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Photographer: Jean-Michel Lefebvre ©
Date: 29
June and early days of August 1972
Size: 135
and 6x6 B&W negatives
Subject: 4th
Fighter Wing
Place: Luxeuil-les-Bains
Country: France
Caption:
La Fayette, you are here ? Applied on a Mirage IIIE vertical fin,
the 1972 version of what were the famous Escadrille La Fayette's
Indian heads since WWI origins being then the emblem of the N 124
Escadrille and its Bébé Nieuport fighter, the firstly so called
'American Volunteers Escadrille'
EDITORIAL
The place I love
in France, having been very closely linked to the Luxeuil BA 116
air base during the fifties. From a good half dozen of pilots of
11th Fighter Wing, this every week-end in a near aeroclub, I have
learnt almost all about combat aircraft and their tactics, and
one of them, who successively flew Thunderjet, Thunderstreaks and
Super-Sabres as so as T-6s for ground attack in Algeria during
his OPS carreer, was my glider instructor and also infused me a
fantastic virus: how, in perfect safety conditions, navigate at
top tree level and also perform, weaponless sure, ground
straffing with an aircraft just able to dive at 150 kts and
cruise level at 100 kts!!! It's also in this area of France I had
the occasion, during an evening;to have a long and fascinating
talk with the Skyblazers leader and go and see them, the
following morning, install in their Sabres, beside F-84s of 11th
FW, and do procedures to take-off and do once more their complete
aerobatic program before heading to their Chaumont Semoutiers
USAF Base. Leader, Captain Reynolds, was an authentic Red Skin
who had fought over Korea. And to end with me, I spent, early
1963, four months of my 18 months military obligations in the BA
116 Medical Service and thus saw, during my medical guards, two
landing crashes and loaded in my ambulance their just nervously
hit pilots: one of a 4th FW Thunsersreak having lost control on a
wet runway, the other in comparable circumstances of a 13th FW
Mirage IIIC visitor from Colmar. I give under picture of the
Luxeuil air base installations, the incredible story of seat
ejection of this damaged Mirage happening inside one of the
hangars !!!
But I keep silence about the samely incredible fun facts
performed by 11th FW pilots, either when flying everywhere or
during their free time in the 100 nautical miles around their
base...this going from Martians, in complete silver painted pilot
equipment, coming from their planete during a Saturday evening,
to transvestite pilot giving life to a nice and big bear at noon
in the most crowded part of a city... It was in the early and mid
fifties, when fighters always were the kings in all the after war
hearts...
JMJ Lefebvre
