1988 Ramstein Airshow

It is after 8575 days that I put this report on line after I have visited the memorial recently. Now I have been at the spot and saw the names on the victims I can put the memory in a safe place in my mind. The 28th of august 1988 began as a bright sunny day, though the end was dark. I want to share the joy of the day up to that last moment. It is cynical that as I put this on line, the numbers are shattered by the number of Covid-19 victims.

The static display

The TR-1 is more or less a giant glider with jet engine. Also every usable part is equiped with sensors, such as here in the wingtips.
87-0122, KC-10A c/n 48308/432
During an open house, the pilots are requested to stay with their planes. So these flyers are enjoying their day.
This picture shows the light design of the Allouette III, with plexigalss and tubing.
40+89 is a close air support of light fighter bomber. The gun is carried in a pod under the fuselage.
The CT-133 (T-33 in Canadian service) is a vintage design. Plain flaps and no area ruling.
An E-3A of NATO’s flying pizza delivery. 18 airfranes were delivered. Note the the engines are the old smokey TF33
The Canadian Hornets were the first to have a canopy painted under the fuselage as a diversion in dogfights.
RAF PUMA HC1 of 33 suqadron
83-1199 C/N 6D-106 F-16A Block 15U Local Fokker C/N L-209 DeliveredRNLAF J-199 24 Feb 1986[act]J-199 RNLAF Jun 1986 315 sqn Unknown 315 sqn Questionmark sticker applied on the tail. The sticker was used in the meantime when there was no decision to which squadron the airplane went. Later on it was decided that it went to 315 squadron. Sep 1989 323 sqn May 1990 311 sqn Mar 1994 322 sqn Jan 1998 323 sqn Nov 1998 306 sqn Nov 1999 311 sqn 2000 MLU to F-16A Block 20 MLU Jun 2000 312 sqn Jan 2005 311 sqn Jul 2006 Markings to indicate the last phase-inspection on F-16 has taken place at Twenthe AB after performing it for the past 20 years. Jan 2007 313 sqn Mar 2007 306 sqn Deployment: International Security Assistance Force Unknown 311 sqn Dec 2009 311 sqn Deployment: International Security Assistance Force Apr 2010 311 sqn Feb 2011 312 sqn Jul 2011 312 sqn Deployment: Odyssey Dawn Nov 2011 312 sqn Jul 2012 to Volkel AB for refurbishment for delivery to RJAF FMS Program: Peace Falcon VI FMS Serial: M13-50 To be sold to Jordan in 2014.
84-0459 – (c/n SH3104) fi rst fl ight 17jan85 as G-14-3104, delivered 30jan85. Active with 10th MAS feb85/nov90, named Spangdahlem. Departed Zweibrücken for USA via Stornoway on 14nov90, Transferred to US Forestry Service as N174Z in mar91.
c/n 59. Behind the nosegear, the entry to the cockpit is clearly visible. On the nosegear is a button for quick starting the airplane. Ther first one to arrive pushes the button and when the crew is seatd, all engines are running. 86-0099 collided with flight of ducks over Montana Sep 19, 1990. Landed safely. Converted to Block D by Dec 1999. With 28th BW, experienced a fire in No 3 engine after takeoff from Ellsworth AFB Mar 20, 2008. Engine shut down and aircraft landed safely.
previous N308GA. To US Army CE as N65CE, rr N30501
The B-52 has a very typical landing gear arrangement.
84-0146, 1984 Beech C-12T Huron, C/N: BL-076
USAF MC-130P #66-0220 departed the taxiway at Evenes airport in Norway on the evening of February 24th, 2010. The plane skidded into a pile of snow. One piece of one of the propellers came loose and was launched approximately 300 meters through the air. The air plane was heading for a maintenance facility when the incident happened.
69-6619 US Air Force Holloman AFB ( 1978 ) Det. 6, 40th ARRS. 1988 58th MAS Ramstein AFB, West Germany 1993 58 AS 1998 54th HS /MT, Minot AFB 2012 still
56-1125 (c/n 8-10-342) to Greek AF. Noted on display at aviation museum in Hermeskeil, Germany. Here at Ramstein AB for BDRT.
64-0917, 1964 McDonnell F-4C Phantom II, C/N: 1385, BDRT-a/c, ex 182th TFS, TX ANG

Flying display

85-1428 C/N 5C-208 F-16C Block 30 Delivered 25 Sep 1986 Nov 1986 13 TFS ‘MJ’ Jun 1987 512 TFS ‘RS’ 01 Oct 1991 512 FS ‘RS’ Jan 1994 121 FS ‘DC’ Aug 1994 113 FS ‘TH’ Dec 2002 113 FS ‘TH’ Deployment: Northern Watch Credited with a SAM site kill with the marking painted underneath the left canopy rail and remained on the aircraft for a few years. 17 Mar 2003 113 FS ‘TH’ Aug 2007 119 FS ‘AC’ 28 Aug 2013 [sto] AMARC
85-1466 c/n 5C-246 F-16C Block 30A Delivered 29 Dec 1986 Mar 1987 512 TFS ‘RS’ 01 Oct 1991 512 FS ‘RS’ Aug 1992 175 FS Dec 2002 175 FS Deployment: Northern Watch Mar 2005 175 FS Sep 2006 175 FS Deployment: Iraqi Freedom 09 Dec 2006 175 FS 12 Jul 2010 175 FS Mission Marks: First of the 114th FW’s F-16s to break the 7,000-hour mark 24 Aug 2010 to AAFG0747 AMARC
85-1485 c/n 5C-265 Delivered 12 Feb 1987 Mar 1987 432 TFW ‘MJ’ Feb 1988 512 TFS ‘RS’ 01 Oct 1991 512 FS ‘RS’ 22 Oct 1992 Crashed on the Konya ranges, Turkey. The aircraft had suffered an engine failure.
Flames extending from the exhaust pipe, as the F-4F accelerates to V1. Note the elevator is still horizontal.
Take off with the F-4 means an abrupt pull back of the control column in order to quickly raise the nose. A slow movement would imply more time with high drag.
Another F-4F in the take off run.
84-1292/HR is here completely clean for an aireal demo. European operators fly with smokewinder on the wingtip which reduce drag.
This F-4F was orange dayglow, to enhance vizibility during dogfights. Note the elevator slightly nose down to reduce frontal drag.
85-1438 C/N 5C-218 F-16C Block 30 Delivered 24 Oct 1986 25 Nov 1986 512 TFS ‘RS’ 01 Oct 1991 512 FS ‘RS’ Mar 1994 121 FS ‘DC’ 30 Jan 2010 121 FS ‘DC’ Deployment: Iraqi Freedom Apr 2011 119 FS ‘AC’

