In October 2021 a monument was unveiled in Almere, The Netherlands. This monument has been erected to commemorate the crew of Short Stirling BK716, the bomber that was recovered from the Markermeer last year. Having been discovered by accident already in 2008, when part of a landing gear became attached to the anchor of a ship, it wasn’t until 2018 when the recovery became a real possibility.
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In July 1961 three NATO squadrons which all had a tiger in their emblem got together at RAF Woodbridge in the United Kingdom and held the first ‘Tiger Meet’. This turned into a yearly tradition that is still going strong today. This year therefor the Tiger Meet reached the age of 60, a birthday which was celebrated well.
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On the 14th of April 2021 the Royal Netherlands Air Force 298 Squadron received the first CH-47F MYII CAAS Chinook helicopter. This is the first of 14 brand new helicopters build by Boeing in the USA. This Chinook is a step forward in building a 5th generation air force that is capable to fight on the digital battle field of the future.
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The Belgian Air Force are renewing their VIP fleet, and the most recent addition has received its full colour scheme at Lelystad in The Netherlands.
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The evening of March 29th, 1943. A young crew of 7 board their Short Stirling bomber with serial BK716 for their third mission. Target is Berlin. A feared destination, because of the heavy defence. And indeed BK716 disappears. For decades nobody knows what happened to them, until last year.
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In July 2020, for the first time in history, Israeli fighter aircraft landed on German soil. Six F-16 ‘Barak’ jets took part in the exercise Blue Wings 2020, together with two KC-707 tankers and two Gulfstream aircraft. Hosting them was fighter wing TLG31 ‘Boelcke’ of the German Luftwaffe, who operate the Eurofighter EF.2000 from Nörvenich air base.
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Seen during the International Aerospace & Defence Exhibition (IADE) that was held in Djerba, Tunesia, was a long lost Harvard.
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In January, the second edition of the Kuwait Aviation Show was held under the patronage of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. During four days over 60.000 visitors witnessed some 60 aircraft and helicopters on the ground and in the air and companies from no less than 37 countries presented themselves.
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Kuwait might not be the first location that comes to mind when you are thinking about aviation history, but there are some nice gems there. Some of them are a challenge to find though.
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Within the NATO community, one air arm is still operating the MiG-21. The Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo or Croatian Air Force fly their daily missions with the venerable fighter, protecting the South-eastern flank of the NATO territory.
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