{"id":53183,"date":"2023-09-25T06:08:06","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T04:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=53183"},"modified":"2025-09-25T00:10:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T22:10:30","slug":"the-best-photos-from-the-us-national-archives-about-the-spanish-air-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2023\/09\/25\/the-best-photos-from-the-us-national-archives-about-the-spanish-air-force\/","title":{"rendered":"The best photos from the US National Archives about the Spanish Air Force"},"content":{"rendered":"

The air forces of Spain and the United States have been collaborating as allies for many years, even in combat operations.<\/p>\n

Spanish and US F-4 Phantom II fighters in the CASA hangars in Getafe in 1980<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe Air Arm of the Spanish Navy in old photographs of the US National Archives<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

The National Archives of the United States<\/a> preserve many photographs that bear witness to that past in common.<\/strong> Some photos have very good quality (and I say this as a photography fan) and others reflect curious and even funny moments, which show the camaraderie between the military aviators of both countries. I have selected fourteen photos that I thought were especially good.<\/strong> These are photos that were taken by the US military. I hope you like them.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Descending from the green giant.<\/strong> Members of the Spanish Air Force and the USAF descending from a US HH-53C Jolly Green Giant heavy helicopter on April 13, 1987<\/strong> during the exercise special operations Flintlock 87 at Zaragoza Air Base (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Spanish paratroopers in England.<\/strong> Spanish Air Force paratroopers launching from the rear ramp of a USAF HH-53C Jolly Green Giant heavy helicopter during the Flintlock 87 special operations exercise on April 13 1987<\/strong>at RAF Bentwaters Air Base, England (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Intervention in the former Yugoslavia.<\/strong> A Spanish EF-18, the C.15-65 12-23, belonging to the 12th Wing based in Torrj\u00f3n de Ardoz, takes off from the Aviano Air Base, in Italy , on September 6, 1995<\/strong> during a NATO air operation against the Bosnian Serbs. The aircraft carries an AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missile under its starboard wing and an AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile on its marginal mount (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Remove before flight.<\/strong> A Spanish Air Force sergeant covers the engine inlet of a CN-235 transport plane on June 16, 1998<\/strong>, after landing on the McChorc AFB, Washington, during Airlift Exercise Rodeo 98 (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Flying in formation in Zaragoza.<\/strong> Two Spanish EF-18s from the 15th Wing and two F-16Cs from the USAF 510th Fighter Squadron, based in Aviano, return in formation over the Zaragoza Air Base on February 7, 2002<\/strong>. Below are four EF-18s from the 15th Wing parked on the base platform. (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Flying over the snowy mountains of Afghanistan.<\/strong> A Spanish Air Force gunner with an MG-3 machine gun aboard an AS-332 Super Puma helicopter on January 22, 2011<\/strong >. The Spanish helicopter was carrying Lieutenant General Sir Richard Shirreff, of the British Army, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A song for his girlfriend from Kabul.<\/strong> Two USAF sergeants sing into the phone of an Air Force aviator at Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan, on October 27, 2011 <\/strong>. The Spanish airman asked the USAF rockers to sing a song to his girlfriend during a call to Spain (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The band reflected in the horn.<\/strong> An Air Force musician at the commemorative events of the 75th anniversary of the Mor\u00f3n Air Base on May 30, 2015<\/strong>. His fellow musicians appear reflected in his horn (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Giving the canary a drink.<\/strong> A Spanish EF-18A fighter, the C.15-95 46-23, belonging to the 46th Wing based in Gando (Canary Islands) on March 29, 2016 <\/strong>, during a refueling flight with a KC-130J of the Marines in Gran Canaria (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Elegance.<\/strong> A Spanish EF-18M fighter prepares to take off from Nellis AFB, Nevada, during exercise Red Flag 16-4 on August 17, 2016<\/strong>. Spanish aviators and other allied nations often go to these combat aircraft exercises in the United States (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A caress on the nose.<\/strong> A pilot of a Spanish EF-18M fighter does a pre-flight inspection before taking off from Nellis AFB, Nevada, during exercise Red Flag 16-4 on < strong>August 17, 2016<\/strong> (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Cockpit for two.<\/strong> The crew members of an EF-18B(M) of the 12th Wing, the CE.15-08 12-71, climb into the cockpit of this two-seat version of the Hornet at the air base of Nellis AFB, Nevada, during exercise Red Flag 16-4 on August 17, 2016<\/strong> (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Drinking at dusk above the clouds.<\/strong> A two-seat Eurofighter Typhoon from the 11th Wing during a refueling flight with a Marine KC-130J near Mor\u00f3n Air Base, on November 14, 2019<\/strong> (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Scaring away the birds.<\/strong> A Spanish A400M Atlas transport plane, part of the 31st Wing, lands at the Aviano Air Base, in Italy, on September 28, 2020<\/strong> , transporting USAF personnel after a deployment to RAF Lakenheath, England. In the image you can see a flock of birds flying near the Spanish plane (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

---<\/p>\n

Main photo: NARA<\/a>. An EF-18A from the 462 Squadron of the 46th Wing, based in Gando (Canary Islands), during a refueling flight with a KC-130J of the Marines on March 29, 2016.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The air forces of Spain and the United States have been collaborating as allies for many years, even in combat operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[19536,11549],"tags":[20201,6772,17289,6615,8244,3546,1240,7389,20203,3936,1248,20200,1239,11583,13231,20197,20196,20199,11875,20202,19189],"class_list":["post-53183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-we-said-yesterday","category-military-history","tag-510th-fighter-squadron","tag-aerospatiale-as-332-super-puma","tag-agm-88-harm","tag-aim-9-sidewinder","tag-airbus-a400m-atlas","tag-ala-12","tag-ala-15","tag-ala-46","tag-aviano-air-base","tag-casa-cn-235","tag-eurofighter-typhoon","tag-mcchorc-afb","tag-mcdonnell-douglas-ef-18-hornet","tag-moron-air-base","tag-nellis-afb","tag-raf-bentwaters","tag-sikorsky-hh-53-jolly-green-giant","tag-sir-richard-shirreff","tag-spanish-air-force","tag-us-national-archives","tag-zaragoza-air-base"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-12 02:22:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}