Dean's 2021 in aviation

Photos of operational aircraft from bases, airports and "spotter" outings
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DeanW
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Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 10:18 am

Dean's 2021 in aviation

Post by DeanW »

My year started off slowly, no surprise considering we were still living with a fair amount of restrictions, so my first avition day out was at Lakenheath in April so catch some sunny Eagle action..

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A trip to the Cotswolds in late April caught a circuit bashing U-2 at Fairford and then a good amount of based moves at Brize..

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A mid-May Mildenhall trip to catch a KC-46..

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1st June at Waddington provided my first Posideon MRA1 as well as an early morning Sentry AEW1 which was heading off to Akrotiri..

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One of the best days out of the year was when POTUS came to Mildenhall. Obviously it was epic to catch the VC-25 and C-32 in lovely light but also good to see so many familiar friendly faces after a long, long time..

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My first airshow since Airpower '19 was Headcorn. Nice to see the DC-3s operating off the grass runway!

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A day-and-a-bit were spent at RAF Valley while on holiday for some Hawk action..

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Mildenhall provided a decent day during August with a pair of MC-12s and a NATO E-3A being the highlights..

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Athens Flying Week was my first overseas aviation adventure in two loooong years and what a show it was! We spent Sat-Mon on base at Tanagra with the undoubted highlight being the T-2 Buckeye departure on the Monday..

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I'd backed up a lot of annual leave to enjoy a fortnight of aviation in late September. A European road trip took in Luxueil's show (although I didn't get anything decent image wise) followed by a few days at Orange-Caritat before taking in the Swiss bases of Meiringen and Payerne..

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The second week of my fortinght off was spent hunting down Croatian Fishbeds. The Monday of our visit saw no MiG-21 flying so we popped over the border to the Slovenian base of Cerklje Ob Krki which was followed by two days at the Zagreb fence delivering a decent amount of MiG-21 movements..

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COP26 was too good an opportunity to miss, so a few days up in Scotland were spent in early November chasing some nice gems..

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Naff weather for a day at Fairford, although the sunset was half decent..

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Nice to see the Bentwaters Jaguar under the lights, although it was a big shame that technical gremlins prevented it from running..

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Finishing the year off as it started with a trip to Lakenheath, this time to catch the SJ birds in some rare winter sunshine..

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Well done if you've made it this far! Hopefully we can all enjoy a far more normal 2022!

Thanks,
Dean

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Seamus
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Re: Dean's 2021 in aviation

Post by Seamus »

Absolutely superb as always mate, quite a year you've had! Too many winners to pick a favourite, just amazing quality and variety :clap:
My shots on Flickr and Airliners

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LN Strike Eagle
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Re: Dean's 2021 in aviation

Post by LN Strike Eagle »

Very nice Dean. The shot of AF1 at Mildenhall is great, and I love the winter SJ departures too. Happy New Year.
"You really are an oafish philistine at times!"

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pako-2008
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Re: Dean's 2021 in aviation

Post by pako-2008 »

Lovely set Dean, particularly the French, Croatian and COP26 offerings.

Great to catch up with you guys at Tanagra, hope you have just as a rewarding 2022 mate.
Cheers
Aaron

DeanW
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Re: Dean's 2021 in aviation

Post by DeanW »

Thanks very much, chaps. Happy New Year to you all!

Domvickery
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Re: Dean's 2021 in aviation

Post by Domvickery »

Hard to pick a favourite from these, you had a stonking year
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GeorgeP
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Re: Dean's 2021 in aviation

Post by GeorgeP »

All images are excellent, Dean, and you've inspired me to attend the Athens flying week when I'm in Greece again. It's my parents' birthplace and where some our family live, so no excuses for me. :wink:
Cheers,

George

Melbourne, Australia.

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Blackbird
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Re: Dean's 2021 in aviation

Post by Blackbird »

What a belter of a year!! Superb set 👏👏👏

DeanW
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Re: Dean's 2021 in aviation

Post by DeanW »

Thanks again guys!
GeorgeP wrote:
Wed 05 Jan 2022, 2:11 am
All images are excellent, Dean, and you've inspired me to attend the Athens flying week when I'm in Greece again. It's my parents' birthplace and where some our family live, so no excuses for me. :wink:
It's well worth doing. You're almost guaranteed a lot of items that you won't see elsewhere and *touch wood* you'll have decent weather too.

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