Eclectic dump in Eritrea

[sandiego89]

Noted the eclectic collection of types dumped at Asmara, Eritrea. Always interesting to see a mix of eastern and western hardware.


Assume several were dumped by previous Ethiopian Air Force users, but some may have lingered on.


I note C-119, F-86, MiG-21, MiG-23, F-5A, T-33.... Could some of the F-86 type shapes be French?


https://www.google.com/maps/place/Eritrea/@15.2980989,38.9117869,122m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x166d5a3f9dba8565:0x17c208f02f120ef a!8m2!3d15.179384!4d39.782334?hl=en


Newer types on the ramp to the East.

[TEEEJ]

Could some of the F-86 type shapes be French?

Should be F-86Fs.

http://www.the-northrop-f-5-enthusiast-page.info/Pictures/Ethiopia/F-5Aasmara.jpg

Duncan's F-86 Sabre Website (http://yocumusa.com/sweetrose//duncan/index1/d/d.htm)

Ethiopia AF (http://www.the-northrop-f-5-enthusiast-page.info/AirForces/EthiopiaAF.html)

[Liffy 1M]

Some 1990s images here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/husky48/albums/72157676110183436

[megan]

And an Anson Liffy!!!

[VictorGolf]

Didn't the Fireflies (and others) end up being recovered to South Africa?

[treadigraph]

I believe so; the were a couple of Safirs in the cache and I think a couple of Saab B-17s as well.

[VictorGolf]

I wonder what happened to them once they got to South Africa?

[chevvron]

I wonder what happened to them once they got to South Africa?

Maybe the RNHF nicked them.

[treadigraph]

Looks like one Firefly is now with Didier Chable in France, the other with Jerry Yagen in the US. There were two others that went direct to Canada in '93. It appears that the two Saab B-17s are still in South Africa.

[olympus]

Remember seeing the Ethi AF Fireflies lined up (in the long grass) when I first went to Asmara in 1970. When (and how) did they leave?

[treadigraph]

Looks like the Canadians left in '93, air freighted by RCAF C-130, the Souties in '96 or '98 - not sure how; possibly by road and sea?

One Canadian aircraft is at Rockcliffe, the other is being restored to fly at Shearwater.

[Richard Woods]

There's two really rough Fireflies still out there, the last photo I've seen of them was about four years ago.

From a look on Google earth, follow the track out to the NNE, they're just off to the right of it with a few other wrecks.

[nazca_steve]

There's a PDF scan here of an article about them: https://issuu.com/mtaye/docs/the_long_life_of_ethiopian_fairey_fireflies and discusses the remaining ones at Asmara. I'm still searching for remains/news on the fate of the EtAF's last two Canberras. Been on Google Earth/maps loads of times hunting around Debre Zeit and Dire Dawa but no sign of them. I've had it confirmed they were not part of the 1996 South African purchase, so unless another foreign buyer got them, they might still be there.