B-52H Stratofortress Deployment to the UK - January 2018

The mighty Stratofortress is no stranger to these shores and this month has seen another deployment  by four aircraft of the 5th Bomb Wing based at Minot AFB, North Dakota.

Members Ray Taylor and Mike Overs took a road trip to RAF Fairford on Thursday 18 January to take in this latest deployment. 

Three of the four deployed aircraft took off and Mike captured them on departure.  Two from the Whelford/Kempsford (27) east end and the last one from Marston Meysey (09) west end.

The C17 was on the US Embassy run.

Unusual departure from RAF Brize Norton before the B-52 fun began was a RAF Boeing E-3D Sentry, but she turned north after her departure from runway 26 so any chance of a photograph was lost.

The deployment lasts until end of January (Operational Requirements may change)...

Here are the pictures Mike took.

Mike Overs

26 January 2018

Blackburn Buccaneer 60th Anniversary Event

This year sees the 60th anniversary of the first flight of the Blackburn Buccaneer that  became a well-loved mount by both its Royal Navy and Royal Air Force crews and a much-respected low level strike aircraft and adversary. 

Sadly the days of the Buccaneer ended in the early Nineties, but some live on in fully working order at Bruntingthorpe and maintained as such by a band of devotees called The Buccaneer Aviation Group or TBAG for short.

On Saturday 28 April 2018 the Buccaneer Aviation Group will host a special anniversary event to mark this special milestone. The poster for the event is shown below, providing more details. Contact our member and TBAG member Mike Overs for booking your tickets.

This will be one of the main aviation events of 2018 in the local area and is not to be missed.

25 January 2018

Theo Claassen