Asas de Portugal

The Asas De Portugal (Wings of Portugal) was a flight demonstration team created in 1977 integrated with Esquadra 103 (103 Squadron) of the Portuguese Air Force
The Tweet in Portugese service: Asas de Portugal. The green stain on the tail is dye for the coloured smoke.
T-37 in landing configuration at teh Ramstein ’88 airshow.
T-37 in landing configuration at teh Ramstein ’88 airshow.
Asas de Portugal in a 6 plane break.
This picture explains why the aircraft have dirty fuselages behind the wings.
In 1977, Asas de Portugal was created by order of the Air Force Chief of Staff (CEMFA), with the objective to represent the Portuguese Air Force (PoAF) at the International Air Tattoo air festival. This was the third aerobatics team established by the PoAF, after two teams of the 1950s — the Dragões (Dragons) and the São Jorge (Saint George) teams. Asas de Portugal operated the Cessna T-37C for 13 years while integrated with the 102 Squadron Panchos.
Asas de Portugal in a 6 plane break.

Patrouille de France

The second group of the Patrioulle de France with number 5, 6, 7 & 8 powering up for departure.
Numder 1, 2, 3 & 4 of the Patriou;;e de France rolling towards their position of the runway, allowing the second group to posiion behind them.
The firts group of the PdF powering up and checking the smoke before departure.

Frecce Tricolori

At 15:44 on 28th august 1988 diaster struck as the solo clashed into the formation.
Pony 1 then spiralled out of control, hitting the plane on its lower left (Pony 2, piloted by Captain Giorgio Alessio). Lt. Col. Naldini ejected but was killed as he hit the runway before his parachute opened. His plane crashed onto a taxiway near the runway, destroying a medevac helicopter and fatally injuring its pilot, Captain Kim Strader. Pony 2, the third plane involved in the disaster, was severely damaged from the impact with Pony 1, and crashed beside the runway, exploding in a fireball. Its pilot, Captain Alessio, died instantly.
Of the 31 people who died at the scene, 28 had been hit by shrapnel in the form of airplane parts, concertina wire and debris from items on the ground.[4] Sixteen of the fatalities occurred in the days and weeks after the disaster due to severe burns, the last being the burned and injured helicopter pilot.[5] About 500 people had to seek hospital treatment following the event.
At the same time, one of the damaged aircraft from the heart-forming group crashed into the emergency medical evacuation UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, injuring the helicopter’s pilot, Captain Kim Strader. He died weeks later, on Saturday September 17, 1988, at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, USA from burns he suffered in the accident. The pilot of the aircraft that hit the helicopter had ejected, but was killed as he hit the runway before his parachute opened. The third aircraft disintegrated in the collision and parts of it were spread along the runway. After the crash, the remaining aircraft regrouped and landed at Sembach Air Base.

The memorial site in 2020

The story

At 15:44 on 28th august 1988 disaster struck as the solo Pony 10 clashed into the formation. Several different video recordings of the accident were taped. They show that the “piercing” aircraft (Pony 10) came in too low and too fast at the crossing point with the other two groups (five aircraft on the left and four on the right) as they completed the heart-shaped figure. Lead pilot Lieutenant Colonel Ivo Nutarelli, flying Pony 10, was unable to correct his altitude or slow his speed, and collided with the leading airplane (Pony 1, piloted by Lt. Col. Mario Naldini) of the left formation “inside” the figure, destroying the plane’s tail section with the front of his aircraft.

Pony 1 then spiralled out of control, hitting the plane on its lower left (Pony 2, piloted by Captain Giorgio Alessio). Lt. Col. Naldini ejected but was killed as he hit the runway before his parachute opened. His plane crashed onto a taxiway near the runway, destroying a medevac helicopter and fatally injuring its pilot, Captain Kim Strader. Pony 2, the third plane involved in the disaster, was severely damaged from the impact with Pony 1, and crashed beside the runway, exploding in a fireball. Its pilot, Captain Alessio, died instantly.

Pony 10, the aircraft that started the crash, continued on a ballistic trajectory across the runway, completely out of control and in flames, its forward section destroyed by the impact with Pony 1. The plane hit the ground ahead of the spectator stands, exploding in a fireball and destroying a police vehicle parked inside the concertina-wire fence that defined the active runway area. The plane continued, cartwheeling for a distance before picking up the three-strand concertina-wire fence, crossing an emergency access road, slamming into the crowd, and hitting a parked ice cream van. The area of the crash, being centered on the flightline and as close to the airshow as civilian spectators could get, had been considered the “best seats in the house”, and was densely packed. The entire incident, from the collision of the first two planes to the crash into the crowd, took less than seven seconds, leaving almost no time for spectators to run away. The low altitude of the maneuver (45 meters above the crowd) also contributed to the short time frame.

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