Aviation Photography - Reims-Champagne

French Air Force - Armée de l'Air
Reims-Champagne (BA 112)
June 2011

Reims-Champagne (BA 112) is just days away from closure and the last remaining Dassault Mirage F.1s were about to move to Mont de Marsan. The decommissioning ceremony was held on June 30 and the air base was offically closed on September 1, 2011.

Mirage F1
Designed as the successor to the Dassault Mirage III, the Dassault Mirage F.1 is a single-seat air-superiority and all-weather fighter. The prototype first flew on December 23, 1966 and was accepted by the French Air Force in May 1967. The Mirage F.1 entered service in May 1973, initially armed with just two 30 mm internal cannon. In 1976 the R530 medium-range air-to-air missile was introduced followed by the R550 Magic air-to-air missile a year later.

Production:
Mirage F.1C (serials 01-04, 01, E01 and 1-103) delivered from May 1973.
Mirage F.1C-200/F.1CT (serials 201-283) delivered from 1977 to 1983, 55 were later converted to F.1CT, the remainder were withdrawn in 2003.
Mirage F.1B (serials 501-520) delivered from October 1980.
Mirage F.1CR (serials 601-664) delivered from December 1982, the last Mirage F.1CRs were withdrawn after the Bastille day flypast on July 14, 2014.