As a tractor driver at Leeuwarden Air Base, I often had to run QRA together with a fellow tractor driver. Swapping the F-16s, one of which was in the shelter of the QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) and the other in the shelter of the WSA (Weapon Storage Area). QRA means that there are two F-16s ready 24/7 with full armament. The Air Operation Control Station in Nieuw-Millingen alerts the QRA if an aircraft enters the airspace of the Benelux that has not submitted a flight plan in advance and does not want to come into radio contact with Air Traffic Control. The F-16s take off within minutes to intercept the (enemy) intruder. Nowadays, the QRA task is a partnership between the Netherlands and Belgium for monitoring the airspace of the Benelux. They take turns supplying the QRA fighter flight capacity from the Leeuwarden, Volkel, Kleine-Brogel or Florennes bases. Before towing the F-16, I always checked whether all safety pins with red flags (printed: remove before flight) were in the F-16 because the armament was ready. The QRA/WSA is also permanently monitored by the Air Force Security. I once heard a story that an Air Force Guard there had shot a cow out of boredom in the pasture near the QRA. Photo: Patrick Kroos.

On June 4, 1968, the Air Force Information Service organized a visit to Leeuwarden Air Base where the silencer was demonstrated at the Run-up. The Run-up is the place at the airbase to test engines and diagnose engine problems. Attached is the F-104 Starfighter D-5816 of the 323 squadron being towed by a David Brown Taskmaster 950. The D-5816 was operational with the Royal Netherlands Air Force from November 27, 1967 to August 25, 1980 and then it was sold to the Turkish Air Force. Photo comes from the archive of John van Hest.

Thanks to the fire-fighting foam incident during the ceremony, which was held in honor of the arrival of the first operational F-35 in the Netherlands at Leeuwarden Air Base on October 31, 2019, the coverage of this event was world news in one go. In the photo the F-35 that has been sprayed clean by water and is ready to be towed to the hangar. Photo: Gathering of Tweakers.

F-84F Thunderstreak de P-205 van het 314 squadron versleept door een David Brown Taskmaster 950 op vliegbasis Eindhoven. De P-205 was operationeel bij de KLu van 23-03-1956 t/m 28-10-1970. Daarna afgeschreven; decoy Deelen LETS. Vanaf 14-04-1978 poortwachter bij de LIMOS. Foto: Marco van Riel.

The North American F-86K Sabre Q-340 of the 700 Squadron at Twenthe airbase, is being moved with a David Brown tractor, piloted by Corporal Sprokkereef. Photo from the collection: Dinant Sprokkereef.

Vliegende squadrons die een katachtige zoals een tijger in hun embleem voeren, komen ieder jaar op een andere plek bijeen voor de NATO Tiger Meet. Net zoals op de foto de J-222 van het 313 squadron die versleept word door een Mercedes MB Trac 700. Al jarenlang een instructiekist op Volkel in tijger outfit, die speciaal voor de Tigermeet in deze kleuren is gespoten. Deze grootschalige internationale oefening ten tijde van deze foto vond in 2010 plaats van 4 t/m 15 oktober op Vliegbasis Volkel. Met een zeer afwisselend programma houden de oefenende eenheden hun vaardigheden op peil en worden waardevolle ervaringen uitgewisseld. Foto: Servee Schellinx.

De Northrop NF-5A met registratienummer K-3011 van het 315 Squadron achter een Douglas trekker voor de run-up (proefdraaihangaar) op Vliegbasis Twenthe in 1970. Foto: Beeldbank NIMH.

This photo was taken from the control tower at Volkel Air Base, September 27, 2017, during a visit arranged by Spotting Group Volkel. F-16AM J-868, the 8 Series, originally 312 SQN delivered operationally. Photo: Van Loenhout Mees.

Airmen, assigned to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, tow an F-15E Strike Eagle at sunrise April 15, 2020, at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia. The F-15E is an extremely maneuverable tactical fighter designed to allow the Air Force to establish air superiority over the battlefield. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. Ralph Branson).

From the Dutch group: Marine Luchtvaart Dienst. Meerburg quay situated at Prins Hendrik canal in Katwijk, The Netherlands, where the helicopter was taken off the boat. To be precise, this is the Fockstraat with the gas factory next to it.

Photo: Arjan Koning.

Pictured here is a Coastal Command Fortress patrol aircraft of No. 220 Squadron. On 9 November 1943 a Fortress from this squadron sank U707 off the Azores. Clark N S (P/O), Royal Air Force official photographer [Public domain]. Source: Brian Walter.

German RF-4E Phantom II being towed down the taxitrack at Soesterberg AB in the Netherlands. Daily Dose of Nostalgia. Photo: Marcel de Jong.

A RAF Tractor MF Ferguson TEF with a bouncing bomb on the trailer in front of the entrance to the Avro Heritage Museum at the old Woodford airfield near Stockport in the south of Manchester, Cheshire. A bomb designed to bounce at a target over water in a calculated manner to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets. It was developed during World War II and was intended to be dropped from an airplane to blow up a dam. It was a variant of a depth charge. Ordinary bombing of a dam was ineffective.

