I was a USAF pilot exchange officer, assigned to No2 (f) OCU at RAAF Williamtown from July 1965 to July 1969. We flew the Mirage IIIO. It was a great, fun aircraft to fly, rather like a sports car comparet to the F-4, and the Australian fightrer pilots were the most professional, skilled bunch one could find anywhere in the world. I still have wonderful memories of those years. I often wonder if any of the old OCU instructors are still around.
Michael DeWan Madden Thank you for your service with the RAAF back then. I remember the Mirage flying training missions at treetop height in Queensland back in those days. Incredible aircraft. They were eventually sold to Pakistan and are apparently still flying.
Laverton 1975 standing on the edge of the Geelong Road . These guys came in on the deck . I saw it about 200 metres away the one that went over my head no more than 50 feet. . The compressor sounded like a very loud truck, they flew down the runway went vertical & they were gone . Came in from Avalon. Most impressive aircraft memory ever.Those were the days just don’t see it these days.
Mudrat02 Thanks for the info on the annual reunion. I'll check it out. Mates I served with: Terry Carter, Hugh Collits, WC Trebilco, Trev Richardson, Barry Schultz. OG Worth, "Spike" Jones....and on and on. Tony Carpys.....we were all standing out in front of 2F(OCU) (the old WWII buildings, gone now) watching Tony practice when when he augered in right in front of us and went sliding upside down behind the Air Commodore's house. I knew a bunch of these guys from Ubon in mid-1965 when I was there flying Phantoms there, and later when Trev and Barry and I taught together at the USAF Fighter Weapons School at Nellis in the early 70's. Mike Ryan was one of our students who later did an exchange tour at Williamtown before moving up to USAF Chief of Staff in later years. Another great guy!
Al ' Squizzy ' Taylor was my commanding officer 77 Sqn 1976. Splashed him in a 2v2 whilst my wingman Jim Rothwell splashed his wingman 77 Sqn Ops Officer Sqn Ldr Garry Gent. Mike Ryan was USAF exchange pilot on my Mirage course March 1971 and later became Chief of Staff USAF
Amazing display of quite a number of Mirage III on show together. I noticed the takoff with the first 4 ships all together, and the opposite takeoff of the 2 last. Can't believe this was a regular routine at that time 8-) This must have been quite a show. Good job Aussie pilots have quite some piloting skills but we knew that from WW2 and maybe WW1 also.
The Wing Commander being interviewed is our CO 77sqn Bill Simmonds of that a time when our squadron was chosen to be the RAAF aerobatic display team named the DELTAS...Bill was a great boss and always treated us ground crew with respect and appreciation with keeping these awesome birds operational...BLINKY BILL AVM..RIP......FOTM
These guys buzzed me & others at about 40 feet at the Laverton Air Show 1975 . I was standing on Geelong Road, someone pointed back.l looked back saw the nose of a Mirage. The compressor sounded like a truck. Then they were gone across the Laverton Runway & straight up . They had come from Avalon because the runway at Laverton was too short. To handle . The noise stays with me. An unforgettable experience. They wouldn’t be allowed to do it now. With all the safety rules now they are not allowed to overtly people . A SR71 pilot Brian Shul said in one of his books that fighters from this era were his favourites including the SR which he loved with a passion. He said a pilot could treat them hard & they never complained.aye felt later juts were much more breakable. I am not qiuoting just interpreting what he wrote . An amazing pilot & storyteller.. Don’t think you can just buy the book though 600 might get you a copy.
The RAAF purchased 116 Mirage III aircraft, 100 single seaters and 16 Dual seaters. There were four fighter squadrons (mentioned earlier) and 2OCU also operated a squadron of them, mainly duals for training pilots. ARDU also operated 2 or 3 aircraft. A3-1 to A3-4 were built in France and the rest built by GAF in Victoria. A3-4 was the RAAFs one and only supersonic pilot ejection. (ARDU during spin trials in the 60s). In flight, they are the most beautiful aircraft ever built. Biased? Yep!
