I served at Marham from the late 80's to early 90's....these along with the Victor & Canberra Sqns will always be in my memory. Fantastic aircraft, all of them
Tornado i Salute you.... ever since i was a kid ive been in love with you, IMO you are as famous to the RAF as the mighty Spitfire. you have served this country beyond your expectations and i will miss the Goose bumps i get everytime i see you, if you were a car you would be the Ferrari F40....The best out there without all the technical Bollocks. very sad to see you go.
It was one of the most technologically advanced aircraft in the world when it entered service mate ? It is still a highly sophisticated aircraft today.
@Hammer 001 it's hard to know with this and other governments I think the next problem is China we are very under prepared so hard ware like these should be kept
@Hammer 001 Forget about China and Russia folks, it may be the European wide force we have to start to worry about. Although thinking about it, us Brexiting ( If it bloody happens) is what will hopefully scupper that. Not a bad idea to be moving back towards the USA. Don't forget, Rump' won't be around after a maximum of 6 more years , and we have a lot of history with more noble Americans. Maybe Mueller will get him much sooner than that anyway.
For the first 8 years of my life, the Tornado was an important part of it, as My dad was an engineer and ground grew for the Tornado in the RAF, I was born in Elgin Moray Scotland 1996, not far from RAF Lossiemouth, then moved to Bruggen in 1998, spent the last 3 years of Bruggen's life as an RAF station, before closing in 2001 and relocated to RAF Marham where I again spend 3 years having to constantly listen to roar of its 2 engines and loving every minute of it!! Really sad the Tornado is no longer flying in the Royal AIr Force.😥
Thank you for your service... It was always a pleasure coming to Base and seeing these jets of beauty.. My the next fleet be just as powerful and useful as these... God bless and fairwell...
This brings back memories. The rubble in the foreground was the site of the Avon engine test bed. We had a bit of a fuel spill while testing and Harry Staish turned up for a cheeky visit just as we'd finished mopping up. I was trying to stall him as long as possible and answering his questions about the 'water residue' as I knew the Sgt was about to come out of the control hut still wearing his cowboy hat and smoking his cuban. It worked as I did hear a shout of "holy sh!t" above the jet noise. We also had a game of finding how high and how long we could hover a soccer ball in the upward directed gas stream of the detuner exhaust. Much clapping and thumbs up were given by the crew of Tonkas taxiing past! Good times
growing up in the 90's this was my idol. I remember the model shop where I lived (beaties sheffield) had a GR4 with all it's attributes glued on, man I converted that model. I got to sit in one at a airshow when I was 10.. probably one of the best days of my life.
These beautiful old girls need to be retired to a suitable home better yet just put them into a territorial reserve instead of wasting their potential for emergencies !
Such an iconic and special aircraft, absolutely loved every second watching the fly from RAF Lossiemouth every year when we visit from Hampshire, we will miss you xxx
We lost the F3s in Leuchars. They used our cottage as a marker apparently and we had some fantastic low fly-past. We even had a bit of a free air display one day while doing the garden. All gone now and we really missed them.
What a wondrful story,we used to do the annual trip to Leuchars to see all the girls! All three of my children did ear defenders from birth to adulthood,haha,both my daughters bought homes near airfields,- I guess they mssed the noise😬
I remember them from desert storm can't believe it's been almost 30 years when I was there seems like yesterday.jaguar, f-111f ,f-117,f-4 wildweasle,f-14,ef-111, harrier,KC -135a,e,q, and more miss them all
I've lived under the Marham circuit for the past decade and remember them launching against Libya in March 2011 - I used to stand in the garden listening to them leave and hoping they all got back safely. Going to miss these noisy beasts.
What an amazing jet, carries lot of munitions and been involved all around the world for many many years...Shall be sadly missed. You served us well. Salute Tornado! R.I.P
I'm 49 years old and I remember when she first went into service. I thought she looked magnificent. Compact and beefy with great lines! An instant favorite! Testors produced a 1/72 version of the Tornado that was the best quality piece I ever assembled. She had a great career! She was hard nosed and bad ass. Her crews flew her to the limit in Desert storm! The toughest job went to the best fighter/bomber. I will miss her. You lads across the pond did a wonderful job with this one.
There are 3 types of aircraft that I was always happy to see when I was in the service. 1 the B1 , 2, the A10 and 3 the GR1 tornado. these are 3 don't fuck with us aircraft. I am glad are on our side
My Dad used be on the mighty 9 1X(B) sqd was i was a kid and also 617 sqd. I absolutely loved living at Marham hearing the jets flying day and night. Also had the privilege of living in Germany as well and I do miss hearing the sounds of jets flying over Kings Lynn since they decommissioned the Tornado ( or as me and dad like to call it the screaming arrow of death!!) But some are still being used for training for the up and coming RAF lads and laddies of the future.
