Torrejón de Ardoz,  15 October 2008

After a very nice flight from Charleroi to Madrid-Barajas Airport we picked up our car and drove to Torrejón de Ardoz. Here we arrived around 1 o'clock in the afternoon were we found a nice spot on the southern part of the airbase where we had a very nice view on the apron. A lot of CL-215's could be seen here as well as lots of VIP aircraft of the Spanish Air Force.

When we read all the CL-215's and most of the other aircraft on the ramp we drove to the north-west side of the field where we had a view on the Ala 12 ramp. Unfortunately we could only read a few Hornets due to the heat waves, so we decided to drive further up north to find a nice spot in the landing area. As the sun was almost on the nose and was turning into the right direction we decided to stay here and wait for things to happen. A lot of civil traffic landed and departed during the afternoon and only one Hornet was performing its display. Although the sun was still not in the right position we were able to take some good shots of the Hornet which was performing it's demo.

Around 5 o'clock we decided to stay only half an hour longer as still nothing much was happening. Our prayers were heard as 17.30h the time Hornets started to taxi out for a late afternoon mission. In total six Hornets departed which came back around 7 o'clock. At that time the sun was in a very nice position, very low at the horizon, which made it possible to take some very nice shots. When all six Hornets were on the ground and we were packing our gear we were surprised by a nice B.707 which came back after a very long air to air mission.

After we left Torrejón de Ardoz we drove to Madrid-Getafe Air Base were besides the Ala 35 transport squadron also the CASA/EADS factory in located. We decided to have a quick look from the factory gate, but were send away within 2 minutes. At the factory we only saw a Italian AF C-130J, but we were unable to read this one. We also had a quick look on the military apron, where we read some of the parked C-295's. Unfortunately it was getting pretty dark at that moment so we went to our Formule One Hotel in Getafe.

History of Torrejón de Ardoz

Torrejón de Ardoz is a commercial airport in Spain. It is a joint-use facility between the Spanish Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Public Works. The civil part is dedicated primarily to executive and private aviation. The military part is the base of several combat, logistics and electronic warfare units of the Ejercito del Aire, the Spanish Air Force, among them the Ala 12 with EF-18 Hornets and the official planes of the President of the Government of Spain and the King of Spain. Also the Grupo 43, equipped with the CL-215 and CL-415 fire fighting aircraft, Grupo 47 , equipped with Da-20s and C-212s and the CLAEX test unit equipped with C-101s, C-212's and Hornets are stationed at Torrejón Air Base. Torrejón Air Base was originally the home of the Spanish National Institute of Aeronautics, however following the U.S.-Spanish Defense Agreement of 26 September 1953, construction began at Torrejón on a new 13,400-ft concrete runway to replace the existing 4,266-ft grass airstrip and on a massive concrete apron and other necessary maintenance and shelter facilities to accommodate the largest USAF Strategic Air Command bombers.

Torrejón Air Base opened officially on 1 June 1957 with the SAC activating the 3970^th Strategic Wing on 1 July 1957. The 65^th Air Division directed base construction, and the establishment of off-base housing and radar sites. The division's fighter squadrons flew air defense interceptions over Spanish airspace. The division also controlled the operations of numerous attached tactical fighter squadrons that were deployed to Spain for temporary duty. In addition to the command and control mission, Torrejón Air Base base hosted SAC reflex operations. Reflex operations consisted of rotating Boeing B-47 Stratojet wings overseas for extended duty as part of a dispersal program.

On 5 July 1958 the Air Defense Command 497^th FIS arrived at Torrejón from Geiger AFB Washington with North American F-86D Sabres. On 26 April 1960, the 497^th FIS changed to the F-102 Delta Dagger and operated under SAC control until its transfer to the USAFE 86^th Air Division (Defense) at Ramstein AB West Germany on 1 July 1960. This transfer was made in order that all USAF fighter assets in Europe could be concentrated in one command. It operated F-102s until 3 June 1964, when the squadron was reassigned to the 8^th TFW at George AFB, California as a F-4C Tactical Fighter Squadron. Its F-102 aircraft were transferred to other USAFE FIS squadrons.

With the phase out of the B-47 from SAC in the mid 1960s, the need for SAC European bases diminished. The Sixteenth Air Force was turned over to the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) on 15 April 1966 and the mission of Torrejón changed to tactical aircraft operations. With the USAFE takeover of the base, Tactical Air Command transferred the 401^st TFW from England AFB Louisiana to USAFE on a permanent basis to Torrejón on 27 April 1966 to perform host functions at the base and to support the rotational TDY duty to Italy and Turkey for NATO alerts. At that time 401^st TFW squadrons flew the North American F-100 Super Sabre. In 1970 the 401^st TFW upgraded to the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. In 1983 the 401^st TFW upgraded to the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.

As the time approached in 1987 for the renegotiation of the existing base agreement, which had entered into force in 1983 for a five-year period, pressures mounted for a reduction of the United States military presence in Spain. In January 1988, Spain and the United States announced jointly that agreement had been reached in principle on a new base agreement with an initial term of eight years, essentially meeting the conditions demanded by Spain. The F-16s were to be removed from Torrejon within three years, by mid-1991. It was expected that this step would reduce the number of United States personnel in Spain by nearly one-half.

Implementation of this agreement was delayed by the 1990/91 crisis in Kuwait, when the 401^st TFW was one of the first American fighter wings to respond, with the 612^th TFS deploying to its wartime base at Incirlik Turkey and the 614^th TFS becoming the first US Military unit to deploy to the Persian Gulf State of Qatar. Both squadrons flew a large number of operational missions during Operations Desert Shield and Storm. After the 1991 cease-fire in Iraq, plans proceeded to close Torrejon Air Base. In accordance with the 1988 agreement, the USAF portion of the base was returned to the Spanish government on 21 May 1996, with the 401^st TFW being transferred to Aviano AB Italy without personnel or equipment.

source: wikipedia