Issue 7 – December 2016
Seven months into this great adventure, excitement remains high with every email that comes into our inbox. Besides our community of core contributors, who I thank wholeheartedly, there is an evergrowing group of spotters who contribute special highlights in their hobby. Our thanks to everyone. Especially those in countries where our passion is not well understood. This month has been a breakthrough in our readership, with our first readers in a number of African countries. Slowly but surely, this is becoming an everlarger worldwide community. Mark Zerafa Editor
Got Something to Share? If you have anything aviation related, be it photos, articles or artworks, please contact us on:
Spottermagmalta@gmail.com
Cover Photo: Tucking in close‌ an Armed Forces of Malta Bulldog formates close to the camera (Mark Zerafa)
Contents Exercise Iniohos
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Adieu Bobby!
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Emirates A330 Farewell
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Bangladeshi Treasures
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Maltese Bulldogs
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Heli Air A-109 Ops
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Istres Airshow
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Dreidecker
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Credits Mark Zerafa, Massimiliano Zammit, Svetlan Simov, Stamatis Alipasalis, Shadman Samee, Richard J Caruana, Baptiste Laurent
Editorial Address: 238, Morning Star, Manuel Dimech Str Sliema SLM 1052 MALTA, EUROPE
Editor: Profiles: Design Assistant:
Mark Zerafa Richard J. Caruana Massimiliano Zammit
Copyright Notice
Inner Cover: Off into the sunset. A Heli Air A109 lifts off from the mountains in Bulgaria. (Sevtlan Simov)
All photos and articles remain the intellectual and artistic property or the respective credited persons. All unauthorised reproduction, by any means, both printed and digital, is considered an infringement of this copyright and all remedies available by law will be taken against any infringements of such copyright.
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Photos: Stamatis Alipasalis Text Stamatis Alipasalis
Held at Andravida AB, Greece, last year, Exercise Ionohos saw the deployment of all fast-jet types of the Hellenic Air Force, together with a dozen F-16Is from the Israeli Air Force.
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Exercise Iniohos (Charioteer) 2015 was held between Monday 20th to Thursday, 30th April, 2015 at Andravida AFB . A multidisciplinary mediumscale exercise, Iniohos 2015 was organized together with the Hellenic Navy’s exercise "Lightning". The exercise saw the participation of naval, aerial and terrestrial assets, and for the first time, involved foreign participation from Israel and the USA. Since 2014, the exercise has adopted a model whereby it would all be co-ordinated from a single base through all the phases of the mission, from design to execution, thus creating a more realistic environment with a fast pace of operations, thus maximizing the learning element.
Taking a similar format to the Red Flag exercises, Andravida became a hive of activity, further amplified with the arrival of twelve Israeli Air Force F-16I Sufa fighter-bombers, drawn from four squadrons, namely 107 "Knights of the Orange Tail" Squadron, based at Hatzerim AB, 119 "Bat" Squadron, 201 "The One" Squadron, and 253 "Negev" Squadron, all based at Ramon AB. Missions were varied, and were conducted throughout the Athens FIR, with operations in areas such as aerial interception, fighter escort duties, air-to-surface operations, combat search and rescue and naval support. Flying was conducted at a very rapid pace both day and night, providing realistic training for operations in a real wartime environment.
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The Hellenic Air Force has one of Europe’s most modern F-16 fleets, these being F-16C and D models from Block 30 standard onwards. 17
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Adieu Bobby! Photos: Mark Zerafa Text: Mark Zerafa
On October 31st, Lufthansa flew its last flight with a Boeing 737, bringing to an end a 48-year era. This was a particularly significant moment, as the German flag carrier was the launch customer for what is today the world’s most massproduced jet airliner.
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On February 19th, 1965, Lufthansa was the launch customer of the 737-100, with an order for 22 aircraft. This was the first time a non-US airline had launched an American airliner. The 737-100s would remain in service till 1982. Eventually, no less than 155 737s were operated by the German airline, these being of the Classic types, in both passenger and cargo configurations. However, the airline then opted for the Airbus A320 family instead of the 737NG variants for its fleet renewal. The only 737s remaining in Lufthansa colours are two 737-500s held by Lufthansa Technic for training purposes.
