I am still planning to post some logs of our US-trip, but sorting out all those scrapyards and other stuff takes so much time….. You’ll no doubt recognise that feeling! For now therefor a log of a short trip to the South of Gernany, for a visit to Kaufbeuren technical school.
As always, everything given in the log is actually read off unless between (brackets).
We had decided to give ourselves a ‘head start’ and drive to Ramstein after work on Monday evening. That way we would be almost halfway already and be able to start the day at Ramstein early in the morning without having to drive through the night. One short stop was made underway.
Spangdahlem AB (14-5)
07-7177 C-17A 436 AW
We spent the night under the approach of Ramstein. During earlier nights in this hotel we were woken up during the night by arriving or departing aircraft, rather frustrating especially in the case of leaving ones, but this time we could sleep undisturbed
Ramstein AB (15-5)
00-0182 C-17A 167 AW, 167 AS
01-0189 C-17A 164 AW, 155 AS
01-0192 C-17A 105 AW, 137 AS
03-3127 C-17A 62 AW
07-7184 C-17A 437 AW
09-9212 C-17A 437 AW
99-0004 C-32A (89 AW)
92-3284 C-130H 934 AW, 96 AS, departed
92-3286 C-130H 934 AW, 96 AS
04-3142/RS C-130J 86 AW, 37 AS
06-8612 C-130J 19 AW, 61 AS, (former RS machine)
07-4631? C-130J 19 AW, 41 AS, see remark! *edit: confirmed as 07-46311 on the Ramstein forum*
07-8609/RS C-130J 86 AW, 37 AS
08-3176 C-130J 317 AG
08-5715 C-130J 317 AG
08-5724 C-130J 317 AG
08-8602/RS C-130J 86 AW, 37 AS, ’86 OG’ mks
(08)-8606 C-130J 19 AW, 41 AS, departed
10-5771 C-130J 19 AW, 41 AS
11-5748 C-130J 317 AG
14-5788 C-130J 19 AW, 61 AS
14-5796 C-130J 19 AW, gn/wh tailband
15-5831/RS C-130J 86 AW, 37 AS
1505 C-130E Polish AF (nice, missed this at Frysian Flag!)
Also present was a grey Gulfstream. The heatwaves (already) made it impossible to read that one off, the serial seemed to end with 74. That doesn’t make sense obviously, possibly this was a based one, but any offers? It was parked next to the C-32, behind the main platform. There was another white aircraft here, possible the based C-40.
Herc 4631 is a problem. I’m sure I read off the fy as (0)7, but 4631 should be fy 06. However there are also 07-46310, 46311 and 46312 (stupid serial batch in my humble opinion…). I find it hard to believe I missed a complete digit at the end, but it was difficult to read off and I never expected the serial to have five digits after the fy anyway. Any thoughts on this one and its correct identity would be very welcome!
Not too many heavy transports, but the amount of non-local Hercs made up for this!
Next stop was Stuttgart, where nothing of interest was seen (at least not for me, Frank enjoyed all that civil stuff very much!). We wanted to try our luck at Laupheim, but since we passed Hahnweide we decided a short stop would be necessary.
Kirchheim unter Teck-Hahnweide (15-5)
WB935 Sedbergh TX.1 BGA4110
D-EDEX Sk.15A (ex SweAF 5027)
D-EHCD L-18C (ex BAF OL-L63)
A friendly welcome here. The hangar next to the tower, which held the glider and Klemm, was opened up for us. For the hangar with the Piper Cub however there was no key, but luckily a little hole in the door (near ground level…) allowed us a glimpse. With all W&R here ticked off we continued Southbound.
Laupheim (15-5)
CH-53s (HSG64): 84+29, 84+51, 84+53, 84+73, 84+82, 84+98
76+07 H-145M no badge
89+58 Sea King mk.41 MFG 5
(75+21) Alouette II pr gate
84+06 CH-53G pr gate, spec c/s HSG 64
56+87 Do.27A-4 D-EEPN, c/n 395
D-EEPJ Do.27A-1 c/n 173 (ex 55+43)
We had never been here before, but now we were wondering why we had never bothered. A very open airfield, easy spotting. When we arrived there were two more H-145s outside, but after we had spent 10 minutes at the end of the runway to get the one that was doing circuits, those had disappeared unfortunately. The Dorniers are with the flying club, on the west side of the airfield. Here a gate was open, so we drove in, and after asking nicely we were allowed into the hangar to graph them both.
A thunderstorm was approaching fast, so all flying ceased and the choppers were put inside, a sign for us to move on. There were more wrecks to hunt still!
Ummendorf (15-5)
(22)+43 F-104G pr
This is behind a building when you are at the main gate, only a wing tank is visible. Allegedly you can see the aircraft from the western side, but those are the grounds of a truck company. From the housing estate on the eastern side you can (just) see the front half of the aircraft between the trees.
Since we got so lucky at Hahnweide we decided we’d try another small airfield on the way.
