Leuchars Airshow 2003

Looking back in time, Warbirds Online undertook an Aviation tour of the UK with a group of fellow aviation enthusiasts from Australia in 2003. It was a great trip and the memorable adventure was to attend the NATO Air Show in Scotland at Royal Air Force station Leuchars, located in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. Today we present a variety of photos from the day.

This was at the time a near century old RFC and then RAF base and played a major role in the Defence of the UK and NATO with several front line RAF Fighter Squadrons based there right from WW1 and WW2. It was also a pivotal base during the Cold War in the 1950’s and 60’s when fighters from the base frequently intercepted Soviet bombers intruding into UK airspace. In 2011 the UK Government announced that the base would close in 2015 and it now serves as a reserve Army base and is a diversion base for Eurofighter Typhoons.

RAF Leuchars was home to the annual RAF Leuchars Air show which originated many decades before. This usually took place on a Saturday in September. In 2003 when we attended the show displays including the Red Arrows, Tornados from the RAF and Luftwaffe and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane. Air forces from many NATO countries provided additional static and flight displays. The final air show was held on 8 September 2013 and circa 45,000 people were on site.

It was the last occasion that I used a 35MM film camera as I moved to a digital camera a year later.

We hope you enjoy these memories from over a decade ago.

© John Parker 2020