Great sounding aircraft! I was working at RAF Marham when the first plane was delivered, I feel very old now! In the good old days they’d have returned, at 0 feet down the centre line of the runway, shoved it on its tail and hit full reheat until it climbed out of sight, I’m assuming we either can’t afford that sort of thing anymore or it’s frowned upon incase it upsets the locals!
Sad to see them go... I live near what was RAF At Athan and went to many open days as a lad cycling the 7 miles. I went in '68 and still have the 50th anniversary program. I'll never ever forget the Vulcan screaming down the runway at 200ft and climbing near vertical at the end. The roar from the flat-out 4 Olympus engines shaking my internal organs.... What a beautiful noise. The Gnats of the Red Arrows, Shackleton, Whirlwind's ...... All a memory now. My biggest regret in life? Not joining up to do avionics. RIP the G4.
@@1chish so am I but I can't be bothered to look up anymore, there just seems to be lots of noise and no excitement, it ain't like the good old days when planes would scream over fast and low.
One of the best fighters ever shame to see them retire I hope they do a farewell Flypast across whole of South West England, great video to mate also subbed you
@@54356776 I never met a pilot of one who'd call the GR4 a fighter. Not even the Tornado ADV was a fighter. It was a 'shoot from a distance on radar and run away ASAP ' aircraft as it couldn't dogfight and had a poor ceiling as well. It had a good radar though in the F3.
Great footage, fabulous aircraft. Proven in combat on multiple occasions. Loved her since I was a kid, and wanted to be a Tornado pilot - then found out I was colour blind. Still get that feeling in my stomach every time I see one. She will be missed greatly.
Am so going to miss these Panavia 200 Anglo/German/Italian beauties. Can remember seeing the first concepts in Flight Magazine many years ago. The saying If it looks right, it is right it applies here.
Also don't forget the good ole Hunter. Still like the Harrier thrust system better than the F-35. Two systems extra weight🤔🤔. I hope they haven't made a tactical mistake like in the 1950's. "Guns we don't need no stinking guns"😏. They believed in BVR at that time too. Kill before being spotted. The F-35 is more like the Tornado, TSR, F-105 and F-111 strike aircraft than a fighter☺️
Always sad to see airplanes retired. I hope one or two are preserved and possibly flown once in a while. As an American I would like to say, these tornado pilots are awesome. A lot of balls to see how low they fly.
I coincidentally just watched my 1995 RAF Leeming airshow on VHS last week and was amazed at just how agile the Tornado was tight turning around the perimeter of the airfield, not too far off an F16's capabilities in my view, considering its size. And then seeing it here, with the undercarriage resembling the glorious looking Jaguar, made me realise just how much I love the Tornado, just in time to really miss it - apparently.
Sad to see, but also tinged with pride as they are one of the many magnificent aircraft built in my home town. Canberra, Lightning, TSR2, Jaguar, Tornado, EAP, Typhoon...70years of service.
I served at RAF Laarbruch from 87 to 90. Half of the Germany Wing. Nos 2 15 16 and 20 Sqdns. Happy days. The other half at nearby RAF Bruggen. Nos 9 13 17 and 31 Sqds. Love Tornados. GR1s back then. Infact No 2 Sqdn was still flying Jaguars when i arrived at Laarbruch in May 87, re equiping with the photo recce Tornado GR1a in May 88.
I read an RAF article about these aircraft, they have recently been resprayed at Marham to commemorate the the different eras of the Tornado, there's a video on here possibly filmed on the same day of these aircraft flying through March Loop in Wales. An iconic aircraft, such a shame it will no longer grace our sky's after March.
Nope, they didn't go to the Loop on that day. Photo shoot session in the sky. They are banned from Low Lewes flight till retirement. This new camouflaged Tornado (first on the movie to showd up) was a debiut in the sky in new colour scheme that day.
Im so going to miss this beauty😘enjoyed many fly passes at Leuchars air field in Scotland,you will have a special place in my heart alongside the legendary Typhoon❤️❤️❤️
Already missing them doing low level practice runs over RAF Tain or suddenly appearing at low level along the Cromarty Firth. It was the sound my kids grew up with. The new replacements are so high up that you barely hear them.
I remember seeing the prototypes flying out of Manching, Germany back in 1978 while serving wit the Canadian NATO Forces in Lahr, West Germany, they would fly into Lahr every once in while.
