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By Hugh Trevor 16th October 2022

… Hugh Trevor examines the aircraft and operations of RAF Germany’s Lightning-equipped interceptor wing Between … F2 was delivered to 19 (Fighter) and 92 Squadrons based at RAF Leconfield, Yorkshire, in late 1962 and early 1963.  On … for Missile Practice Camp (MPC) took place at RAF Valley, Anglesey, to fire live Firestreaks, while gunnery …

By Tony Harmsworth 17th April 2024

… years after its first post-restoration flight at Latrobe Valley Regional Airport, 90-odd miles west of Melbourne. … Restored to fly by Brian and Damien Turner’s Latrobe Valley Airframe and Welding, with assistance from Paul … was flown during the Second World War as P6187 with the RAF. After being sold off post-war it was registered G-AHFU …

By Jon Lake 4th December 2023

… British Forces Brunei and British Forces Cyprus from 2024. RAF Puma HC2s have been used as an interim solution by …

By Dino Carrara 5th January 2024

A selection of some of the best photos of aviation released by the UK Ministry of Defence taken during 2023.

By Malcolm English 16th August 2024

… Shortly before the Vulcan was due to be retired from RAF service, aviation journalist Malcolm English was given a … opportunity to join a practise bombing mission The RAF’s most famous bomber squadron, 617, was formed on March … it was: “Doors closed… watch the high ground… stay in the valley.” The ‘bomb’ was released at 320kts and 300ft, and …

By Malcolm English 31st August 2024

… a valuable resource in great demand by all the UK and RAF Germany air assets, including the Royal Navy, the tanker … us taking off, if it worsened we would have to divert. Valley, in Wales, and Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, were the … 57 Squadron’s crew room. The Victor soldiered on with the RAF until 1993, slightly longer than was expected at the time …

By Ben Dunnell 1st April 2024

… area 14T — T meaning tactical. It’s a road and river valley on the eastern seaboard of Sutherland, and Helmsdale is a fishing village there. Just to the south is RAF Lossiemouth, or RNAS Lossiemouth as it was back in the … enough studying. But I got through, and then joined the RAF. “I left university with just over 130 hours on the …

By Ben Dunnell 1st April 2024

… days of the ‘last British bomber’ For an aircraft the RAF hadn’t originally wanted, it wasn’t a bad way to bow out. … belief in a ‘peace dividend’ to history. And as the RAF went to war in the Gulf during January 1991, the … missiles allowed 208 to make a successful deployment to Valley for live firing. Trials work saw an evaluation of the …

By Thomas Newdick 19th October 2023

… the ‘Tonka’ – Flt Lts Phil McGlone and Sam Baker. As the RAF’s Tornado GR4 Force (TGRF) returned from its tenure in … East and wound down operations back at its home station of RAF Marham, Norfolk, the force found itself in the unusual … that might be coming up, for example if we’re in a valley and the valley takes a sharp turn left or right. …

By CHRIS GIBSON 18th January 2024

… years ago, to the first ‘special weapons’ arriving at an RAF station, and to the Vickers Valiant becoming the first … atomic bomb. The first Blue Danube weapon arrived at RAF Wittering in November 1953, but the route started in … production of uranium 235, a plant, the Ministry of Supply Valley Factory, being built at a former mustard gas plant at …

14th June 2024

… f ly with the only other airworthy example – PA474 of the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF). Over the years, … Woodhall Spa – just down the road from the BBMF’s base at RAF Coningsby. After an enjoyable dinner where little about a … from continuing. The Lancasters fly down the Upper Derwent Valley following the first of three passes over the Derwent …

By Mark Ayton 20th August 2023

… On April 1, 2007, the then 41(R) Squadron stood-up as the RAF’s Fast Jet Weapons Operational Evaluation Unit (FJWOEU) at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. It combined the former Fast Jet … Jaguar GR3-equipped 41(F) Squadron, which disbanded at RAF Coltishall, Norfolk the previous day, exactly 30-years …

By Dino Carrara 16th October 2023

… Gooding (Ret’d) provides insights into the Tornado’s early RAF career as he tells Dino Carrara what it was like to be … re-formed on the Panavia Tornado GR1 on April 1, 1982 at RAF Honington, Suffolk. On this same day he collected the … made for some memorable sorties – I remember flying in a valley with a mountain at the far end and the TFR flying the …

By TONY CLAY 1st February 2024

… Tony Clay describes the Lightning F.3 and its time with the RAF’s famous ‘Tigers’, 74 Squadron Sqn Ldr Bill Maish … Sqn Ldr Bill Maish, had just led a flight of three of the RAF’s newest version of its Lightning interceptor, the F.3, … the directive. Early 1966 saw a detachment make its way to Valley on Anglesey for a missile practice camp. Five live …

By Josef Campion 9th June 2022

… No 100 Squadron laid down its sword as an operational RAF unit on March 24. Joe Campion reports on the final year … air operations The future of the Royal Air Force’s (RAF’s) BAE Systems Hawk T1 fleet was cemented when the UK … Hawk T1s were flown to RAF Shawbury, Shropshire, and RAF Valley in Anglesey, Wales, for long-term storage, marking the …