Photo 04 - Mirage IIIE
Historic moment! November
10th, 1988, Lcl Henri de Roquefeuil lands the Mirage nº 588 (4-BG) on
the Luxeuil runway.
This is the last
operational flight made by a Mirage IIIE of the 4 E.C.
Note the landing
parachute coming out.
Unit Resume
- November 10th
1988, 4 E.C. makes the last operational flights on Mirage IIIE, after
22 years of operational use with more than 160 000 flight hours.
- Autumn 1966, the first
Mirage IIIEs arrived at Luxeuil to replace the F-84F Thunderstreak.
With the new aircraft the unit role changes from attack to air
defense, with the MATRA R530 AAM.
- In 1969, taking the
advantage of the multirole Mirage IIIE, the unit has the main role of
all weather attack with the Nord AS 30 missil. The unit kept the air
defense role with Sidewinder AAMs.
- In 1972 the AN 52
tactical nuclear bomb arrives. In 1973 the unit has the nuclear alert
role with the AN 52.
- Until 1987, the unit
has, with the Mirage IIIE, the all weather nuclear, and conventional
strikes as its main roles, with a secondary air defense role.
- In 1987, the unit
begun the conversion to the Mirage 2000N.
Photo 05 - Mirage IIIE
On the September 9th,
1988, on the 60th anniversary of the 1918 Armistice and to honour Capt
Georges Guynemer's memory, the units of the l'Armée de l'Air with a
stork as a symbol meet at BA102 Dijon-Longvic.
This is a Mirage IIIE of
E.C. 2/4 "La Fayete". On the fin it has the stork of SPA 167, second
flight of E.C. 2/4 "La Fayete".
The pilot it's Cdt
Patrick de Rousiers, Commander of E.C. 2/4. It's the son of Col
Bernard de Rousiers, of E.C. 1/2 "Cigognes", who landed the first
operational Mirage IIIC of the Armée de l'Air at Dijon-Longvic.
Photo 06 - Mirage IIIE
This is a Mirage IIIE of
E.C. 2/3 "Champagne", based at BA113 Nancy-Ochey.
On the fin it has the
stork pennant of SPA 67, first flight of E.C. 2/3.
Photo 07 - Mirage IIIS
This is the Mirage IIIS
of the Swiss Air Force.
It has AIM-9P training
rounds.
Photo 08 - Mirage IIIS
This is a Mirage IIIS of
FISt 17 of the Swiss Air Force based at Payerne.
On the fin it has the
badge of FISt 17, on the nose it has the badge of the Decimomannu Air
Combat Range.
The Swiss fighters deploy
once a year to the Decimomannu Range for trainning.
Photo 09 - Mirage IIIRS
This is the Mirage IIIRS
of FISt 10 of the Swiss Air Force based at Dübendorf.
It has been retrofitted
with canard surfaces and a full ECM gear (look the antenna on the
starboard wing leading edge).
This aircraft has the
belly JATO bottles used to allow rapid take-off from short valley
runways.
Photo 10 - Mirage IIIRS
This is the same Mirage
of the previous photo, showing the extra kick provided by the JATO
bottles.
Photo 11 - Mirage IIIEE
These are Mirage IIIEEs
of Ala 11 of the Spanish Air Force based at Valencia-Manises. In
Spain, the Mirage III it's locally designated C.11, meaning that the
Mirage III was the 11th type of fighter to be deployed by the Fuerza
Aérea Española.
You have a detailled view
of the nose probe.
Here oes the glossary.
Glossary
Mirage IIIE
- Electronique / Electronic
Mirage IIIES
- Suisse / Swiss
Mirage IIIRS
- Reconnaissance / Reconnaissance
Mirage IIIEE
- Espagne / Spain
AN
52 - Arme Nucleaire / Nuclear Weapon
E.C.
- Escadre de Chasse / Fighter Squadron
BA -
Base Aérienne / Air Base
FISt
- Fliegerstaffeln / Flying Squadron
JATO
- Jet Assisted Take-Off
C.11
- Caza / Fighter
Fuerza Aérea Española - Spanish Air Force