So sad when the Tonkas went.. didn't like them at first as used to the lightnings and Buccaneers but i learned to love them and do understand technology moves on in the typhoon.
Will miss seeing them flying low with their swipe wings n the amazing noise..good British aircraft..they did a good job in Desert Storm..Gov should keep them flying..they still have lots of potential ..
So we now have no double seater fast jets now! How can one man do the job of two in the typhoon as it's taken over from the tornado in ground atack!?? Help me out guys?
M E They were merely trainers, they were brought in as a physical trainer as an interim. They weren’t really needed they were bought in just in case, the majority of training now on the typhoon can be done on simulators as they are so good
Another epic aircraft retires. Thank you for what you’ve done over the years. On another note ... Jesus they got some pics to edit 🥴🥴, little bit trigger happy there must have been a few hundred all the same as they travelled towards the camera 😖
RAF Honington 1990 > 1993 then RAF Lossiemouth 1993 > 1996 with a couple of stints at 5 Wing RAF Goose Bay. Goodbye mighty Tonka...you served your country well :-).
I can only hope that some of them end up as museum pieces rather than being scrapped and left in an aircraft graveyard somewhere in the UK. living out its days slowly corroding in the Great British Outdoors.
The first GR4 came to Midland Air Museum (Coventry) long time ago. Those 18 left will be preserved for sure. A few in Cosford as instructional airframes, some in museums and maybe gate guards.
@@DickieDelouise one of your rich guys bought one of our Harriers when it came to the harriers turn to be put into retirement. I'm hoping the same thing happens at least for one GR4.
@@Rose.Of.Hizaki Art Nalls bought the Sea Harrier FA2. I met him a couple years ago and talked with him for a while. We discussed the Harrier and other things. He got her for relatively cheap. Including spares. I may be wrong, but I believe he has 3 Harriers now( FA2 and two(?) T. Mk.4(?))
The time has come to say goodbye to my personal favourite. Grew up watching g them in Lossiemouth and was extremely sad when they left there. It’s about time the old girl was put down though
I was lucky enough to be in the RAF and stationed at Honington when we received the first Tonkas for TWCU followed by 9 squadron. We still had the bucks of 237 OCU and 208 squadron. I was a medic so didn’t get up to the airfield as often as I would have liked but loved it when I could. Such a shame that we won’t see them again. Why didn’t we keep a couple of them flying?
Canadian Bacon I get what you mean, but it was most likely Wharton, the final assembly was made there and there was a runway, there was no runway in Preston. The tornado has a glorious northern heritage
Ive heard that a few will be retired to raf cosford alongside the jaguars already there for engineer training. They train by basicly taking the jets apart reassemble and perform system tests and taxi runs on the airfield. It's a shame to see the tonkas go but atleast they'll still be serving in a small way.
There’s something quite special about seeing a Tonka with wings swept fully back..pulling a high G turn, vapour ripping off the trailing edges.. You will be missed.
A lot of people in the know believed the Tornado to be the best Ground Attack Platform in the World , It certainly was when it first went into service back in 1979. The Americans never cared for it because it wasn't a US jet but the simple fact is that the runway denial system that was used during Operation Desert Storm against the Iraqi airfields could only be carried at very low level and by the Tornado.
This aircraft did what was asked of it worked on them over many years last of the Cold War era.Sad to say but the UK is not the fighting force as it was 20 years ago
Actually it’s far more flexible and quicker to react. Be there that most Europeans military’s couldn’t fight a large conventional war. But we do have a thing called nato when called apon through a regular series of large joint exercises and interoperability training is by far the most capable tactical force in the world. After 16 years of service fighting in real conflicts it’s sad to see all these stupid comments by negative armchair generals are just pathetic. The real shame is if you took 30 minutes of your day and studied reliable sources like IHS janes or defence IQ instead of the fucking comics most country’s call newspapers you’d actually have an informed opinion and make valid intelligent comments.
@@markpengell23 i sort of agree, but its a truism that armies always prepare for the last war. we are about 30k soldiers below operational strength in the army alone, hence all the stupid adverts and dropping of standards to get the numbers up. that 30k number is based on pretty lean assumptions regarding future needs, by the way. a small, flexible force is great for deploying to the falklands or side by side with uncle sam, but we have no hope of fighting a large conventional war without heavy reliance on the usa. we have an opposition party that has pretty much confirmed they wouldnt use the nuclear deterrent, so if labour ever do get in, i would say we would be ripe for the picking. i suppose we should be asking where all the money has gone? our standing army used to be 4 or 5 times the current size it currently is. we had over 900 chieftain tanks in service down to a couple of hundred challenger 2s ( if half them havent been mothballed) . someone will say the tech is better now. i would say that numbers matter, especially when you consider losses during training accidents, etc over the 40 year lives these equipments normally have. it doesnt matter have smart your weaponry is if someone drives your ship aground or in to a ferry at night. also, what happens when we run out of this complex kit and the trained crews? can we build more of it during a war, or is it a case of straight to nukes? we might as well just buy a couple of planes, a rowing boat and a couple of dozen squadies and just let the enemu know when they are used up, nukes are our back up plan. we could save a fortune.
