RAF Greenham Common IAT 1983 - with added Phantoms !

[xkekeith]

The last IAT at RAF Greenham Common was held in 1983 celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Phantom with an impressive line up. The show was also well supported by the USAF and the UK test establishment. I spent the Friday under the approach photographing the arrivals, here is a selection below:

Italian's
MM61995 '46-09' C-130H 46 Aerobrigatta ItAF by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

MM54492 '36' MB339A SUBIA ItAF by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

Old style camo RAF Phantom
XV574 'Z' Phantom FG1 111 Sqn RAF by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

72175 PT A-7D 112 TFG PA ANG USAF by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

XH558 as a tanker before it became an ornament for an effluent treatment works.
XH558 Vulcan K.2 RAF 50 Sqn by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

1123/C rd Saab 105 OL Karo As Austrian AF by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

The show featured 11 German Phantoms.....
37+65 F-4F JbG36 WGAF by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

12491 VC-140B 58 MAS USAF by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

The SR-71 before it's unauthorised repaint...
17980 SR-71A 9th SRW Det 4 USAF by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

639817 EC-130E 193 ECG PA ANG USAF by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

Argosy visited as the crew bus
XN817 Argosy C1 A&AEE RAE Boscombe Down by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

RAE Dove also on crew transport duties
XA880 Devon C2 RAE Llanbedr by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

WG655 'GN910' Sea Fury T20 FAA HF RN by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

XT661 Viscount RAE Bedford by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

Soon to be written off Jaguar:
XX915 Jaguar T.2 ETPS by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

A selection of Canberra's
99+35 Canberra B2 Mil Geo Amt by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

XH132 Shorts SC9 RAE Bedford by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

WH876 Canberra D14 A&AEE RAE Boscombe Down by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

XX919 BAC 1'11 RAE Farnborough by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

A classic of a show at a classic airfield, whilst the runway has been dug up the Control Tower has been restored and is now open with a cafe in the middle of a nature reserve. Well worth a visit.

[xkekeith]

Added Phantoms and a bonus lizard T-39:

This camo 26 TFW pair landed in poor light unfortunately..
67469 & 72146 'ZR' RF-4C 26 TFW USAF by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

Grey 29 Sqn
XV406 'D' Phantom FGR2 29 Sqn RAF by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

Grey 228 OCU
XV401 'B' Phantom FGR2 228 OCU RAF by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

AFCC T-39A
24453 T-39A AFCC USAF lizard c/s by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

[Knife 04]

Great post Keith - remember it well. My first IAT as a member of FIAT - spent the day in the enclosure marvelling at all the different types arriving. SR-71 made 2 passes as well - fantastic

Visit the place most weekends to walk the dog and often stop for a coffee at the tower (dog friendly) - nicely done with a great viewing area at the top

Darren

[NickB]

My first IAT after a long overnight journey up from Cornwall arriving in the early hours of the Saturday morning in the middle of a massive thunderstorm!
Fantastic line up and variety of types - not wanting to be greedy, but I so wish that Argosy had also stayed - it is one aircraft I never got to see before it's crash at West Freugh.
I now live in nearby Thatcham and regularly cycle up on to GC - the runway centre section is still there. Nice to sit on it on a sunny day and dream of the aircraft that once took off from that very spot!

[Timmo]

That's a brilliant set of images, thanks for sharing.

[Magpie]

Thanks for sharing. I have good memories of that show. Was so busy during arrivals that it took some smart planning to load new films into the camera's

[Seahawk 11]

Just fantastic, I also remember the show well, I went on the Saturday only,

Rob

[F3]

That was a great show and the Phantom line - up truly phabulous. All the RAF F-4 sqns. were represented, even 23 which was @ Stanley. Also a Ramstein F-4E with probably the largest ever sharkmouth!

[Mike]

Wonderful shots, let's not forget the line of 11 WGAF F-4s in the static display, what a sight that was!

[WinchesterMGF]

Great show and great photos. I went as a FIAT member for the 1st time so was there for arrivals as well as both show days. I recall that on the short drive home in my Mini on the Friday I was daydreaming about having seen the Blackbird approach and go-arounds and due to not paying attention I managed to rear end a Volvo estate at a Basingstoke roundabout. Not a scratch on the Volvo - Mini had a permanent squint after that...

[Blue Diamond]

For some reason I never went to this show so thanks for showing me something of what I missed.

[david14]

Excellent stuff, didn't get to GC or that IAT unfortunately

[Ferrari]

Great photos of great aeroplanes.

The Phantoms seem to have a high angle of attack - was this normal? (didn't get to see too many flying)

Regards,
Ferrari

[xkekeith]

That was a great show and the Phantom line - up truly phabulous. All the RAF F-4 sqns. were represented, even 23 which was @ Stanley. Also a Ramstein F-4E with probably the largest ever sharkmouth!

23 Sqn Phantom
XV501 'B' Phantom FGR2 23 Sqn RAF by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

Ramstein sharkmouth F-4E
68480 RS F-4E 512 TFS 86 TFw USAF by Keith Heywood, on Flickr

[Knife 04]

Love that Shark Mouth on the F-4E! Massive! - Oh the memories of these!

[paddyboy]

Hi Keith

Phabulous set there

Look at all those Boscombe Down 'frames

Thanks for posting

Paddyboy

[The Phantom]

Cracking set of images

And as Paddy says - so many Boscombe aircraft back then

[LTFT5]

Cracking set all together, great schemes and frames.
All the best
Andy

[F3]

Thanks for the additions which are great. Here are a few more incl. the other USAF sharkmouths in the line - up.

Zweibrucken Sharkmouth - IAT '83 by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Spangdahlem Sharkmouth - IAT '83 by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Keflavik bird - IAT '83 by Michael Britton, on Flickr

F-4 Tails - IAT '83 by Michael Britton, on Flickr

[hvaneupen]

Couldn't resist, inspired by good memories of this great show. Thanks for that!