@toose70 Sorry, our main video library can't find any additional footage. The makers of the original documentary may still have it but I am unable to even tell you who they are.
@generalripper1964 ..they sure did 4 squadrons at one stage... 3 , 75, 76, and 77 ..about 110 of them... some of them are now in Pakistan after the FA-18 Hornet came to us in the mid 1980's.
One of the pilots in this video said that not long after this footage was taken he ejected out of the jet whilst practicing for this show. He said that the doco crew stayed on & filmed a piece on that incident. Do you guys have that footage? He would love to see it again.
I served in 77SQN (Williamtown NSW) and 79SQN (Butterworth Malaysia '86 - '88) and while I loved working on them and my Renault 16TS, you'll never see me near anything French again (on wheels that is; French on legs may bend my thinking :-)
I know for certain some of the pilots in this video are still in Newcastle, shouldn't be too hard to track down but it sounds like these guys may have been after your time. Alternatively, you know there's a RAAF aircrew reunion every year on the east coast? There were a lot of old Mirage jocks there last year. Make the trip!
Hi MudRat02, nostalgic video and from the sounds of it, you were in the RAAF. I would love to get in touch with someone who flew with these guys, or the engineers who looked after the aircraft.
I was a USAF pilot exchange officer, assigned to No2 (f) OCU at RAAF Williamtown from July 1965 to July 1969. We flew the Mirage IIIO. It was a great, fun aircraft to fly, rather like a sports car comparet to the F-4, and the Australian fightrer pilots were the most professional, skilled bunch one could find anywhere in the world. I still have wonderful memories of those years. I often wonder if any of the old OCU instructors are still around.
Michael DeWan Madden Thank you for your service with the RAAF back then. I remember the Mirage flying training missions at treetop height in Queensland back in those days. Incredible aircraft. They were eventually sold to Pakistan and are apparently still flying.
Laverton 1975 standing on the edge of the Geelong Road . These guys came in on the deck . I saw it about 200 metres away the one that went over my head no more than 50 feet. . The compressor sounded like a very loud truck, they flew down the runway went vertical & they were gone . Came in from Avalon. Most impressive aircraft memory ever.Those were the days just don’t see it these days.
Mudrat02 Thanks for the info on the annual reunion. I'll check it out. Mates I served with: Terry Carter, Hugh Collits, WC Trebilco, Trev Richardson, Barry Schultz. OG Worth, "Spike" Jones....and on and on. Tony Carpys.....we were all standing out in front of 2F(OCU) (the old WWII buildings, gone now) watching Tony practice when when he augered in right in front of us and went sliding upside down behind the Air Commodore's house. I knew a bunch of these guys from Ubon in mid-1965 when I was there flying Phantoms there, and later when Trev and Barry and I taught together at the USAF Fighter Weapons School at Nellis in the early 70's. Mike Ryan was one of our students who later did an exchange tour at Williamtown before moving up to USAF Chief of Staff in later years. Another great guy!
Al ' Squizzy ' Taylor was my commanding officer 77 Sqn 1976. Splashed him in a 2v2 whilst my wingman Jim Rothwell splashed his wingman 77 Sqn Ops Officer Sqn Ldr Garry Gent. Mike Ryan was USAF exchange pilot on my Mirage course March 1971 and later became Chief of Staff USAF
Amazing display of quite a number of Mirage III on show together. I noticed the takoff with the first 4 ships all together, and the opposite takeoff of the 2 last. Can't believe this was a regular routine at that time 8-) This must have been quite a show. Good job Aussie pilots have quite some piloting skills but we knew that from WW2 and maybe WW1 also.
