KoenL

Just saw this nicely filmed video about a Belgian AF exercise in Portugal that I thought some of you might enjoy as well: http://player.vimeo.com/video/10236098?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0& Koen

Good to hear! The Royal Netherlands Air Force has also used a KDC-10 and C-130 to evacuate Dutch and American, Belgian, British, French, Irish, Swedish, South Africans, Kosovarians (sp?), Polish, Romanians and even a Palestinian. (In fact way more foreigners than Dutch nationals)

XV197 has left Boscombe Down: http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=310644#p310644

XV212, XV290, XV294, XV299 and XV307 are offered for sale now: http://www.edisposals.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/Disposals-Public-Site/en_US/-/GBP/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=MieqQ4wkQg8000ArvQ_8K1sp00007_kGOk5I;sid=FlYGMW9UQlFBoyILrBMWI8eUw5vFr7qZ1cg=?ProductUUID=v9nAqBIQLoEAAAEu1X8ezS.7&CatalogCategoryID=uW7AqBELbsEAAAD_vUBpc4dn&JumpTo=OfferList

One of my friends just came back from Sri Lanka and he checked the Hercs (thanks Marco!): SCH-3401 is ex CR881 (c/n 4240) SCH-3402 is ex CR880 (c/n 4227) Koen

Great work Bob, and thanks for sharing Jansen!

Bob, I'll ask some of the guys whose photos I presume you saw and let you know if they have checked them.

Military Aircraft Markings' update PDF reports both having been scrapped at Cambridge. It reports May 13th 2009 for XV184 and May 18th 2009 for XV199. http://www.aviation-links.co.uk/MAMupdate48-2009.pdf

XV304 was still reported at Brize 3 weeks ago.

Think your '5623' is really Norwegian AF 5629. Koen

XV217 was transported today: http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30408

And some more shots of XV220's move here: http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30089&start=25#p302571

XV220 has left Lyneham as well: http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30242

Here's the log. http://forum.scramble.nl/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=69117&p=458430&hilit=sheppard#p458430 He doesn't mention the dump in it and when I visited the base in 2005 I didn't get shown the Aeromed area either, though I did look at the dump.

Thanks Don! Also just found this article about the tow which might be of interest to some: http://www.usaf317thvet.org/towarticle.htm

Bob, Not sure if this helps but these were reported at Sheppard in an aircraft spotting log from November:

TOWED? That's a long way! Would you be able to share these pics online?

XV305 on the move: http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30089

Sadly due to the weather a 16-ship overflight of the homebase (and many of the other planned overflight points during their flight) wasn't going to happen so instead the aircraft came back in 4-ships for nice low run and breaks followed by some hovering and a taxi to the end of the runway where we had positioned ourselves. The special marked aircraft were to taxi to the ramp last and as such it was decided not to taxi those past the people at the end of the runway so I was happy to have photographed them on the Monday. Here are some of the aircraft that did make it to the end of the runway though: Then we watched the specially marked aircraft touch down rougly halfway down the runway and taxi back to the ramp to the waiting family and press. As we walked back to the car we heard the last RAF Harrier shutdown after its last flight.... (Sorry for the rather lengthy explanation but hope the pics make up for it ;-) )

With the sun setting we walked back to the car and spent the night in the pub, trying to defrost. The next day's weather was predicted to be even worse so we didn't go to RAF Cottesmore but had a look at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath. On Wednesday however, we did go back to Cottesmore as we had heard this was going to be the retirement day with snow predicted on the 16th, making the 15th the better choice. Again when we arrived the weather was horrible with mist and drizzle. The RAF was kind enough to drive a truck outside the base where people could purchase hot drinks and a gentleman from ATC came out to brief the gathered spectators on the day's planned proceedings.

By now as you can see the clouds had broken up nicely and a nice low winter sun made it feel about 15 degrees celsius warmer in the muddy fields outside the base! Soon Ninja formation arrived back at the base where most aircraft practiced some approaches and hovering to the delight of the few dozen people that had been outside the fence all day long. Special retro scheme Harrier: 4 (AS) Squadron special: Bit of hovering practice right above us! And then it was time for some Harrier sunset shots...

800 squadron, 1 (F) Squadron and 4 (AC) Squadron special tails leaving together: While these, plus a 4th special marked jet were up we could see the clouds breaking up and the formation flying over the base various times. Some more Harriers went up for a flight and a further example arrived from nearby RAF Wittering:

Alright in that case here's an impression of my short UK trip. Having heard the news about the Harrier's early retirement after the UK's defense review was published I talked to an English friend of mine who promptly invited me to come over. According to rumours the Harrier's retirement was going to be on either December 14th, 15th of 16th depending on the weather so I booked a cheap Ryan Air ticket and all was set. Having flown to London Stansted on Sunday the 12th we drove past RAF Wittering which was one of two RAF Harrier bases before their retirement. A quick chat with the guard and we were allowed to take a few shots of an old Harrier GR3 that is preserved at the main gate: The next day it was time for the first of our trips to RAF Cottesmore, the last home of the RAF Harrier. As we looked out of the window we could already see what we were afraid of: fog! We went over to the base anyway to have a look around and see what the latest rumours were for the day's flying. Originally the plan for the Monday had been for the crews to practice the 16-ship formation and take some air to air photos. Having stood in the fog for a while we were surprised to hear the familiar sound of the Pegasus engine starting up followed by the typical sound of a Harrier moving into action. The aircraft went past us (barely visible), entered the runway and throttled up to break off its take off before returning to the ramp. Not much later we saw other people grabbing their cameras and sprinting to the basefence. There is an engine test facility right up against the fence which is where we got to finally photograph the first Harrier of the day: As you can see it was still quite foggy and we weren't expecting to see much during the day at all but after several hours of fluctuating visibility things finally seemed to start getting a bit better. We started hearing rumours that the day's 16-ship practice was going to be cancelled but that a smaller group would be going up for some work later. Not that long after multiple engines could be heard starting up and it was time for the first sortie of the day with Ninja flight leaving for a photographic flight. The photoship:

Seems I've missed this topic! Went over to England to visit RAF Cottesmore for the retirement of the UK's most famous post war military aircraft and it was a sad day indeed. If anyone cares I can post some images from the Harrier's last few days. Koen

Looks like Tiny was quite experienced at his job, he could do it with his eyes closed! Congrats on your retirement! Koen