Saudi Arabia 2007-

Pictures taken in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, mostly over several visits to the RSAF Museum in Riyadh in late 2007 and early 2008.

Known as the Saqr Al Jazeera (Hawk of the Peninsula), this impressive museum contains many of the aircraft types flown by the RSAF over the years, including the Tornado ADV which was restored and repainted at Alsalam Aircraft Co in late 2007. Early 2008 saw some re-arranging of the aircraft outside, following the arrival of the old Saudia Tristar in January and the former Royal Flight B707 by March. These had been moved across from the adjoining Riyadh Airbase, where they had been parked for several years after being retired.

In addition are the gate guards at Dhahran Airbase, taken in 2011 during an Eid holiday, the only time they were specially lit up. Just over two years later, they were taken down and moved inside the base in Nov 2013 to be repainted (now finished they still await being put back on display). Then in Jan 2017, Tornado IDS 765 on display at the main gate was repainted into the low-viz grey scheme. Back in Jan 1991 this aircraft had run out of fuel and crash landed during a missed approach in poor weather conditions at Hafar Al Batin, three days after the start of operation Desert Storm.