Page 59 - aprilmay pick west - web version

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Last TriStar leaves Brize
They have been a familiar sight over the town for several years, but now the
final TriStar plane has left RAF Brize Norton. Introduced in the mid-80s, the
TriStar has been flying out of Brize for the last eight years and have clocked up
more than 25million KM between them. They have played a key role in the RAF
as equipment and troop transport planes and has also been used for mid-air
refuelling. The TriStar has been a reliable and well-loved plane, but will now be
replaced with the more modern Voyager aircraft. The last mission the planes flew
was to re-fuel a trio of Eurofighter jets over the North Sea before they were flown
to Bruntingthorpe to be dismantled. During the war in Afghanistan the TriStars
were also used in the vital job of bringing home the wounded and the squadron
which flies the planes, 216 squadron, was disbanded although there have been no
redundancies among the 490 members.