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On December 1st 1953 313 Squadron was activated at Volkel AB. Because of operational commitments the celebration of 50th anniversary was held on April 1st and 2nd 2004. Also a spottersday for local spottersgroups was held. On Thursday April 1st about 200 spotters were invited at Twenthe AB and saw the new Tiger F-16AM, the J-366, during the afternoon mission. This aircraft features a very nice painted tiger tail.
Tigers are Go!
On March 31st the Tiger F-16 was shown to the families of the 313 Squadron members. The F-16 was towed out of a hangar with a lot of smoke and noice (music). They also showed their Tiger Volkswagen. The demo F-16AM (J-016) and PC-7 (L-08) of 131 Squadron (with the old 313 badge in his tail) gave their demo's for the public and the many spotters outside the airbase.
Years ago, a reunion like this used to attract many foreign visitors, although this hasn't been the case for the last couple of years. This year, only two AG-51 Tornado IDS of the German Air Force (callsign "GermanAF SW51A and B") and two Super Etendards of 11 F/French Navy (callsign "French Navy 5184A and B") showed up. They all arrived on Wednesday March 31st and flew two missions on April 1st with the F-16's of 313 Squadron.
44+48 Tornado IDS
44+17 Tornado IDS
J-366 F-16AM
J-138 F-16AM
51 Super Etendard
55 Super Etendard
55 Super Etendard
J-511 F-16AM
J-016 F-16AM
J-056 F-16BM
Seen during the spottersday (12:00 - 16:00):
| Type |
Sqn |
Serials |
| Super Etendards | 11 F/FN | 51 and 55 (55 with tiger fueltanks) |
| Tornado IDS | AG-51/GAF | 43+48 (green c/s) and 44+17 (grey/grey c/s) |
| F-16AM | 313 Squadron | J-145, J-366 (spec c/s), J-508, J-511, J-875 |
| F-16AM | 315 Squadron * | J-058, J-138, J-141 |
| F-16BM | 313 Squadron | J-065 |
| F-16BM | 315 Squadron * | J-067 |
| F-16AM | nb (313) | J-136 (315 badge removed; only grey circle visible) |
| F-16AM | nb (EHLW) | J-016 (demo c/s); 2 demo's |
| F-16BM | 311 Squadron | J-652 (with 313 low viz badge) callsign "Flame" |
* 315 Squadron was deactivated last January; the F-16's are with 313 Squadron but still wear their old 315 badge). Also 315 Squadron callsigns are heard on the scanner and F-16's are still operating out of the 315 hangars).
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