Focus on cold war USAFE's aerobatic teams

In last september's Classic Aircraft issue (volume 45, No. 9), Doug Gordon offers a catch-up session for any reader who missed the airshows season this year! The author, specialized in aerial recce history, changes for a while his subject of interest, focusing on USAFE's aerobatic teams of the cold war.

This article is richly illustrated with many rare and unknown pictures, presenting aircraft in some unusual colour schemes. Of course, the Skyblazers team, once based in Chaumont, France, is the main subject of the article, but some unknown teams are brought back to light too, such as the Black Knights flying B-57 out of Laon-Couvron air base, France.

If you missed it, you can still order the back issue through the magazine website : just click HERE. 

Berlin crisis and operation "Stair Step", 50 years later...

This month, in Air Fan french magazine (n° 397 décember 2011), you can read the article I wrote to celebrate the 50th anniversary of operation "Stair Step", as a US response to the Berlin crisis. 

In 1961, as USSR & East germany started building the Berlin wall, the USA decided to strengthen their military forces in Europe, and especially USAFE. To do so, president Kennedy called several Air National Guard (ANG) units to active duty. Several squadrons, mainly ffighter-bombers ones, were deployed to France, Germany and Spain to face the soviet threat.

F-84F Thunderstreak belonging to the 110th Tactical Fighter Squadron from 
Missouri ANG, en route to Toul-Rosières

For the USA, this crisis made possible to reactivate some airbases in France, after several years of stand by status. As a result Chambley AB, Etain AB, Chaumont AB and Toul-Rosières AB each host a F-84F squadron. Meanwhile a whole fighter-bomber wing take possession of Phalsbourg AB,  with its F-86H Sabre.

These F-86H Sabre of 101st TFS were integrated to USAFE during 

the Berlin crisis and sent to Phalsbourg AB, France.

Here is only a part of the deployment focused on France. But to get a detailed inventory of the whole "Stair Step" operation, illustrated by some pretty unseen and rare pictures, order your Air Fan sample now!

You can also take a look at last september's issue of Air Force Magazine :

Berlin crisis 50th anniversary

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