European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 22, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse The stars and 0 pc fir it my a " Souraty. 4lh Nataf is toils in weapons meet Only Way to win be right on the by Charles Graham staff writer Ever Germany is the poor country boy who went Hunting for the family dinner with orders from his Pappy Totake three bullets and bring Back three rabbits did t have any problems compared to nato s Jet jocks at this year Saf cent tactical weapons meet each skip bombing Straf ing and rocket attack the pay Load has to be right on the Money. The same goes for the nuclear device deliveries unarmed of course. Flying out of the German air base Here Only a few Miles from the North seacoast the pilots pick out targets on the 50-Square-mile Nordhorn bomb Range located 120 Miles to the team scores Are always very close. It s the most Intens Competition i be Ever seen said it. Col. S. V. Taylor commander of the . Team from the 50th tactical fighter Wing at Hahn air base Germany. Officially the meet pitted nations of the 2nd Allied tactical air Force Nataf Belgium the Netherlands Britain and Ger Many s Northern sector against the 4th Nataf Canada the United states and Germany Southern sector. We came up Here to win said the 4th Nataf team com Mander it. Col. Ralph Annis a Canadian with 4 Wing nears Ellingen Germany. And win they did though the meet was Cut Short by three missions Fol lowing the crash of a belgianf104. The seven Day Competition saw 129 missions flown by each is photos by Scott Gates Nataf with the 4th winning2,753 to 2,740. There were 36 skip bombing strafing and rocket attack sorties along with 96 nuclear delivery missions. Of the nuclear missions 24 were flown at night. But this International meet was More than just a score. It was runways aprons and hang ars full of angry looking jets from six different countries twas groups of pilots and ground Crews clustered Here and thereto talk shop or Tell jokes each wearing a 3-by-5-Inch replica of his country s hag on his flight suit. On the flight line were Bel Gian Canadian dutch and Ger Man varieties of the f104, plus British Canberra German g91s italian manufactured an american floor and f4s. There were four planes of each coun try s models. A French team of four Floo was also competing As a guest keep All those planes in selected on the pilots for Peting nation random from muted by each Force. Each country 70 per cent of lots and the Nau from a hat a quarters. Of Vav target Check the storekeepers Are on top of the action at left As smoke clears from a direct hit on the target a tank and a trod \ in a itch i 2 a win a results giant scoreboard keeps spectators up on the standings. Behind the scene balloon goes up for weather information at left and an f4 is trucked to hangar after the Days l
