Life as a spotter 'back in the day' was a bit more exciting and varied than it is now. Phil's logbook records numerous weekly trips to East Anglia, and Mildenhall and Lakenheath especially to see what visiting traffic was visible from the outside. Sometimes, it was even possible to get on base and grab some much closer pictures.
All of the following were taken (in black and white) on Tuesday, 4 May 1976.
The day started with a quick trip to Mildenhall where the following were recorded:
156469 EC-130Q
80094, 80074 KC-135As
96579 C-130E
And...
55-0022 NC-130A of the 7900th Test Sqn photobombing a 1966 Ford Zephyr
With those in the bag, next was Lakenheath.
Two visiting West German Air Force F-4Fs, 3863 and 3827 parked up with, ahem, two Indiana ANG F-100s (one D model and one F model) taking off in the distance.
The F-100s were visiting as part of a 'Coronet Prize' deployment, and would leave a couple of days later.
56-3331 F-100D Super Sabre of the 181 TFG/113 TFS, Indiana ANG
But the majority of the day was spent on base at Marham capturing the Canberras and Victor tankers based there:
XH589, XH591, XH621, XA926, XA928, XA927 and XA937 Victor K.1/K.1As of 214 Sqn
XL160, XL190, ZL188, XL191, XL233 Victor K.2s from Nos 55 and 57 Sqns
XH619 and XA940 on the dump
WJ870, WE188, WJ681, WJ677 231OCU Canberras
WE113, WJ753, WH903, WK162 100 Sqn Canberras
WH703 scrapped
And, of course,
XD818 Valiant B.1 Gate Guard
XA928 Victor K.1, 214 Squadron
XH591 Victor K.1A, 57 Squadron
XL160 Victor K.2, 55 Squadron
WK106/O Canberra T.19, 100 Squadron
WE113/H Canberra B.2, 100 Squadron
Remaining pictures from the day can be found on Phil's Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/130782777@N06/
A Day in the Life - Graf Zeppelin Out and About, 4 May 1976
- Ruislip Rustler
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Re: A Day in the Life - Graf Zeppelin Out and About, 4 May 1976
Cool pics as usual.
I was just getting used to stuff flying around at the tender age of 5 then.
I was just getting used to stuff flying around at the tender age of 5 then.
Re: A Day in the Life - Graf Zeppelin Out and About, 4 May 1976
Thank you for those reminders. Those were the days for spotting, by then I had almost 20 years of numbers in my log-book, having joined the ROC in the early 50s and done 2 years National Service in the RAF. I re-joined the ROC in the early 70s, but they had now gone nuclear and so I joined the MOD and managed to get some real flying in, however that is another story.
Per Ardua ad Astra
Re: A Day in the Life - Graf Zeppelin Out and About, 4 May 1976
Fantastic selection Lee - many thanks to both you and of course Phil.
Andy
Andy