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March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2024 1:58 pm
by Keflavik69
Early 1971 I went together with the late Hans de Ree to Laarbruch to see if we could photograph the aircraft during a very cold winterday. It turned out to be a very narrow, limited view in the westwind approach. All in all a difficult airfield for photographing because on the other side of the base the presence of photographers was not appreciated at all as you were very close to the Bloodhound missiles.
Laarbruch 11 March 1971. Canberra WJ768 51sqdn fc by
arnold booy, on Flickr
Laarbruch 11 March 1971. Canberra WJ879 fc by
arnold booy, on Flickr
Laarbruch 11 March 1971. Canberra WT341 16sqdn fc by
arnold booy, on Flickr
Laarbruch 11 March 1971. Canberra WT346 fc by
arnold booy, on Flickr
Laarbruch 11 March 1971. Canberra WT347 3sqdn fc by
arnold booy, on Flickr
Laarbruch 11 March 1971. Canberra XH583 fc by
arnold booy, on Flickr
Laarbruch 11 March 1971. Canberra XM244 3 sqdn fc by
arnold booy, on Flickr
Laarbruch 11 March 1971. Canberra XM262 16sqdn fc by
arnold booy, on Flickr
Laarbruch 11 March 1971. Canberra XM263 16sqdn fc by
arnold booy, on Flickr
Laarbruch 11 March 1971. Canberra XM264 fc by
arnold booy, on Flickr
Laarbruch 11 March 1971. Canberra XM277 3sqdn fc by
arnold booy, on Flickr
Laarbruch 11 March 1971. Buccaneer XW527 15sqdn fc by
arnold booy, on Flickr
Laarbruch 11 March 1971. Buccaneer XW528 15sqdn fc by
arnold booy, on Flickr
Laarbruch 11 March 1971. Buccaneer XW530 15sqdn fc by
arnold booy, on Flickr
I hope you found these pictures of interest.
Kind regards,
Arnold
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2024 2:33 pm
by Precinct7
thanks you Arnold, a wonderful set of Canberra shot,s
a great looking aircraft, the German based aircraft were never a common sight in the UK
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2024 6:44 pm
by Punkrunner62
Great to see a selection of Canberra images and all high quality black and white, always a fine medium in my opinion, thanks Arnold.
Cheers.
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2024 6:58 pm
by roughcutter
Keflavik69 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 1:58 pm
the presence of photographers was not appreciated at all as you were very close to the Bloodhound missiles.
Er, there was a cold war going on Arnold
But all credit to you bud, Fortune favours the bold!
Fantastic set of images, thanks for sharing them with us.
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2024 7:31 pm
by Rick
Wow, look at those gorgeous Canberras. Super quality
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2024 9:07 pm
by F3
Excellent, as always, Arnold; esp liking WT347 in 3 Sqn mks. Those with the black fuselage band will be 16 Sqn. Also those must be the first Buccs to arrive @ Laarbruch.
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2024 10:34 pm
by Vulcanone
Excellent shots Arnold, more please...
By the end of 1972 they had all gone...
All initally stored at St Athan, some were purchased by Marshalls of Cambridge however. And refurbished for onward sale to Peru.
Some may even survive out there today, although after a long time use as decoys, they scrapped a fair number a few years back.
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2024 12:07 am
by teeonefixer
Fantastic shots Arnold!
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2024 4:39 am
by paddyboy
What a fabulous set, Arnold
Made all the better for being b/w, imho
Always loved the Canberra displays back in the 60’s and 70’s (far too few)
Got to be the B(I)8 shots for me
Thanks for posting
Paddyboy
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2024 8:33 am
by Mustang531
Thanks Arnold, Canberra Heaven, I've really enjoyed looking at this wonderful selection of shots. Living near Biggin Hill, we really only had the At Home Day each September to see a good selection of RAF types. I do remember seeing a Canberra B(I).8 in the static display a couple of times. After retirement, WT346 was allocated to the RAF Museum and arrived at Colerne for display there, before later moving to Cosford. Then later sold off and shipped out to New Zealand. I believe it's still in deep storage there. The last one in the UK was WT339, which lingered on the dump at Barkston Heath, but had expired a few years ago. But at least there's still one in Germany. Thanks for sharing these with us.
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2024 8:40 am
by ridgmeister
Another great selection!
Thank you for sharing your images, I really enjoy seeing them.
Cheers,
Paul
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2024 10:57 am
by Vulcanone
Mustang531 The RNZAF museum has loaned the B(I).8 out to another museum in NZ, its inside, and slowly being restored. As for WT339... Its still there!
As for other B(I).8s WT333 at Bruntingthorpe still is technically a B(I).8 ! Despite the RAE Nose job
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2024 2:27 pm
by Rick
Vulcanone wrote: ↑Sat Mar 02, 2024 10:57 am
Mustang531 The RNZAF museum has loaned the B(I).8 out to another museum in NZ, its inside, and slowly being restored. As for WT339... Its still there!
As for other B(I).8s WT333 at Bruntingthorpe still is technically a B(I).8 ! Despite the RAE Nose job
.
Sorry to hijack this thread but some great progress has been made on WT346 in New Zealand
https://nzwarbirds.org.nz/association/c ... storation/
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2024 7:32 pm
by Blue Diamond
Thanks for sharing all those lovely Canberras.
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2024 7:51 pm
by 32FIS
Very nice Arnold,
Groeten Ton van Schaik
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2024 8:08 am
by xkekeith
Another excellent post, WJ768 was a B.6(mod) and served with 51 Squadron, who operated detachments at Laarbruch.
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:50 pm
by Vulcanone
Rick wrote: ↑Sat Mar 02, 2024 2:27 pm
Vulcanone wrote: ↑Sat Mar 02, 2024 10:57 am
Mustang531 The RNZAF museum has loaned the B(I).8 out to another museum in NZ, its inside, and slowly being restored. As for WT339... Its still there!
As for other B(I).8s WT333 at Bruntingthorpe still is technically a B(I).8 ! Despite the RAE Nose job
.
Sorry to hijack this thread but some great progress has been made on WT346 in New Zealand
https://nzwarbirds.org.nz/association/c ... storation/
Thanks Rick, Its finally getting some TLC.
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:54 pm
by Petepilot
Brilliant post Arnold, as we have come to expect (I get excited on seeing your posts, even before I have opened them!
)
Many thanks for sharing, and as always, more please!
Re: March 11, 1971. Laarbruch
Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2024 10:24 am
by Sparts99
I was at ATC camp there a few years later when XV and 16 Sqns had Buccaneers, 2 Sqn Jaguars. One evening we went for a walk to look at the decoy Canberras, that didn't go down well.
