Phantoms from 74 Sqn on final MPC @ Valley

[STCAAMEkid]

Hi again, here are new scans of K64 originals I took in June 1992, showing the last Tiger Squadron Missile Practice Camp at Valley before disbandment and reforming on Hawks....at Valley.
I hope they're of interest, and bring some sunshine to your day, unlike June and July. Phil.



















The final image shows Dave "Nutty" Hazell (pilot) and Ian Wright (Nav) of 56 Sqn dumping fuel over a wings parade at Valley in '92 - this was Nutty's last Phantom flight before moving onto Tornado F3s. This was the last FGR2 I saw flying at Valley .

[jacksonphreak]

Superb set Phil... always good to see shot's of RAF Phantom's, unfortunately, I never saw too many of them whilst in service.
Thanks for posting them

Steve

[Daz]

Wow what a post!

More please?

[wezgulf3]

They are superb Thanks for sharing..

Wes..

[Westy]

Great post Phil

[F-86]

Great stuff, they were the days. Got any more?

[bobtomlin]

Lovely to see these. I remember it well. also would be very interested if you've got any more.
Great to be able to match up some cockpit names to airframes.
Do you know which jet Littlejohns and Trapp's names were on?
Great post.
Cheers, Bob.

[Cimmerian]

Great stuff. Tiger Phantoms - my favourite flavour.

[STCAAMEkid]

Thanks for your kind comments chaps. Bob's question got me rooting through my 4th July 1992 Wattisham Photocall slides (yet to be scanned) re. linking specific stencilled crew names with particular Tiger Squadron Phantoms.
This is what I managed to identify - there are inevitable uncertainties however eg I'm certain I haven't got all the tailcodes... ....
Tailcode letter, A/C serial, Pilot/ Nav
T XV474 AVM Allison/ Sqn Ldr Huggett
I ? ? / ?
J (?) ? Flt Lt Liggett/ Flt Lt Whitehurst (these may not be on J, but the name pairing is correct for one a/c)
G ? ? / ?
E XV433 Fg Off Innes/ Sqn Ldr Kelly
R XV490 Flt Lt Stinchcombe/ Flt Lt Mahoney
S XV465 Flt Lt Campbell/ Flt Lt Lewis
V XT896 Flt Lt Littlejohns/ Flt Lt Trapp
W XV497 Flt Lt Williams (?)/ Fg Off Stopforth (after much examination of the slide...my eyes aren't what they used to be, I can only confirm pilot rank + Nav rank + name)
Y XV423 Flt Lt Heaney/ Flt Lt Whitehurst (yes, Whitehurst appears on 2 aircraft)

Can anyone out there help fill in the gaps for 74 Sqn circa June/ July 1992 ?
Hopefully this helps Bob
cheers, Phil

[bobtomlin]

Here's what I can find to add to your list Phil,
(the number in the brackets indicates number of yellow 'stripes' on RWR tail fairing)
Tailcodes are duplicated for different serial numbered aircraft.
I can't read some of the names in photos and have question marked them, but have a list of 74 sqn
Pilots/Navs if you can manage to read some letters to give a clue.

'T' XV474 (12) Wg Cdr Spiller Flt Lt O'Brien (also AVM Allison Sqn Ldr Huggett)
'I' XV499 (15) Sqn Ldr Riley Flt Lt Walsh
'G' XV407 (12) Flt Lt (???????) (Jonas?) Sqn Ldr Huggett
'E' XV433 (15) Fg Off Innes Sqn Ldr Kelly
'R' XV490 (15) Flt Lt Stinchcombe Flt Lt Mahoney
'S' XV465 (12) Flt Lt Campbell Flt Lt Lewis
'Q' XT895 (15) Flt Lt Walsh Sqn Ldr Reilly
'N' XV469 (12) Flt Lt Hargreaves Flt Lt ???? (Preece?)
'V' XT896 (15) Flt Lt Littlejohns Flt Lt Trapp
'Y' XV423 (12) Flt Lt Heaney Flt Lt Whitehurst
'O' XT910 (12)
'P' XT905 (15)
'W' XV497 (12) Flt Lt Williamson Fg Off Stopforth
'Q' XV393 (15) Flt Lt ??? Flt Lt ???? (74/56 sqn combined colours display aircraft)
'Z' XT914 (15) Sqn Ldr Liggat Flt Lt Manwaring (74/56 sqn combined colours display aircraft)
'O' XV415 (12)
'I' XV401 (12)
'G' XV409 (12)
'G' XV487 (12)
'J' XT892 (12)
'O' XT901 (12)
'S' XT891 (12)
'W' XT907 (15)

Cheers, Bob.

[PeteM]

Always good to see some RAF Phantoms, great images

[DeanW]

Always good to see some RAF Phantoms, great images

Very much so! Especially 74 Sqn airframes, the markings look so neat on the aircraft.

[st24]

Very nice - you really can't go wrong with Spey Phantoms.... just ultimate beasts

[rhino]

Nearly 20 years since they left RAF service, I can't believe how much I still miss them!

-Dazza

[Rory76]

How much life was there left in them when they were retired?

Nice pics by the way!

[rhino]

How much life was there left in them when they were retired?

Some had reached their maximum FI but, there were reportedly a number of updates in the pipeline which no doubt would've included structural work to enable a reasonable number to continue flying - remember that BAe had only a couple of years earlier completed a contract the fit new build outer wings to most of the fleet. I remember reading/hearing somewhere during 1992 that the 'options for change' 'excuse' for retiring them meant that they retired them 11 years before the original OSD!

-Dazza

p.s. forgot to add (again!) Excellent pics!