Martin Maddog our doctrine is based apon fighting with NATO so we have a large conventional force. It’s extremely we’ll networked. There will always be inherent problems in complex systems but we iron those out as we have always done. It’s down to the quality we have which has a quantitive effect all its own. You only have to look at how soviet thinking and doctrine has changed to meet A well aligned NATO. Janes did an in depth study 1 year ago into the tactical capabilities of both nato and Russia. Fight conventionally and we win. Nuclear everyone loses. Everyone bases the future on the particulars of the past and there are always good tactics and thoughts that remain solid. But with a world where emergent threats and technology’s change quickly the past is just as much of a hinderance as a help. If people looked at the economic trends they would realise that a large shooting war of any kind is not going to happen soon without ridiculous odds or accidents. The man reason for this is because to many people are getting rich and comfortable of defence industry’s and political systems that keep the general populous heated up with fear and poor information. Look at the limited interventions we have since Iraq and Afghanistan and that proves the point more solidly than anything. I’m afraid to many people are easily caught up in the bullshit of what the tabloids say about our capabilities than what we can actually do. Look at the recent exercise such as trident juncture red flag and so on and so on and you get the real truth. Capability gaps are real but when you work with such a large cohesive well trained force as NATO, although fresh form combat in a largely asymmetric engagement they are already adapting with the aforementioned exercises to large conventional operations. I’ve not got rose tinted glasses just the facts.
@@markpengell23 like i said, we are 30000 under strength in the army alone. it takes actual soldiers to occupy ground. if you dont have enough, as soon as the bombing stops, the enemy moves back in and retakes the area. high tech gear still crashes, etc but a) each crash cost disproportionately more b) has a bigger negative impact on your overall capability c) means its harder to replace the losses during a war d) it costs more and is harder to train replacement troops to operate the equipment. so, one on one, an f35 might beat 1 or even 2 chinese copies, but it will likely be facing 4 or 6 and weight of fire matters. same with tanks and artillery. attackers are able to concentrate their firepower in small areas while typically a defenders fire power is dispersed more to, well, defend a whole country.
I'm going to miss the Tornado. She might not be as attractive as aircraft like the Typhoon, but she was damn great at her job. Unfortunately, though, technology moves on. I'm glad that she's not being wholly replaced by the pathetic excuse of a fighter that is the F-35, though, that'd be an insult to the Tornado's legacy.
@@Cowley46 For sure, I do have a slight preference for the sleeker looking Typhoon but the Tornado looks like a real bruiser, you know that she can hit hard just by the way she looks.
RIP Tornado, I'm an American and this one of my top 3 favorite jets! A true beast of the skies, a shame I never saw one fly.
Luca Norton Beautiful fighter bomber !
Luca Norton A fantastic aircraft 😢🇬🇧
Great comment sadly now well out date
It's not too late my friend. Germany and Italy still fly them, as well as another country I care not to mention.
Luca, if you think these are a beast, look up the English Electric Lightning.................
I served at Marham from the late 80's to early 90's....these along with the Victor & Canberra Sqns will always be in my memory. Fantastic aircraft, all of them
Going on from that I think it was IIAC & 617 with Tornado aircraft, 39 PRU with Canberra & 55 with the Victor then
Tornado ... truly terrific. Thanks for your service, you awesome, Beautiful Bird of War.
I always appreciated the contrast of seeing RAF jets in the skies too when I lived in the UK. Everyone should miss these beauties!
Farewell TORNADO! All my respect transferred to YOU!!🙏♥️
They've served the country well
Tornado i Salute you.... ever since i was a kid ive been in love with you, IMO you are as famous to the RAF as the mighty Spitfire.
you have served this country beyond your expectations and i will miss the Goose bumps i get everytime i see you, if you were a car you would be the Ferrari F40....The best out there without all the technical Bollocks.
very sad to see you go.
It was one of the most technologically advanced aircraft in the world when it entered service mate ? It is still a highly sophisticated aircraft today.
