{"id":55517,"date":"2024-04-15T20:21:29","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T18:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=55517"},"modified":"2025-04-15T00:11:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T22:11:04","slug":"the-flight-between-mountains-of-spanish-ef-18-fighters-in-the-mach-loop-of-greece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2024\/04\/15\/the-flight-between-mountains-of-spanish-ef-18-fighters-in-the-mach-loop-of-greece\/","title":{"rendered":"The flight between mountains of Spanish EF-18 fighters in the 'Mach Loop' of Greece"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five years ago I told you here about the \"Mach Loop\" in Wales<\/a>, one of the best places in the world to see fighter planes at low altitude.<\/p>\n

The airplanes and helicopters that the Spanish Air Force expects to receive soon<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe withdrawal in Le\u00f3n of an EF-18 Spanish fighter of the 46th Wing that flew with the US Marines<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

Greece has a similar place in the northwest of the Peloponnese Peninsula<\/strong>, a canyon known among spotters (aircraft photographers) as the \"Greek Mach Loop\"<\/strong>. During the annual Iniochos exercises organized by the Greek Air Force, which take place at the Air Tactics Center of the Andravida base, that canyon becomes an excellent place to photograph and record fighter planes from different countries <\/strong>, among them the old Greek F-4E Phantom II, a model that is already difficult to see elsewhere.<\/p>\n

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Personnel from the 46th Wing boarding an A400M from the 31st Wing bound for Greece to participate in the Iniochos 2024 exercise (Photo: Ala 46<\/a>).<\/div>\n

At the beginning of April, personnel from the 46th Wing of the Spanish Air Force traveled to Greece<\/a> from the Gando Air Base, in Gran Canaria, to participate in this year's Iniochos exercise. The Spanish military personnel flew in an Airbus A400M Atlas from the 31st Wing and several EF-18A+ from the 46th Wing also flew to Greece<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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EF-18A+ Hornet fighters of the 46th Wing flying over Sierra Nevada on their flight from Gando, Gran Canaria, to Andravida, Greece. The two planes were armed with AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles (Photo: Ala 46<\/a>).<\/div>\n

A British spotter I follow on YouTube, Dafydd Phillips<\/a>, posted a video last Saturday in which it shows Spanish EF-18A+ Hornet fighters from the 46th Wing in the \"Greek Mach Loop\"<\/strong>, specifically the C.15-82 (46-10) and the C.15-83 (46 -eleven). The 46th Wing, based in Gando (Gran Canaria) participates in this year's exercise along with fighters from other countries. In the video we see first the two Spanish EF-18A+<\/strong>, followed by Greek F-4E and F-16, a French Rafale, a Romanian F-16 and a Saudi Eurofighter:<\/p>\n