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Lufthansa’s 737s were common sights in most European hubs. D-ABIU (left), seen here at Schiphol, was a 737-500, c/n 24944. First flown in May 8th 1991, it was retired in August 2015. Since March2016, she has been operated by Peruvian Airlines as OB-2124-P. Seen at Hamburg, D-ABEE (below), a 737-300 was one of the last to be retired, last tracked in Orlando, Florida on November 28th, 2016.
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Lufthansa Cargo 737 freighters were regular weekly visitors at Luqa Airport.
DECEMBER 2016 Until the early nineties, the 737200 was still a common sight in Europe. Like many others, DABHN found a second lease of life with LAN Chile.
Built in January 1971, D-ABGE was converted into a freighter in 1985. It flew for Lufthansa till May 1993, after which it wa soperated by Air Atlanta Icelandic and Ameristar.
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Emirates A330 Farewell Photos: Mark Zerafa Text: Mark Zerafa
Another common sight is no more. On November 10th, 2016, Emirates has retired the last of its Airbus A330s, leaving it with a fleet entirely composed of A380s and 777s. In its heyday, the airline operated 29 A330s.
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Bangladeshi Treasures Photos: Shadman Samee Text: Shadman Samee
The Bangladeshi Air Force’s second largest base, BAF Zhaurul Haque at Chittagong, hosts a noteworthy collection of warbirds.
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Two former Pakistani Air Force Canadair Sabre Mk.6s survive. The aircraft were sabotaged with the departure of Pakistani forces, but at least two were airworthy for the first Independence Day Parade in 1972. At least five are known to have served with the air force, although the aircraft wore a natural-metal finish with red intakes while in BAF service. 1606 acts as a gate guard at the recruits training centre inside the base. The other survivor, 1802 is at the BAF Museum.
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A number of former 21 Squadron A-5Cs and FT-6s are in open storage. These were retired in 2013. The A-5Cs have now been replaced by Yak-130s. The FT-6s were used primarily as conversion trainers for the A-5Cs.
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DECEMBER 2016 Four NZAI Airtourer CT4s were purchased by the BAF. One is known to have crashed, killing the then chief of the air force AVM Bashar.
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Maltese Bulldogs Photos: Mark Zerafa Colour Profiles: Richard J. Caruana Text: Mark Zerafa
A total of five former Royal Air Force Bulldogs have served with the Air Wing of the Armed Forces of Malta. Replacing the Cessna O-1 Bird Dogs, the Bulldogs were used as coastal patrol aircraft, and later as trainers. The four surviving aircraft are currently earmarked for disposal.
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Heli Air Mountain Ops Photos: Svetlan Simov Text: Svetlan Simov
Better known for its Mi-8 operations with the UN in Africa, Bulgarian company Heli Air has also diversified by providing helicopter services in the mountains of Bulgaria, using a pair of Agust A109K2s. The aircraft have a dual purpose. The first is mountain search and rescue. The second is the support of a tourist enterprise, which offers hot-air balloon flights in the mountains. The only way to transport these hot-air balloons to their launching point, at heights of over 2000 metres, is via helicopter.
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Istres Airshow Photos: Laurent Baptiste Text: Mark Zerafa
Istres is a major military air base in France. Home to Mirage 2000 and KC-135FR units, it also hosts the CEV (Centre Essais de Vol) flight test squadron. The airshow, held last June offered spotters some very interesting sights.
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The French Air Force operates a fleet of 11 C-135FRs and 3 KC135FRs. Unlike their American counterparts, the refuelling systems have been changed for the probe-and-drogue system used by all French aircraft.
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The Ramex Delta team presented one of its Mirage 2000s in a special colour scheme to commemorate the centenary of the ‘Lafayette’ squadron, formed by American volunteer pilots in the First World War. The first part of their display is a stunning demonstration of close formation flying, followed by a tactical role demonstration.
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An Armee de l’Air Rafale B escorts a Dassault Neuron experimental UAV during the flight demonstration. A multinational project with input from France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, Neuron is a stealthy, autonomous UAV which can operate in high-threat combat zones.
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Ordered in July 2010, the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s twelve Macchi M-346 trainers are based in France at Cazaux.
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Dreidecker Photos: Mark Zerafa Text: Mark Zerafa
Flown to immortality as the last mount of the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, the Fokker DR.1 Dreidecker (triplane) caused a big stir when it appeared on the front in World War I. Although its performance was not exceptional compared to other fighters at the time, it possessed incredible agility. SE-XXZ is a replica which flies regularly in flying displays in Northern Europe.
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