Well said that man. @leonseager
These should be put in stores and kept as back up for future conflicts
@Hammer 001 well that's good to hear
@Hammer 001 it's hard to know with this and other governments I think the next problem is China we are very under prepared so hard ware like these should be kept
@Hammer 001 it is the era for cheap missiles
@Hammer 001 Forget about China and Russia folks, it may be the European wide force we have to start to worry about. Although thinking about it, us Brexiting ( If it bloody happens) is what will hopefully scupper that. Not a bad idea to be moving back towards the USA. Don't forget, Rump' won't be around after a maximum of 6 more years , and we have a lot of history with more noble Americans. Maybe Mueller will get him much sooner than that anyway.
@Stuart J sadly, i think you are right. didnt they even chop up new nimrod airframes deliberately so they couldnt be resurrected a few years ago?
Really intimidating and powerful looking aircraft. I mean Typhoon looks like a killer but Tornado looks like it wouldn't even blink whilst doing it.
nappy dappy : tit
For the first 8 years of my life, the Tornado was an important part of it, as My dad was an engineer and ground grew for the Tornado in the RAF, I was born in Elgin Moray Scotland 1996, not far from RAF Lossiemouth, then moved to Bruggen in 1998, spent the last 3 years of Bruggen's life as an RAF station, before closing in 2001 and relocated to RAF Marham where I again spend 3 years having to constantly listen to roar of its 2 engines and loving every minute of it!! Really sad the Tornado is no longer flying in the Royal AIr Force.😥
🥰
Thank you for your service...
It was always a pleasure coming to Base and seeing these jets of beauty..
My the next fleet be just as powerful and useful as these...
God bless and fairwell...
This brings back memories. The rubble in the foreground was the site of the Avon engine test bed. We had a bit of a fuel spill while testing and Harry Staish turned up for a cheeky visit just as we'd finished mopping up. I was trying to stall him as long as possible and answering his questions about the 'water residue' as I knew the Sgt was about to come out of the control hut still wearing his cowboy hat and smoking his cuban. It worked as I did hear a shout of "holy sh!t" above the jet noise.
We also had a game of finding how high and how long we could hover a soccer ball in the upward directed gas stream of the detuner exhaust. Much clapping and thumbs up were given by the crew of Tonkas taxiing past!
Good times
Excellent video. A remarkable, handsome, capable and a powerhouse of a machine that has served the RAF with distinction over decades.
,
growing up in the 90's this was my idol. I remember the model shop where I lived (beaties sheffield) had a GR4 with all it's attributes glued on, man I converted that model. I got to sit in one at a airshow when I was 10.. probably one of the best days of my life.
A beautiful aircraft. Happy retirement. You did us proud.
These beautiful old girls need to be retired to a suitable home better yet just put them into a territorial reserve instead of wasting their potential for emergencies !
Roy Perkins surely they can’t scrap them after they have just re painted them. Museum pieces surely
Such an iconic and special aircraft, absolutely loved every second watching the fly from RAF Lossiemouth every year when we visit from Hampshire, we will miss you xxx
We lost the F3s in Leuchars. They used our cottage as a marker apparently and we had some fantastic low fly-past. We even had a bit of a free air display one day while doing the garden. All gone now and we really missed them.
What a wondrful story,we used to do the annual trip to Leuchars to see all the girls! All three of my children did ear defenders from birth to adulthood,haha,both my daughters bought homes near airfields,- I guess they mssed the noise😬
I like'd to watch air show Leuchars from Dundee Riverside 👏👏
Beautiful video! What a beauty's! Liked! I can imagine that this was a fantastic photoshoot with the 3 special ones. Greetz
I remember them from desert storm can't believe it's been almost 30 years when I was there seems like yesterday.jaguar, f-111f ,f-117,f-4 wildweasle,f-14,ef-111,
harrier,KC -135a,e,q, and more miss them all
I've lived under the Marham circuit for the past decade and remember them launching against Libya in March 2011 - I used to stand in the garden listening to them leave and hoping they all got back safely. Going to miss these noisy beasts.
I'm going to miss Tornados, always been a fan
What an amazing jet, carries lot of munitions and been involved all around the world for many many years...Shall be sadly missed. You served us well. Salute Tornado! R.I.P
I'm 49 years old and I remember when she first went into service. I thought she looked magnificent. Compact and beefy with great lines! An instant favorite! Testors produced a 1/72 version of the Tornado that was the best quality piece I ever assembled. She had a great career! She was hard nosed and bad ass. Her crews flew her to the limit in Desert storm! The toughest job went to the best fighter/bomber. I will miss her. You lads across the pond did a wonderful job with this one.
