Anyway, with news about departures from the Russian bases always rather hard to come by in a timely fashion, this involved another one of those epic last-minute expeditions from London via the Dover-Calais ferry, followed by the long haul across Europe to Finow, which was situated quite close to Berlin. Unlike some other departures, this one took place on a quite glorious day, with wall-to-wall sunshine in evidence. Access to the base was gained on payment of the usual modest admittance fee - I think it was five marks each, but it might have been a bit more than that. Whatever, it was well worth it. Unfortunately, access to the flight line was denied, but there was an area close to the taxiway at the eastern end of the base that presented plenty of scope for photography - and, amazingly, the sun was in just the right place...
The first image shows the Finow flight line shortly before the first aircraft left, while the second shows one of the 30 MiG-29s that resided here heading out past the flightline, which also contained three MiG-23UB two-seaters. One of the ubiquitous scarecrows is also visble, this being a particularly colourful example of the genre...
On this occasion, the first aircraft to leave were a pair of MiG-29UB 'Fulcrum-B' two-seaters, which were probably crewed by senior personnel of the 787th. White 11 was typical, the other being White 33.
These were followed by 28 examples of the Fulcrum-C or 'Fatback' as it was familiarly known in recognition of the humped profile when compared with the original Fulcrum-A. While some bases possessed a mix of Fulcrum-As and Fulcrum-Cs, Finow used only the latter version (excluding the trainers) and its MiG-29s were allocated codes (Bort numbers) in two separate ranges, specifically White 01 to White 10 consecutively and a second range occupying most of the White 68 to White 89 sequence (although there were a few omissions). As far as I can remember, once the MiG-29UBs had gone, the Fulcrum-Cs went in pairs in numerical order of their codes. White 07 is about to take the runway, having being given last chance checks by the technician visible at the left.
White 09 would have been the lead aircraft of the next pair and is also seen as it moved out to the runway, with smoke trails from the previous two being faintly visible in the distance...
I have no idea if the aircraft that used codes from 68 onwards were to a different standard, but it is possible that they may have been, as all of them also carried underwing auxiliary fuel tanks, unlike White 01 to White 10. White 68 is typical of these Fulcrum-Cs.
A convenient hillock (I said hillock...) provided an elevated viewpoint for White 72, which is seen heading for last chance as a pair of Fulcrums wait in the background to begin their take-off roll. Like quite a few of the Finow aircraft, White 72 carried a different Bort number (67) on the fin tips for some reason.
Part of the flight line is visible to the right of this head-on shot on my 300 mm lens of White 77 moving out to leave. The main air inlet doors are shut to avoid possible FOD ingestion, with auxiliary inlets on the upper surfaces providing air to the engines. One of the Russians nearby became a little agitated while I was taking this shot, evidently concerned that I wasn't going to move out of the way, but there was more than enough time to get this and then switch to a smaller lens for some closer shots (no 120-400 zoom for me in those days - it was all fixed focal length stuff). The centreline fuel tank between the engine bays is also evident in this view.
A technician lounges in the background as White 80 (70 on fin tip) awaits its turn to depart from Finow, this being one of the final few Fulcrums to go.
A somewhat enthusiastic throttle manipulation resulted in a cloud of black smoke being emitted by White 87 (67 on fin tip) as it left the last chance check area.
And rather more smoke is evident in this view of a pair of Fulcrums beginning their take-off roll. As you can see, it was possible to get quite close to the runway end...
Bringing up the rear were the Flogger-Cs that still flew with the 787th and I make no apology for including shots of all three of these handsome beasts. All were in the usual MiG-23/27 ferry configuration with three auxiliary tanks. Red 20 went first...
Followed by Red 22...
And then Blue 62...
The final pair of aircraft to go were MiG-23UBs Red 22 and Blue 62, with the latter claiming the distinction of being the last fighter to leave Finow - getting airborne at exactly 1136 local time.
