Coningsby Grey Ops

[3Greens]

October 1982 was a grey month with most aircraft now also grey, but as always if there are aircraft to be photographed.. even opted for B&W as colour was a waste of film.

Morning started with IFE as a 23 Sqdn. aircraft XT899:X up from Wattisham had a jammed 'centre gun pack' while on Donna Nook and came in for attention. Cautiously parked well away from everything else and pointing out to the open airfield until it could be effectively made safe.
Ops also went also went a bit 'pearshaped' as crews spent about an hour just in a hold orbit off Cromer due to weather and delay from Neatishead Controllers, which forced an early return and a pretty much wasted afternoon.
Real weather for immersion suits







All made good, crew off for brew while the jet is refuelled









































Hope you liked the walk back in time

[steved]

Flight-line Phantoms. Brilliant.

[Dan D'Air]

I first went to RAF Coningsby in the early 70s and it left me with an unforgettable memory of the power of the RAF. I had never seen so many Phantoms. They seemed to have hundreds of them.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your images.

[DJ17]

Great atmospheric post.

[slogen51]

Smashing shots

(Reminds me of the days when I would buy cheap Ilford FP4 B&W film)

[MRTT]

Cracking shots!

[paddyboy]

Hi Keith

Simply splendid

Takes me back to buying Ilford FP4

Best regards and thanks for posting

Paddyboy

[The Phantom]

Is a very nice set

[3Greens]

Thanks for the comments guys. It was such a lousy day which just got worse.
Indeed Paddyboy and Slogen51 I used to buy 10m lengths of FP4 and load my own cassettes when K25/K64 wasn't practical to use. Many a late night loading the spiral in the developing tank and praying there would be a result.
Digital ? if only 30 years ago

Thanks for looking
3Greens

[F3]

Atmospheric images. Just goes to show that sometimes B&W is best. If this is '82 I'm guessing that these were some of the 1st. Barley grey F4s. Saw one for the first time at the previous year's Waddo' Open Day.

[Petepilot]

Brilliant, more please! B&W certainly looks good and adds some nostalgia. I don't think colour would have looked half as good, even if it were from a digital camera. On top of all that, the subject is the mighty F-4, the best looking jet ever! Thanks for sharing.

[LTFT5]

Hi Keith,
Firstly what a stunning set of photographs thanks for posting.
I was lucky enough in 1979 to have a ramp tour with two school friends, I was 16 at the time.
To be that close to taxying phantoms is something I have never forgotten.
I even managed to get a lift of one of the service guys back home, to Cleethorpes, with all my camping gear.
Happy days.
Awesome shots of an awesome aircraft.
All the best
Andy