The Wing Commander being interviewed is our CO 77sqn Bill Simmonds of that a time when our squadron was chosen to be the RAAF aerobatic display team named the DELTAS...Bill was a great boss and always treated us ground crew with respect and appreciation with keeping these
awesome birds operational...BLINKY BILL AVM..RIP......FOTM
Never saw a Mirage display but was at Edinburgh when the two Mirages broke the sound barrier.
They got in trouble for that
These guys buzzed me & others at about 40 feet at the Laverton Air Show 1975 . I was standing on Geelong Road, someone pointed back.l looked back saw the nose of a Mirage. The compressor sounded like a truck. Then they were gone across the Laverton Runway & straight up . They had come from Avalon because the runway at Laverton was too short. To handle . The noise stays with me. An unforgettable experience. They wouldn’t be allowed to do it now. With all the safety rules now they are not allowed to overtly people .
A SR71 pilot Brian Shul said in one of his books that fighters from this era were his favourites including the SR which he loved with a passion. He said a pilot could treat them hard & they never complained.aye felt later juts were much more breakable. I am not qiuoting just interpreting what he wrote . An amazing pilot & storyteller.. Don’t think you can just buy the book though 600 might get you a copy.
These videos are great!
Awesome... aerial ballet.. thanks from NZ 👍🇳🇿
The RAAF purchased 116 Mirage III aircraft, 100 single seaters and 16 Dual seaters.
There were four fighter squadrons (mentioned earlier) and 2OCU also operated a squadron of them, mainly duals for training pilots. ARDU also operated 2 or 3 aircraft. A3-1 to A3-4 were built in France and the rest built by GAF in Victoria. A3-4 was the RAAFs one and only supersonic pilot ejection. (ARDU during spin trials in the 60s). In flight, they are the most beautiful aircraft ever built. Biased? Yep!
Hey,I was an apprentice at CAC,we built some of the airframe and the Atar 9c engines.
@toose70 Sorry, our main video library can't find any additional footage. The makers of the original documentary may still have it but I am unable to even tell you who they are.
That's a classic. I even recognised a mate of mine who was in the team. Had never seen that footage before.
We always knew when the mirage was on approach at RSAF Tengah in the 70's, Noisy and gorgeous.....
So miss the Mirage, wishit was still flying. And that 1970s porn music sounds great withit!!!
Would be nice if David Lowy restored one of these and housed it @ Temora???
outstand pilots and planes awesome seen in the flesh a noise like no other
@generalripper1964 ..they sure did 4 squadrons at one stage... 3 , 75, 76, and 77 ..about 110 of them... some of them are now in Pakistan after the FA-18 Hornet came to us in the mid 1980's.
One of the pilots in this video said that not long after this footage was taken he ejected out of the jet whilst practicing for this show. He said that the doco crew stayed on & filmed a piece on that incident. Do you guys have that footage? He would love to see it again.
I served in 77SQN (Williamtown NSW) and 79SQN (Butterworth Malaysia '86 - '88) and while I loved working on them and my Renault 16TS, you'll never see me near anything French again (on wheels that is; French on legs may bend my thinking :-)
I know for certain some of the pilots in this video are still in Newcastle, shouldn't be too hard to track down but it sounds like these guys may have been after your time. Alternatively, you know there's a RAAF aircrew reunion every year on the east coast? There were a lot of old Mirage jocks there last year. Make the trip!
Hi MudRat02, nostalgic video and from the sounds of it, you were in the RAAF. I would love to get in touch with someone who flew with these guys, or the engineers who looked after the aircraft.
Chris Hudson Fightertown. I went
As the Americans used to say… ‘aluminium death tubes’ that had the glide slope of a house brick when the engine failed…
They should bring back the cravat as part of the uniform for Knucks.
All the retired Mirage were bought by Pakistan Air Force and have been rebuilt with latest avionics and missiles.
The french lady!
what ever happened to a315 ?
sold to PAF
AKA Malfunction junction!
who cares if it's bias? It's true :P
pity we never used them here in the states
77Sqn. Fistfull of thumbs!
hair cut would be nice