The Turkish Air Force - Turk Hava Kuvvetleri (THK) at Bold Avenger 2009
162 Filo based at Bandirma were operating from Karup Air Station, Denmark with four F-16C/D Fighting Falcons. On September 23 they received fuel from a 100 ARW KC-135R Stratotanker using callsign 'Texaco 63' operating from RAF Mildenhall, on their outward and return journey from Denmark against the Electronic Warfare Tactics range at RAF Spadeadam in northern England.
The four Turkish F-16C/D Fighting Falcons’ were due at 08:10. At 08:07 the first aircraft appeared, a two-seat F-16D (89-0043) and flown by the flight leader callsign ‘Izmir 41’ in less than three minutes had received 6,000 pounds of JP-8 fuel. The other Turkish aircraft three single-seat F-16C’s, each took 5,000 pounds of fuel before they were all on their way to the target by 08:23.
At 10:04 and just four minutes later ‘Izmir 41 to 44’ returned, their mission now complete they required additional fuel for their flight back to Denmark. Each aircraft received either 5,000 or 6,000 pounds of fuel. Now having more time the Turkish commander was able to stay on task for some additional minutes to form a four-ship line up before breaking away in style for the camera. |
