Bentwaters Show 1988

[Anhedral]

I recently scanned a set of (badly underexposed) slides taken at the 1988 RAF Bentwaters Air Friendship Day and had a go at reworking them. I think the weather on the day was poor with low cloud and poor light plus KR64 in the camera didn't help. The show was a one day affair with a fairly typical attendance for those days although I didn't photograph a single A-10 that day (they were very common back then!).

1.

85-1479/WR01 F-16C USAFE, 527AS by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
The 527AS had recently relocated here from Alconbury and just started to re-equip with the F-16C. This was one of the first to be shown to the public I think. Currently still op by the TX ANG
2.

23+01 F-104 WTD61, WGAF (Manching) by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
This airframe last noted stored at Kessel, NL
3.

512/2-FI Mirage 2000B AdLa, EC2/2 by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
Stored at Chateaudun by 2012
4.

680554/ZR RF-4C 26TRW/38TRS (Zweibrucken) by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
Aircraft retired and to ground instruction use at Ramstein in 1991
5.

840017/BT F-15A USAFE, 36TFW (Bitburg) by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
Still in service with the CA ANG
6.

840458 C-23A 10MAS,USAFE (Zweibrucken) by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
7.

WK127/CS Canberra TT18 RAF, 100Sqn (Marham) by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
Aircraft now scrapped
8.

FA78/KB F-16A Belgian Air Force, 31Sm (Kleine Brogel) by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
Aircraft sold to the Jordanian Air Force
9.

WR963 Shackleton AEW2 RAF, 8 Sqn by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
Now with Air Atlantique at Coventry as G-SKTN

Hope these were of interest

Paul Nelhams
https://www.flickr.com/photos/58611670@N04/

[iainpeden]

Paul, interesting photos but you iced the cake by adding the current status of some of the a/c.

[D90Man]

Nice - looks like you did a lot of work with the scans...

Leon

[st24]

Another great oldies post. Used to love WR shows even with the lighting difficulties (when the sun was out!) F-15 is a "C" though...

[King Cobra]

Was at that show. We stuffed ourselves solid with the great food on offer from the various wives' committees.

[Screechy]

Think I was at this show too. Did it have a blank space in the static marked Stealth aircraft? If it was that show then I seem to recall the star fighter putting on an incredibly tight show. Didn't get any pics myself as I only went on the off chance.

[st24]

Think I was at this show too. Did it have a blank space in the static marked Stealth aircraft? If it was that show then I seem to recall the star fighter putting on an incredibly tight show. Didn't get any pics myself as I only went on the off chance.

The "stealth" "joke" was a regular at late '80s shows when stealth/Area51/UFO paranoia was at it's highest..

Yes, the German Starfighter was a great display , saw it several times that year - Cottesmore, Brize, Bentwaters then Lakenheath and Leicester the weekend after; just as the Frecce were getting airborne at Ramstein...

[AlexC]

The "stealth" "joke" was a regular at late '80s shows when stealth/Area51/UFO paranoia was at it's highest..

Did they start doing that as early as 1988?

[Unknown74]

With regards the Aggressor F-16C I recall being at Alconbury in August 1988 and wondered why they didn't manage one alongside the former F-5E on Static.