F-111F, 48th TFW, Lakenheath, Operation El Dorado Canyon, 1986

[50sqnwop/ag]

loving all the 1-11 pics n model shots, tis a favourite of mine, had an uncle with the 48th n spent many a school holiday on base, them beasties are LOUD but loverly!

 

[vikingBerserker]

 

[Wayne Little]

Love that last patch...

 

[evangilder]

Thanks Vic.

@Terry -

Here's another non-PC one for ya:

Yep, I have that one too. I will dig out my jacket and get some shots of the patches. There is another one that says "North Africa Bomb Competition '86- Winner".

From what I have been told, the PAVE TACK patch is hard to find now. I have had it for a long time, on the sleeve of the same jacket.

 

[evangilder]

Here is another one I have that is non-PC

 

[Airframes]

Great stuff !

 

[kgambit]

@Wayne, Yeah I like that one too. Non-PC to be sure but funny!

Yep, I have that one too. I will dig out my jacket and get some shots of the patches. There is another one that says "North Africa Bomb Competition '86- Winner".

From what I have been told, the PAVE TACK patch is hard to find now. I have had it for a long time, on the sleeve of the same jacket.

Don't have the North American Bomb competition patch and haven't seen it in a long while. The 48th Libyan Raiders patch I'm trying to get right now.

Love to see what you have on the jacket Evan.

Evan, is THIS the pave tack patch you are talking about?

I REALLY want the one on the right in the second pic but the asking price is exorbitant.

 

[evangilder]

Yep, the left PAVE TACK patch is the one on my sleeve. There are a lot of neat ones out there. Have you seen this page?
Click the thumbnails for larger image

 

[kgambit]

Yep, the left PAVE TACK patch is the one on my sleeve. There are a lot of neat ones out there. Have you seen this page?
Click the thumbnails for larger image

That is an awesome page. For those interested, here is a link to the 20th TFW page (Upper Heyford).

Click the thumbnails for larger image

 

[vikingBerserker]

Great patches fellas!

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Great stuff fellas! Excellent work on the model Dwight! Can't wait to see it done.

 

[kgambit]

A bit more history in the form of some patches: (Sorry for the bit of glare from the plastic wrap on some patches)

Pic 1: Various squadron and wing patches from the 48th TFW and the associated 492nd, 493rd, 494th and 495th TFS from Lakenheath England. The empty slot in the bottom is accounted for: picture to follow when the patch arrives. And the 494th TFS patch is actually 2 identical patches stacked. I got the second one as a throw in when I bought the whispering death patch.

Pic 2: Various squadron and wing patches in the top two rows from the 27th TFW and the associated squadrons of the 428th, 429th, 522nd, 523rd and 524th TFS from Cannon New Mexico. Pave Tack patch is in the center of the bottom row and the whispering death patch belongs to the 523rd TFS. The two smaller patchs on the bottom row on the right are from the 57th TFW. The Red white and blue crest is from the 66th ECW which was the parent org for the 42nd ECS for a while. The empty slot is reserved for one specific patch which I haven't found yet.

Pic 3: Various squadron and wing patches for the 20th TFW from Upper Heyford UK. The 42nd ECS was attached along to the 48th TFW during desert storm, along with the 390th ECS. The empty slot is reserved for one specific patch which I haven't found yet.

All patches are from my (Very modest) collection and all are original period pieces afaik (no replicas) except for the 42d ECS, pic 3, far right which might be a replica. I've run across a couple of people with patch collections in the 10's of thousands! Mine is CONSIDERABLY smaller - in fact, you are looking at almost all of it.

 

[Wurger]

Really great collection of these patches Dwight.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Nice!

 

[kgambit]

Thanks Wojtek and VB!

Here's an update on the 48th TFW patches. Newest addition for the 495th TFS / 48th TFW is in the bottom right corner.

 

[Wurger]

Great..

 

[evangilder]

You have quite a collection of Vark related stuff, Dwight. I have several of the Lakenheath patches. I have been told the Pave Tack patch is a rarity these days.

 

[kgambit]

You have quite a collection of Vark related stuff, Dwight. I have several of the Lakenheath patches. I have been told the Pave Tack patch is a rarity these days.

Thanks!

The pave tack patch was tough to find but I did find one just recently. I know a dealer who might have some of the generic pave tack patches. Last I talked to him, he definitely had some of the 522nd / 523rd / 524th TFS pave tack patches (that's a pave tack patch with the squadron nickname underneath - fireball, crusaders and hounds). If you need one or are interested, give me a shout and I'll send you his phone number.

Might have another addition in a day or two. Fingers crossed.

 

[kgambit]

Latest addition:

42nd Electronic Combat Squadron (EF-111A); Upper Heyford 20th TFW

 

[evangilder]

Nice! This is really timely as I have been reading the book El Dorado Canyon. It makes it real interesting for me as I can read about what was going on behind the scenes as we prepared for the operation.