There are 3 types of aircraft that I was always happy to see when I was in the service. 1 the B1 , 2, the A10 and 3 the GR1 tornado. these are 3 don't fuck with us aircraft. I am glad are on our side
My Dad used be on the mighty 9 1X(B) sqd was i was a kid and also 617 sqd.
I absolutely loved living at Marham hearing the jets flying day and night. Also had the privilege of living in Germany as well and I do miss hearing the sounds of jets flying over Kings Lynn since they decommissioned the Tornado ( or as me and dad like to call it the screaming arrow of death!!)
But some are still being used for training for the up and coming RAF lads and laddies of the future.
Great sounding aircraft! I was working at RAF Marham when the first plane was delivered, I feel very old now!
In the good old days they’d have returned, at 0 feet down the centre line of the runway, shoved it on its tail and hit full reheat until it climbed out of sight, I’m assuming we either can’t afford that sort of thing anymore or it’s frowned upon incase it upsets the locals!
Sad to see them go... I live near what was RAF At Athan and went to many open days as a lad cycling the 7 miles. I went in '68 and still have the 50th anniversary program. I'll never ever forget the Vulcan screaming down the runway at 200ft and climbing near vertical at the end. The roar from the flat-out 4 Olympus engines shaking my internal organs.... What a beautiful noise. The Gnats of the Red Arrows, Shackleton, Whirlwind's ...... All a memory now.
My biggest regret in life? Not joining up to do avionics. RIP the G4.
Skies over home will sadly be a lot less interesting from now on....
True, it will ve boring I'm afraid :(
our luftwaffe in germany still operates the tornado and i am really happy about that it will fly many years more.
Well i am about 20 miles from Marham and see F-35s so nowt boring here ...
@@1chish so am I but I can't be bothered to look up anymore, there just seems to be lots of noise and no excitement, it ain't like the good old days when planes would scream over fast and low.
Just up the road from Marham & when those babies are overhead they sound like they are coming down the Chimney!
Awesome footage thanks - one of the last classic jets - and im still trying to track down a used front tyre from one of them!!!
One of the best fighters ever shame to see them retire I hope they do a farewell Flypast across whole of South West England, great video to mate also subbed you
Its not a fighter. Its a bomber....sorry to get pedantic
@@timhancock6626
Interdictor/strike aircraft (fighter/bomber) sorry to be pedantic.
@@54356776 Not the GR4 which is all we have left. The IDS were all scrapped a decade ago
@@54356776 I never met a pilot of one who'd call the GR4 a fighter. Not even the Tornado ADV was a fighter. It was a 'shoot from a distance on radar and run away ASAP ' aircraft as it couldn't dogfight and had a poor ceiling as well. It had a good radar though in the F3.
Great footage, fabulous aircraft. Proven in combat on multiple occasions. Loved her since I was a kid, and wanted to be a Tornado pilot - then found out I was colour blind. Still get that feeling in my stomach every time I see one. She will be missed greatly.
Respect and love from Pakistan. This was a worthy bird.
Everyone loves a tonka...probably the best looking and sounding plane the RAF ever had ❤
Am so going to miss these Panavia 200 Anglo/German/Italian beauties. Can remember seeing the first concepts in Flight Magazine many years ago. The saying If it looks right, it is right it applies here.
Nowadays it doesn't have to look right. All you need is enough computers to keep the thing in the air.
The skies will never be the same without them. First Concorde, then Harrier, and now Tornado ;(
And the mighty English Electric LIGHTNING
Also don't forget the good ole Hunter. Still like the Harrier thrust system better than the F-35. Two systems extra weight🤔🤔. I hope they haven't made a tactical mistake like in the 1950's. "Guns we don't need no stinking guns"😏. They believed in BVR at that time too. Kill before being spotted. The F-35 is more like the Tornado, TSR, F-105 and F-111 strike aircraft than a fighter☺️
mezsh just think kids in the future will be saying the same as us about the typhoon and f35, maybe
Damned right, unfortunately.
Dont get me started!!
😢 I don’t won’t them to retire. I lived near Raf leuchars as a child and they are a huge part of my childhood. Seen them everyday growing up.
I feel the same way, only a little older. My Dad used to take me to Leuchars to watch the Lightnings.
My Uncle used to work there and I remember them flying,you could hear them from miles away
Probably the baddest wild weasel ever. Down in the weeds taking out SAM sites in Iraq. They paid the price too.
It was the last Tornado in a strafe over an Iraqi drome that bought it
Always sad to see airplanes retired. I hope one or two are preserved and possibly flown once in a while. As an American I would like to say, these tornado pilots are awesome. A lot of balls to see how low they fly.
