Nigel Bunker Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I was just thinking about how long aircraft serve for these days. F-14. First flight 21 December 1970. Still in service with IRIAF. 53 years. F-15. First flight 27 July 1972. Still in service with various air forces and still in production. 51 years. F-16. First flight 20 January 1974. Still in service with various air forces and still in production. 50 years. I can think of others but will leave it to my fellow Britmodellers to supply the facts. Have fun. (I bet the DC-3/C-47 holds the overall record for any type, prop or jet). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Hawker Hunter, first flight 1951. Still providing great service as an aggressor with HHA in the UK and ATAC in the US. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 If talking fighters and we mean in front line service, a good candidate is the MiG-19, first flight in 1952 and still in service in a few air forces, although in Chinese Shenyang J.6 form. The later MiG-21 career is also impressive as the Ye-6 prototypes flew in 1957 and the type is still in several countries. It should however be said that the original F and the Bis that most users have today are quite different animals and the Bis dates from 1972. If however it's confirmed that North Korean MiG-17s are still operational, this would make this type the older in service as first flight was in 1950. If we consider fighters now used in other roles I guess the MiG-15 is the oldest as a number of the UTI variant are still in use as trainers. First flight of the MiG-15 was in 1947.. If talking bombers of course the B-52 is the oldest in every sense and will likely outlive all the fighters I've mentioned. Of course there are other old aircraft around, for example the last Mirage III (first flight 1956) are still flying (likely not for long) while the 10 year younger Mirage F-1 is used by several countries. We can't forget the Phantom (1958) is still in service in a few countries but also the F-5 (1959) is still around in first line service. And there are sure others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 18 minutes ago, Giorgio N said: If talking bombers of course the B-52 is the oldest in every sense and will likely outlive all the fighters I've mentioned. Not yet though: the Hunter shown as ZZ191 is a '59 model: the oldest B-52s now date from no earlier than 1961 (even though they are 60FY-funded aircraft). I wonder if any other Hunters in those 'military' fleets are even older? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GiampieroSilvestri Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 (edited) The North Korean airforce is still flying Ilyushin Il-28s and Mig-17s.Private companies are flying A-4N Skyhawks and Saab Draken as targets tugs and aggressor.Not to forget the Snowbirds Tutors,Patrouille de France Alpha Jets,Red Arrows BAe Hawk and the Aero L-39 Albatros is also still used. Saluti Giampiero Edited January 20 by GiampieroSilvestri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 @Lord Riot and you forgot to mention still looking ever so gorgeous even after all these years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard E Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 1 hour ago, Giorgio N said: If talking bombers of course the B-52 is the oldest in every sense And still supported by a sizeable fleet of KC-135 tankers from the same era ! Additionally I believe the Greek, Turkish and South Korean Air Forces are still operating a dwindling number of Phantoms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoenL Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Martin Baker's pair of Meteors comes to mind. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Anyone mentioned India’s Jaguars yet? Private Jet Provosts / Strikemasters and Gnats are still about but probably not on any military registers now. How old are the Mirage based Cheetahs now, if they are still flying? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaCee26 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 5 hours ago, Giorgio N said: The later MiG-21 career is also impressive as the Ye-6 prototypes flew in 1957 and the type is still in several countries. It should however be said that the original F and the Bis that most users have today are quite different animals and the Bis dates from 1972. Chinese are still building two-seater derivates of the F-version. Trainers, true... Cheers, AaCee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 I find it hard to imagine that there isn't still a T-33 or a handful in some military's inventory! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circloy Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 15 hours ago, Nigel Bunker said: (I bet the DC-3/C-47 holds the record) For a jet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Mirage F.1 / A-4 / Hunter / Strikemaster are all being used by PMCs for Adversary training Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinK Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 One that's been missed off the list so far is an aeroplane which has been much in the news lately, and not in a good way! Still in production - the Boeing 737, first flight 1967, in-service 1968, therefore comfortably more than 50 years old as a type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotthldr Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Last Cheetahs were retired in 2022 by the Ecuadorean Air Force. The last user of the T-33 was Bolivia, which retired the type in 2017. BAe Hawk, first flight August 1974 so another one celebrating 50yrs this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotthldr Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster still in active service. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinK Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 2 minutes ago, scotthldr said: Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster still in active service. The topic was "jets 50+years" and "active service" is a bit of a stretch for the BBMF. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotthldr Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Still active though. T-2 Buckeye 66yrs on the 31st of January. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 SAAB 105, MiG-23/27 and the F-5/T-38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 17 hours ago, Nigel Bunker said: I was just thinking about how long aircraft serve for these days. F-14. First flight 21 December 1970. Still in service with IRIAF. 53 years. F-15. First flight 27 July 1972. Still in service with various air forces and still in production. 51 years. F-16. First flight 20 January 1974. Still in service with various air forces and still in production. 50 years. I can think of others but will leave it to my fellow Britmodellers to supply the facts. Have fun. (I bet the DC-3/C-47 holds the overall record for any type, prop or jet). Hmm.... we seem to have drifted off in all directions. My interpretation of Nigel’s post was jet aircraft (presumably civil as well as military) and “in service”, which to me means operationally. This excludes, in my view, warbirds, third party target operators, etc. I know it’s only a light hearted discussion, of course ;). Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 (edited) The North American T-2 Buckeye is 66 years old, I believe they are still in service with Greece. The Northrop F-5 is 65 years old as a type, the more successful and still in service F-5E (and derivatives) about 42 years old. The Jaguar is about 55 years old, and still in service with India. The HS Hawk T.1 and the Panavia Tornado are both 50 years old this year. The Alpha Jet is one year older. The F-15 and 16 amaze me as to the age of the type, they still look so modern. Edited January 21 by 71chally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 As well as the KC-135s there are the EC-135s, and how about the IL-76 transports? C-5s too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 (edited) This year marks 70 years since the first flight of an A-4, the Argentine Air Force continues to have around 20 A-4ar in active use, which are a Modernization of the M version carried out between 1992 and 1997. The first 25 A-4B (P) arrived in 1966, later they were completed with 25 A-4C that arrived in 1970/75 and 15 A-4Q for the ARA "25 De Mayo" aircraft carrier, they were decommissioned in 1997, after having participated in the Falklands/Malvinas War in 1982, and in 1997 the 36 A-4ARs would arrive, so the A-4s were in service in Argentina for 58 years and counting. A-4B before the war A-4C C-302 in the Oliva's Falklands/Malvinas Museum A-4Q 3-A-305 after attack the HMS Ardent (Art by Carlos Adrián Garcia) A-4AR -Santti Edited January 22 by Santti Srry for the olds photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve McArthur Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 The fact that there are 50+ year old aircraft still in military use is not surprising. 3rd world air forces have always soldiered on with old hand-me-downs. The USAF will probably cease to exist before it gives up its B-52s. This is not nearly as astounding as the fact that F-16 has remained in production and is still getting new customers after 50 years. This week also marked Slovakia receiving its first F-16s brand new from the South Carolina assembly line. I think, the F-15 is the only other fighter in production longer but not at nearly the same numbers as the F-16. The Boeing 737 may be the only other jet to have a longer production run, but that one should have been put out to pasture about 20 years ago and replaced with a more modern design. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Bunker Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 13 hours ago, RidgeRunner said: My interpretation of Nigel’s post was jet aircraft (presumably civil as well as military) and “in service”, which to me means operationally. This excludes, in my view, warbirds, third party target operators, etc. I know it’s only a light hearted discussion, of course ;). That was my intention, but as long as people have fun with the topic, all's good. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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