Another back in the day post…
1984 to be exact… 🙂
The ‘military’ side of Keflavik, IC.
The first hangar, center bottom, was the VP hangar. Needless to say, this is a ‘summer’ shot! And they were busy, as only 2 birds on the ramp, and probably one or two in the hangar, so 5 or 6 out flying on ‘stuff” or elsewhere…
The four little blue hangars were the 57th FIS alert hangars for F-4s back then. The rest of the transient birds were at the far end of the ramp, where the AWACS and KC-135 were parked.
An aerial view of the ramp areas and facilities of the P-3 and 57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron ramps, with other facilities in the background.
Aeroflot used to try to ‘taxi’ through our ramp, by ‘mistaking’ the tower’s directions to the terminal, which is just out of the picture, lower right.
Fuel trucks, airplanes, and occasionally USAF Security Police were used to ‘block’ their access, to prevent them taking pictures of the airplanes and inside of the hangar.
Flying out of Kef in the winter was always fun, considering the closest alternate airport was 772nm away (Kinloss) which was 2 1/2 hours. Made for some LONG days…
One funny note, they actually do have golf courses up there, and in the summer, you could tee off at midnight, and finish in ‘twilight’ about 0400 in the morning. Drinking in the bar was problematic, since you could stagger out at 1130 or 2330, and not be able to tell the difference… 🙂
F-4s just barely visible. Skid marks behind them are proof positive those are Phantoms. D models, Es maybe? One of the most beautiful places to be stationed. Well, not so much in the winter though…
I was glad to avoid it 🙂
I miss flying E3s out of Kef. We had 2 week TDYs there and stood alert muchly waiting to see if Ivan was gonna fly a bear past us.
The Navy women always seemed to enjoy some “strange” and I had plenty of fun there.
Judgee- I ‘think’ E models… and yes, winter was interesting. I did a winter depolyment there in 83.
Ed- LOL
Mark- Point…LOL We did one Bear alert, and actually got to it before the F-4s did!
Sounds like Aeroflot was requesting help with modifications to their aircraft to significantly improve ventilation below 10,000 feet.
Ag- No, they had spies with cameras in the cockpits trying to get pictures of everything… sigh And yes, I ‘got’ the reference…LOL
The good old days.
Today they’d send an uncrewed drone.
LL- Sigh… yeah…
I had the good fortune to work on those F-4’s. Two tours; 80-82 and 84-85. The hanger in the middle was our maintenance hanger. It’s gone now.
Tomoldguy
Tom- Thanks for your service!
Was there 6/73 to 6/74 with 57FIS. We didnt have our own welding shop so we worked out of the Navy air frame shop, which I think was the big building at the bottom of the picture.I was in a minority in that i spent a lot of time out in the Icelandic community. They were great folks and ALL the women were attractive.MIL made it difficult for lower ranks to spend too much time out in the community. I was E-5 (SSGT)and had a standing pass. I went from Iceland to Wurtsmith AFB in Michigan where winters were worse.
May’72- May’73, 102 crew chief. That picture and story brought back lots of good memories. E-3, got permission to bring my wife up, lived in Keflavik, it was great. When the volcano blew, the Air Force offered to fly her home for free. Worked out great. After getting farmed out to the Alert Barn, I started volunteering, THAT was great duty too.