I coincidentally just watched my 1995 RAF Leeming airshow on VHS last week and was amazed at just how agile the Tornado was tight turning around the perimeter of the airfield, not too far off an F16's capabilities in my view, considering its size. And then seeing it here, with the undercarriage resembling the glorious looking Jaguar, made me realise just how much I love the Tornado, just in time to really miss it - apparently.
Sad to see, but also tinged with pride as they are one of the many magnificent aircraft built in my home town. Canberra, Lightning, TSR2, Jaguar, Tornado, EAP, Typhoon...70years of service.
Great images, thanks for share !!
My pleasure :)
Awesome, love the Tornado..
I remember sleeping in a campsite next to Leeming. Thought it was an earthquake when they took off at 6am!
At the beginning i was never over keen of the Tornado. But they have this way of growing on you.. Sad to see them go though.
Loving the original GR.1 livery 🤘🏻🤘🏻
I served at RAF Laarbruch from 87 to 90. Half of the Germany Wing. Nos 2 15 16 and 20 Sqdns. Happy days. The other half at nearby RAF Bruggen. Nos 9 13 17 and 31 Sqds. Love Tornados. GR1s back then. Infact No 2 Sqdn was still flying Jaguars when i arrived at Laarbruch in May 87, re equiping with the photo recce Tornado GR1a in May 88.
Jack of ALL Trades and Master of most. An incredible machine that had no peers. I play any Tornado demo constantly.
The power these birds had..awesome
Man, how awesomely loud was in there????
Great Unit!
Great aircraft! 👍🏻
Always loved the tornado, great plane. Had some flying CAS for me in Iraq and Afghanistan, magnificent aircraft.
Some countries such as Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia will keep tornado in service
sad day such a lovely looking aircraft :(
There still be official flypast, probably over Tornado ex-bases ;)
Come on mate, be honest , they are not pretty but handsome is as handsome does!!
I read an RAF article about these aircraft, they have recently been resprayed at Marham to commemorate the the different eras of the Tornado, there's a video on here possibly filmed on the same day of these aircraft flying through March Loop in Wales. An iconic aircraft, such a shame it will no longer grace our sky's after March.
Nope, they didn't go to the Loop on that day. Photo shoot session in the sky. They are banned from Low Lewes flight till retirement. This new camouflaged Tornado (first on the movie to showd up) was a debiut in the sky in new colour scheme that day.
End of an era
Na4
Im so going to miss this beauty😘enjoyed many fly passes at Leuchars air field in Scotland,you will have a special place in my heart alongside the legendary Typhoon❤️❤️❤️
Nicely filmed , i like the different angle you chose.
Thank you David :)
Very nice video, thank you for sharing, I think I have something in my eye :-)
Already missing them doing low level practice runs over RAF Tain or suddenly appearing at low level along the Cromarty Firth. It was the sound my kids grew up with. The new replacements are so high up that you barely hear them.
I Loved the F111 as much as these.
The aircraft has served the
Royal Air Force well.
She stood side by side with us every time we went to war. RIP old girl. You deserve it. Cheers
I remember seeing the prototypes flying out of Manching, Germany back in 1978 while serving wit the Canadian NATO Forces in Lahr, West Germany, they would fly into Lahr every once in while.
So sad when the Tonkas went.. didn't like them at first as used to the lightnings and Buccaneers but i learned to love them and do understand technology moves on in the typhoon.
Only seems like the other day,my best pal and I thrilled at our first MRCA experience,outside Warton Aerodrome...1970 something?
Worked on camo one, looking good.
Will miss seeing them flying low with their swipe wings n the amazing noise..good British aircraft..they did a good job in Desert Storm..Gov should keep them flying..they still have lots of potential ..
So we now have no double seater fast jets now! How can one man do the job of two in the typhoon as it's taken over from the tornado in ground atack!?? Help me out guys?
Jaguar was pretty effective. I recall seeing in flight video when I worked in the aerospace industry and marvelling at the skill of Jaguar pilots.
Technology, that's how. We're moving into an era where unmanned fighters are possible - just take a look at what Germany and France are developing.
M E They were merely trainers, they were brought in as a physical trainer as an interim. They weren’t really needed they were bought in just in case, the majority of training now on the typhoon can be done on simulators as they are so good
BulletproofKam Typhoon has way better technology so one pilot can do it.
Thanks for sharing
A tiny fuselage... Attached to a huge tail! But still impressive and beautiful! 😁
Not many jets with a bigger fuselage so not sure what your on about! 🤨
Another epic aircraft retires. Thank you for what you’ve done over the years.
