RAF Leeming
Friends of Leeming
Aviation Group base visit
13:00 – 16:00 : 14 June
2016
The sun shone throughout the day on what was our first visit of
the year to our host station and as ever ‘Meds’ provided us with
a full programme including the now obligatory visit to the
flight-line but it was just a pity that the Hawks were a little
further away from us than usual !
all ‘having seen it all before’ but having not seen them for a
few years I took the opportunity at this years Teesside Airshow
the previous month to actually stand and watch them throughout
the display and although restrictions may have been placed upon
them post-Shoreham I thought they were superb and judging from
the reaction of the other 17,999 people there – I think they did
too ! What was particularly interesting was Chris’s explanation
of how they deal with any mid-air emergency which might occur
during their routine and how it is normally dealt with by
a
‘sitting on your hands’ approach and flying it through and only
in the highest of emergencies would they break formation and
then in a very regimented and pre-planned maneuver to release
the jet with the problem . The biggest worry for the pilots
would appear to be not selecting your smoke correctly as this
would occur a financial penalty and at the seasons end the
defaulters kitty can be quite full !
Gate
The Tornado now sits on the gate ‘proper’ after it’s moved from
outside of the 90 SUHQ over the previous weekend , 11-12 June .
The aircraft is situated on a gravel hard-standing alongside the
guardroom and outside of the base perimeter but it may still be
advisable to seek permission for photography before doing so ?
Tornado F3
carries the insignia of 11 , 23 and 25 Sqdns on its tail
, all former resident F3 squadrons .
ZA600 Tornado GR4 fuselage hulk dumped outside of RTP hangar amongst several wing and tail sections . All were unmarked except for the 40th Anniversary special tail from GR4 ZD788 .
100 Squadron
The usual squadron flightline apron is currently undergoing some
maintenance work and the Hawks are using the VAS apron outside
of the old control tower . Noted parked out and/or flying were ;
XX332/CD
Hawk T1A
XX321/CI
XX329/CJ
XX255/CL
XX230/CM
XX256
208 special tail
Hangar
XX203/CC
Hawk T1A
XX258/CE
XX284/CN
XX200/CO
XX265/CP
XX239/239
Hawk T1W
11AEF/NUAS
G-BYUF
Tutor T1
circuits
G-BYWP
ditto
ditto
Visitors
ZA541/034
Tornado GR4
c/s Lossie 08 . Full stop landing for RTP !
ZA602/XV-F
ditto
c/s Baton 22 , circuits , 15 special tail , large XV in red
With thanks to Meds ,
Smythy and Colin Fawcett .