The airshow at BA 103 Cambrai-Epinoy was on the French airshow calendar every few years. The shows were very popular within the aircraft spotters’ community because of the great photo opportunities of aircraft parked at the flight line and moving on the taxi track.

The 1983 edition
The 1983 edition was held on Sunday 12 June and was a “Meeting Aerien National” which means that the focus was on the French air force, navy and army. But, there were also a few foreign participants: one Belgium F-16B, two Phantoms and two Hawk T1s from the RAF and two A-10s from the USAF’s 81^st TFW at RAF Woodbridge/Bentwaters. All the other aircraft were from the French armed forces.
Like so often at the Cambrai airshow the weather was splendid, blue skies and temperatures up to 27 degrees Celsius draw around 60,000 people to the airshow,

The Airshow
The airshow itself lasted for four hours and saw some civil participants, but also shows of a C-160 Transal, some helicopters, a Super Etendard, an A-10 and of course some local Mirage F.1Cs from the 12th Wing. Other highlights were a spectacular and rough show of a RAF Phantom and a C-135F witch made a flyby while “refueling” a Mirage IV bomber. Highlight for the main public was a demo by the famous Patrouille de France with their blue, white, and red colored Alpha Jets.