Dominie retirement

[DamienB]

I suspect these won't get the attention the Harriers got, but the RAF's Dominies are retiring any day now and today at Cranwell was a practice flypast and air to air photo shoot.

Six jets planned and six jets flown - not bad for a 45 year old aircraft. Pity somebody parked a Tucano in the way...



Cranwell is not great for taxiing shots, with much of the taxiways and runways hidden by distance and the lie of the land but the eastern end does offer some decent opportunities:









And with a mighty(ish) roar off they went, one by one...







I was expecting the usual flypast route at Cranwell, i.e. over the College, southbound, but alas this was the closest I got to getting the formation in the frame with the College...



...because they snuck round the side and flew vaguely west to east instead.



Then it was run and breaks from two sections of three and off to the mess for tea and possibly medals.

[drumsey]

Nice to see so many shots with 6 Dominies in them.

Weather played ball aswell.

Darren

[McG]

Topsides look great Damien.

[Arthur Tee]

Damien,

Great shots - and a nice catch with the College tower.

Arthur

[Stu]

Nice set Damien nearly another one gone.........

[chrisward123]

Fantastic Shots!
Love those Topsides

Christian

[bigcrow]

Excellent set Damien, particulary like the top sides. Another sad day...

[Ben H]

Lovely stuff Damien

[cocker]

Very nice shots and a shame that another classic is being lost.

Nick

[Unknown74]

Loved this plane, there was something about the Dominie I quite liked. Especially when they started painting them black, mind you there was nothing wrong with the Red and White scheme. Gonna miss it this is. Another must for a Museum!

[F-86]

Lovely shots, shame to see these go.

How many are still in airworthy condition?

[DamienB]

Thanks peeps! Understand there are 7 jets left airworthy. I've been digging through my older digital stuff and the tail end of my film shots to see what older Dominie pics I had handy. Not many!

Coningsby, 23rd April 2002 (print scan):


Marham, 29th May 2002 (poor neg scan):


Marham, 11th October 2002 (print scan):


Cranwell, 23rd January 2003 (D60 - first digital SLR shot I have of a Dominie as far as I can see):


Coningsby, 10th February 2003 (D60):




Cosford, 8th May 2003 (10D):


...surprised to find there were black ones kicking about at least as early as 1997 judging by some of the albums on my shelves.

[hydealfred]

Never took alot of interest in the Dominie but now their going I wish I had. I like the shots you have posted here and hopefully I may get to Cranwell tomorrow to see the farewell.

[DamienB]

So, the big day then - Cranwell, 20th January 2011. Eight Dominies out on the line, six scheduled to fly the final flypast, and six airborne.

Thankfully nobody parked a Tucano in the way today...



XS739/F led taxied out first...











Not quite the College shot I was after as the formation was rather high but it certainly worked better than on Tuesday! Obviously the chap at the back of the formation disgraced the rest of them by having one of his landing lights off/broken. Thanks to Karl Drage for confirming the flypast was going to be north-south this time!







And then as the local cops had kindly put paid to a dash to the eastern end for some landing shots by blocking the only safe parking area off (despite no problems on Tuesday), I stayed put for some more break shots. One of each jet this time:















Finishing off with a post-shutdown lineup shot with a spare jet in the front:



Apparently next week there will be two delivery flights of Dominies going into preservation at Duxford and Cosford. It would be nice if the Cosford jet takes a short detour through the Welsh hills to permit some shots like this...

[redskin301]

Beautiful shots A pitty that these aircraft will leave us

[AnglianAV8R]

Well, I guess we did at least get our moneys worth out of them. Nice to see that a couple will be preserved too.
Thanks for sharing pics of the old red & white scheme, always preferred them like that.

[PorkScratching]

Superb shots Damien, and well done for capturing their last hurrah. Always had a soft spot for them from when they used to regularly show up at BHX in the 1980s for practice instrument approaches, with the not-quite-mighty roar of a couple of Vipers as they went around.

[Hebejebe37]

Thanks for sharing the Dominies last day, excellent pictures of an other RAF aircraft's retirement. Do you have any idea which airframes are being preserved?

[DamienB]

Sorry, no idea. And apparently it's a "no" to any last low-level trip - shame.

[markjayne]

A very crisp set of images, very nice indeed

Mark

[StephenEThomas]

Sorry, no idea. And apparently it's a "no" to any last low-level trip - shame.

Are there any details known about the Cosford delivery? Would be nice to catch final landings

Steve

[Unknown74]

As with the Harrier Fleet and everything else which is being assessed etc as part of this ludicrous and ill-thoughtout review I don't think anyone knows for sure what is actually going to happen or what is going to end up where?

[T_J]

Superb coverage, Damien. You certainly know how to work an airfield!



TJ

[wv383]

Always had a bit of a thing for the original HS125/Dominie so to see its retirement is a bit sad. Great to see some images in the orignal scheme too and well done for yet again capturing the retirement of another classic British jet. Glad to see that a couple at least will be preserved.

[Pen Pusher]

Great to see some images in the orignal scheme too

The original colour scheme was silver and dayglo.

Brian