Tannheim (15-5)
D-EYAX Yak-18T c/n 22202034143 (ex DOSAAF)
Here things were different unfortunately. It was already getting late, and the weather had turned bad, so almost everything was closed up. In one hangar a guy was working his (British registered) Ce.120, and in there we found the Yak (plus a lot of ultra lights). For the other warbirds here we need to come back one day.
Bad Wörishofen (15-5)
D-E(xxx) Casa 1.131E (ex E.3B-xxx)
Another airfield that didn’t deliver. We spoke to the guy in charge, but he wasn’t willing to open up the hangar for us. We had the feeling he had had a few drinks alreay and couldn’t bother. All aircraft in EMOOS were confirmed as present by him though. Well, again one to come back for.
Fliegermuseum Bad Wörishofen (15-5)
23+(38) MiG-21MF pres
Just around the corner is the small museum, where the above could be seen through the windows. There was also a cockpit of a fighter, possibly a dedicated simulator. Confirmation of this would be nice though.
And that was the last location of the day, and we were in our hotel quite early. So there was time for a decent dinner, which we actually enjoyed for a change.
Technical school Kaufbeuren (16-5)
22+55 F-104G GIA, spec c/s JBG 34
30+09 EF.2000 GIA, tiger c/s
31+14 EF.2000 GIA, TLG 31 mks
31+15 EF.2000 GIA, TLG 73 mks
37+14 F-4F pr, ’50 years Phantom’ mks
(“43+00”) Tornado IDS all grey, travel exhibit (ex 43+61?)
(43+34) Tornado IDS GIA, TSLW 1 mks, wrknr. 4034
(73+77) UH-1D GIA, no mks, c/n 8497
91+89 P.149D GIA, JBG 34 mks
A nice visit we had here. The grey Tornado had no markings at all, and when we asked about the id we were told 43+00.... There are three more Tornado’s on base (43+59, 45+47 and 46+39), but because there was an audit we were not allowed into that hangar unfortunately. Formerly preserved F-104 20+06 was removed from its position behind the gate last year. Our guide didn’t know what happened to it though, just like he had no idea about Bo.105 86+99 that was seen here earlier.
We had contacted the local flying club as well, to see whether we could see their Do.27 (D-EFQV/55+45), but that couldn’t be arranged in time. We were told it is not flying anymore and it might be returned to the Luftwaffe.
Another thing we had tried to arrange was a visit to the museum at nearby Memmingen, but we didn’t manage to find a (working) contact. But we decided to give it a try anyway.
Memmingen (16-5)
“23+34” F-104G pr, JBG 34 mks (real id 24+17)
“DD-113” F-84F pr, JBG 34 mks (real id DD+320)
(27+26)/”34” TF-104G pr, cockpit, JBG 34 mks, reg on call plate
It turned out the museum is temporarily closed because they had to leave their bulding and move to another one. Currently they are in the process of getting all artefacts on a display standard again. The aircraft were locked away in shelters and since the guy with the key wasn’t present, nothing could be arranged right now. They were very friendly though, so definitely one to visit again some day. When they were showing us out again, Frank discovered the cockpit under a taurpaulin, which was immediately removed so we could have a good look, sit inside and take some decent pictures. A nice way to end this visit.
By now it was really time to do some driving in the direction of home, both of us had to work again early next morning. But since we literally passed Stuttgart again, we simply had to take a quick look of course. And glad we did!
Stuttgart (16-5)
10+23 A.310-304 FBS BMVg
50+88 C-160D LTG 63
97-3091 C-146A no mks
10-3068 C-146A no mks
11-5737 MC-130J 67 SOS
(‘D-HDRF’) BK.117A-4 pr (ex 98+22)
We had never seen a C-146 so far, and now there were not one but TWO of them on the platform! Reading them off proved to be difficult due to the angle and the heat waves, but we didn’t give up until we were sure we had them!
OK, by now it was getting way too late already, but we couldn’t help ourselves and made one more stop in Bensheim, which we passed anyway.
Firma Sanner, Bensheim-Auerbach (16-1)
(122) L-39ZO std, ex Hun AF
(?) MiG-17F std, ex Pol AF
(23+81) MiG-21UM std
102 MiG-23UB std (ex 20+61)
(?) Mi-8 std, USSR c/s
(0146) Mi-24D std, tiger c/s, ex Cz AF
(6137) Su-20 std, ex Pol AF
(25+28) Su-22M-4 std
All are in a yard next to the railwaybridge. Apart from the two choppers, the aircraft have been sandblasted recently, so some are bare metal and others are showing former colours (like the L-39, where the East German markings are clearly visible on the tail!). No sign of the L-410 (or TS-11) that used to be here. We asked about those at the reception desk, but the only person who knows about the aircraft is the boss, who was away on a business trip. So we’ll send him an email, and hopefully find out more about them.
And all that was left now, was the remaining 400 km to home. All in all a nice two days out
As always, all comments, additions and corrections are welcome.
That’s all folks!
Frank Mink & Patrick Dirksen
Tristar Aviation
