1507 - New C-130E Hercules arrives in Poland

The Polish Air Force recently took delivery of another C-130E Hercules - this example has Polish serial 1507. The Hercules passed through RAF Mildenhall in the UK at the end of September 2010 in USAF colours as serial 21856 callsign REACH 104 - it arrived at Powidz air base in Poland on 1st October 2010 and was re-painted with Polish Air Force roundels and new serial 1507.

1507 arrived at Krakow, Poland on 24th October 2010 for a few days of para dropping - this Hercules was built by Lockheed with c/n 3820 was operated with the USAF as 62-1856 for almost 48 years  - the final USAF unit to fly this veteran Herc was the 61 Airlift Squadron ( 61 AS ) as Little Rock, Arkansas.

1507  - photo courtesy Polish Air Force website - http://www.sp.mil.pl/

The Polish Air Force purchased five re-conditioned 1970 vintage C-130E Hercules to be numbered 1501 - 1505 - the overhaul process has taken longer than expected and only 1501 and 1502 have so far arrived -  so the USAF loaned an additional aircraft to Poland in November 2009 as serial 1506. Unfortunately 1506 was badly damaged when it clipped the side of a mountain in Afghanistan in February 2010 just 3 months after delivery.

The recently arrived 1507 fills the gap.

Photo Link below to C-130E Hercules 1507 at Krakow on 24.10.10

http://iv.pl/images/48890206441424548769.jpg

TS-11 Iskra - 827 1H-0827 for sale June 2010

Currently being shown for sale on the WWW is former Team Iskry TS-11 Iskra serial 827 c/n 1H-0827.

This aircraft operated with the Polish Air Force display team "Team Iskry" during the 1990's with tail code "10".  By 1999 this code had changed to "6".

The aircraft was withdrawn from use several years ago as "Team Iskry" changed to operate the more modern Block 3 ( 3H-..... ) TS-11 Iskra aircraft. As a result this aircraft was stored at Deblin airbase until recently.

The photo shows the aircraft temporarily stored in a yard in the Praga district of Warsaw in June 2010 - it is up for sale via TDM Electronics.

For more details see the Link below

http://www.moto.allegro.pl/item1085532052_samolot_iskra_ts11.html


Steve

Fatal Crash - Polish Air Force Tu-154M serial 101 on 10thApril 2010 near Smolensk

On Saturday 10th April 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154M serial 101 crashed during the final approach to the military airfield at Smolensk in Western Russia. The weather conditions at the time were foggy.

The accident killed all 96 people on board including the Polish President Lech Kaczynski.

Tu-154M serial 101 c/n 90A837 was built in 1990 by Tupolev in the then USSR. In the late 1980s the Polish state airline LOT had taken delivery of 13 new build Tu-154M airliners registered as SP-LCA to SP-LCN.

Aircraft 90A837 was origianlly delivered to the Polish Air Force 36 splt ( VIP transport unit ) in Warsaw in the same white/blue colour scheme as the LOT Tu-154M aircraft but with Republic of Poland titles and Polish Air Force roundels and serial as 837.

A second Tu-154M was delivered to the Polish Air Force in 1994 - this aircraft was built in 1990 and was a former LOT aircraft ( ex SP-LCO ) with c/n 90A862. This aircraft was also painted white/blue ( basic ex LOT c/s ) and used the Polish Air Force serial 862.

By the early 1990s both Polish Air Force Tu-154M were re-painted into an attractive white/red colour scheme and the two aircraft were re-serailed as 101 ( c/n 837 ) and 102 ( c/n 862 ).

At the time of the fatal crash of aircraft 101 it was said to have flown 5,004 flight hours and made 1,823 landings.

The second Tu-154M serial 102 is currently believed to be away on overhaul in Russia . 


External Link to Tu-154M c/n 837 with serial 837 in 1994 in white/blue c/s


External Link to Tu-154M c/n 837 with serial 101 in 2008 in white/red c/s

The body of President Lech Kaczynski was flown back to Warsaw, Poland on Sunday 11th April 2010 in Polish Air Force Casa 295M serial 020.

photo of Casa 295M serial 020 arriving at Warsaw 11.4.2010 - by TVP / I Sobieszczuk

Steve

Polish Air Force C-130E Hercules hits tree tops in Afghanistan

Polish Air Force C-130E Hercules hits tree tops in Afghanistan


The Polish Air Force managed to damage C-130E Hercules serial 1506 in Afghanistan in early February 2010. The Herc is operated by 14 Eltr based at Powidz.

This particular Hercules is only on loan to the Polish Air Force, it arrived in Poland in
November 2009 from Ramstein airbase in Germany where it was based with the USAF as serial FY 70-1299 c/n 4527 ( ie 40 years old ).

See the link below to Flightglobal for more details and photos showing the substantial damage to the wing root area.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/02/22/338666/pictures-poland-grounds-hercules-fleet-after-afghan.html


More photos on this Altair report

Polish Air Force video - F-16 and Fench KC-135

The Polish Air Force have posted an official video on to youtube showing Polish F-16s doing air to air refuelling with a French Air Force KC-135 over a snowy Poland on 4th Feb 2010.


Take a look at the video via the link below - enjoy the great view from a two seat F-16D.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPdbRyP-46k



Steve

Su-22 9513 - nose section for sale

The cockpit nose section of former Polish Air Force PWL Su-22 M4 serial 9513 c/n 29513 is currently listed for sale on the WWW.

This Sukhoi was built in 1985 and had seen service based at Pila and later Powidz.

For more details see LINK below


http://moto.allegro.pl/item843005568_kokpit_samolotu_su_22.html#gallery



Steve