Photo: Richard Tattersall.

Hawker Hunter at RAF Scampton towed by a Reliance Mercury Tug. Photo: Maxine Grundy.

A Dutch AT-16 'Harvard' of 'Royal Air Force Historic Flight'. The AT-16s were mainly used by the Royal Netherlands Air Force as a training aircraft for the advanced pilot training (VVO) and the pilot instructor training (VIO) at Gilze-Rijen Air Base until 1962. They were produced by the American company North American Aviation in 1943. Photo from Facebook page: Koninklijke Luchtmacht Historische Vlucht. 

Avro Lancaster NX611 "Just Jane", with Bomber Command Re-Enactors... Picture: Geoff Oliver.

On days like this - when the sky is blue and the grass is green ..... Lancaster : NX611 'Just Jane' at East Kirkby - March 2012. Source from Facebook page:  Warbirdapps.

Well, this is just turning into B-24 Week, isn't it?

Here's a photo from the Henry Ford Museum of Henry Ford II on the tug as the last B-24 Liberator comes off the assembly line at Willow Run. It was posted in the Warbird Information Exchange Facebook Group by Tom Walsh and we thought it fit in well with our other posts so far this week.

According to Lance Kuhn from the WIX group, the aircraft was B-24M-30-FO, 44-51928 and the date was 28 June 1945. Lance tells us it was flown later to RFC Kingman for storage and scrapping.

If you haven't already joined the WIX group, check them out at https://www.facebook.com/groups/wixhq/

Source: Commemorative Air Force B29 B24 Squadron.

Hunter F6 of 325 sqdn, which belongs to Soesterberg, increased the joy of the visitors at the open day at Eindhoven in September 1967. On the left another local F-84F and behind the nose the tail of a T-33A. In August 1968 the Hunter (with 1500 flying hours) was sold to Hawker and after renovation it finally ended up with the Jordanian Air Force in 1971. Saw the Hunter van Soesterberg leave. The nose registration had been painted away, the Hunter still had the Klu roundel. Source: Henk Schakelaar.

Starfighters consigned to the Royal Norwegian Air Force under the US Military Assistance Programme, are towed on August 7 1963 through one of the main streets in Bodo to the nearby airbase. The 104's were delivered to Norway aboard the aircraft carrier USS Croatan. Source: Gerrit Boxem.

As a result of Air Ministry specification B.9/32, the Handley Page HP.52 Hampden was designed as an RAF twin-engine medium bomber. It was part of the trio of large twin-engine bombers procured for the RAF, joining the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Vickers Wellington. As the newest of the three the Hampden it made her first flight on 21 June 1936 and was often referred to by her crews as the "Flying Suitcase" because of its cramped crew conditions. The Hampden was powered by Bristol Pegasus XVIII radials giving it a topspeed of 398 km/h.
Serving in the early stages of the Second World War, it bore the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin on 25 August 1940, which was aimed at Tempelhof Airport and the first 1,000-bomber raid on Cologne on 30 May 1942. When it became obsolete, after a period of mainly operating at night, it was retired from RAF Bomber Command service in late 1942. A number were transferred to RAF Coastal Command and were phased out in december 1943. Within RAF Bomber Command, by 1943, the rest of the trio were also being replaced by the larger four-engined heavy bombers such as the Handley Page Halifax and the Avro Lancaster.
Painting by Michael Turner.

The Lancaster is a World War II 4-engine heavy bomber built by Avro. The Lancaster was mainly used by the Royal Air Force.

My thanks to Red Bone from the Poderío Bélico group for the image. It's "Preparations" by digital artist Piotr Forkasiewicz.

Cletrac tractor in Victory Museum in Grootegast.

Clarktor 6 Aircraft tug 1943 in Victory Museum in Grootegast.

Foxtrot dispersal at RAF Scampton. Photo: Mick Hibbert.

The Dassault Rafale is a so-called multi-role combat aircraft from Marcel Dassault Industries, the makers of the Mirage series. Towed by a Schopf F59 from Goldhofer Airport Technology. Joint Warrior 2013. Photo: Chasse Embarquée.

Documentation about the Clarktor 6, which is one of the most famous tractors of the Second World War. This is because we usually only know these tractors from use on British military airfields, for towing aircraft and transporting armaments, but they were also used in industry and agriculture. The Clarktor 6s were manufactured in the United States by the Clark Tractor Plant in Michigan founded in 1919. The Clarktor 6 was known for its compact size with a wheelbase of 1.20 meters and 11 inches and was powered by a 62 hp water-cooled Chrysler six-cylinder flat-head petrol engine with a three-speed crash gearbox that allowed it to reach maximum speed of 25 km/h. Production started in 1942 and by the end of the Second World War, that manufacturer had, among other things, completed an order for more than 1,500 Clarktor 6s for the British Royal Air Force. These were built as a version designated "BH" which stands for 'British Heavy' and supplied to the British Ministry of Defense for the RAF under the Lend Lease Act. The Lend-Lease Act of 1941 stated that the United States government could lend or lease (rather than sell) supplies to any country deemed "vital to the defense of the United States". Photos: Joe Swelnis.