GF-4D Phantom II 2015 United States Air Force 2015 M
66-7502 McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II 2017 United States Air Force 2017 M
66-7504 McDonnell Douglas GF-4D Phantom II 2019 United States Air Force 2019 M
67-0119 General Dynamics F-111E 164 United States Air Force 164 M
70-1274 Lockheed C-130E Hercules 4429 United States Air Force 4429 P
D-6655 Fiat F-104G Starfighter 6655 Royal Netherlands Air Force 6655 M
K-4014 Canadair NF-5B Freedom Fighter -2000 4014 Royal Netherlands Air Force 4014 M
MT-23 Fouga Magister CM.170 280 Belgian Air Force 280 M
MT-5 Fouga Magister CM.170 262 Belgian Air Force 262 M
MT-7 Fouga Magister CM.170 264 Belgian Air Force 264 M
XW300 British Aircraft Corporation Jet Provost T.5 EEP/JP/964 Royal Air Force EEP/JP/964 M

[rh226]

Oh my word. Those were the days all right. So many visitors!!

Thanks for posting those, Graham.

[davebasing]

Hi Graham - Was intrigued by the presence of a pair of F4Cs on your 1975 Lakenheath list. Sadly they must be mis-poles as both were combat losses in Vietnam, 40674 in 1965 & 40688 in 1966.

[davebasing]

Jul 5, 2019 13:42:50 GMT davebasing said:

Hi Graham - Was intrigued by the presence of a pair of F4Cs on your 1975 Lakenheath list. Sadly they must be mis-poles as both were combat losses in Vietnam, 40674 in 1965 & 40688 in 1966.

Blowing the dust and dead elephants off my old papers, I think your two F4Cs were actually based Lakenheath F4Ds, 65-0674 and 65-0688 both of which were indeed there on the show day on 2 August 1975.

[davebasing]

Graham - One of the pitfalls of using databases to produce old reports is that some aircraft have changed serial and operator in the intervening period. Your Mildenhall list for 2001 shows an Afghan Air Corps G222 64088. I was there for that show and couldn't for the life of me remember seeing that. The frame was at the show but at the time was still with the Italian Air Force as MM62145. Only became 64088 with the Afghans much later in its life.

[graham]

Thanks Dave for the heads up regarding the fiscal year for the 2 x F4's. Duly noted and corrected 44 years after the visit!

[davebasing]

Jul 10, 2019 8:05:08 GMT graham said:

Thanks Dave for the heads up regarding the fiscal year for the 2 x F4's. Duly noted and corrected 44 years after the visit!

No worries Graham. Having taken two away from you I thought the least I could do was look back give you two in return!

[Deleted]

60-0009/MT Departed 15:30pm After Here For Exactly 3 Months