On another note ... Jesus they got some pics to edit 🥴🥴, little bit trigger happy there must have been a few hundred all the same as they travelled towards the camera 😖
Sad seeing the tornado go. But hopefully a few countries are interested in buying them
RAF Honington 1990 > 1993 then RAF Lossiemouth 1993 > 1996 with a couple of stints at 5 Wing RAF Goose Bay. Goodbye mighty Tonka...you served your country well :-).
Andy, You ex 125 Brat?
I can only hope that some of them end up as museum pieces rather than being scrapped and left in an aircraft graveyard somewhere in the UK. living out its days slowly corroding in the Great British Outdoors.
There will be some, there's already one in the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, think it's a GR4.
The first GR4 came to Midland Air Museum (Coventry) long time ago. Those 18 left will be preserved for sure. A few in Cosford as instructional airframes, some in museums and maybe gate guards.
I agree. Sad day for me, an fan of British aviation from the USA. I hope they don't end up like the Phantoms and Lightnings.
@@DickieDelouise one of your rich guys bought one of our Harriers when it came to the harriers turn to be put into retirement. I'm hoping the same thing happens at least for one GR4.
@@Rose.Of.Hizaki Art Nalls bought the Sea Harrier FA2. I met him a couple years ago and talked with him for a while. We discussed the Harrier and other things. He got her for relatively cheap. Including spares. I may be wrong, but I believe he has 3 Harriers now( FA2 and two(?) T. Mk.4(?))
They will be missed. Very nice video mate.
Thank you very much. It's sad indeed :(
The time has come to say goodbye to my personal favourite. Grew up watching g them in Lossiemouth and was extremely sad when they left there. It’s about time the old girl was put down though
What a machine. Sad to see them retired
Great video !
Great video! Where about did you film it from?
Thank you. I filmed this from 01 end, from farmer field (with his permition), but unfortunately field is out of bounds as he planted the field...
I was lucky enough to be in the RAF and stationed at Honington when we received the first Tonkas for TWCU followed by 9 squadron. We still had the bucks of 237 OCU and 208 squadron. I was a medic so didn’t get up to the airfield as often as I would have liked but loved it when I could. Such a shame that we won’t see them again. Why didn’t we keep a couple of them flying?
Such a shame to see these legends leave they should get given a suitable home to keep them alive
i feel like my heart has been ripped out after watching that,
I used to watch these planes take off from Preston Lancashire where they were made. :)
Canadian Bacon I get what you mean, but it was most likely Wharton, the final assembly was made there and there was a runway, there was no runway in Preston. The tornado has a glorious northern heritage
Yeah your right , but it is spelt WARTON and it is in the Greater Preston area. :)@@Ade2bee
I hate how they are getting rid of the beast itself.
Forty years of service. Always sad to see an aircraft retire.
i think you also have retired my pal
Ive heard that a few will be retired to raf cosford alongside the jaguars already there for engineer training. They train by basicly taking the jets apart reassemble and perform system tests and taxi runs on the airfield. It's a shame to see the tonkas go but atleast they'll still be serving in a small way.
Yes the jaguars still frequently taxi along at Cosford. I'm sure the tornados will be ran there for many years
@@mikehorton8603 Jaguars don't do taxiway anymote. They have done last one in 2017. Hopefully Tornado will do :)
Happy days for those of us able to call Cosford our spiritual home!
@@BoatingBiker Halton was mine and that's going - 3 years at Halton, 9 years on Tonkas.
Remember seeing the Tornado,MRCA as it was called then at the Farnborough air show in the 70's. The old Tonka's have put the hrs in for this country.
Did any see action/ ? where can find info?
There’s something quite special about seeing a Tonka with wings swept fully back..pulling a high G turn, vapour ripping off the trailing edges.. You will be missed.
My father spent many years on the Tornado project in the '70s.
where are they going to? storage or broken up?
They were going for air2air photo session. But remaining Tornado will be preserved around UK :) They will save aroubd 18 airframes
A lot of people in the know believed the Tornado to be the best Ground Attack Platform in the World , It certainly was when it first went into service back in 1979.
The Americans never cared for it because it wasn't a US jet but the simple fact is that the runway denial system that was used during Operation Desert Storm against the Iraqi airfields could only be carried at very low level and by the Tornado.
The vertical stabilizer looks huge on this aircraft.
This aircraft did what was asked of it worked on them over many years last of the Cold War era.Sad to say but the UK is not the fighting force as it was 20 years ago
Its not a fighting force.....
Actually it’s far more flexible and quicker to react. Be there that most Europeans military’s couldn’t fight a large conventional war. But we do have a thing called nato when called apon through a regular series of large joint exercises and interoperability training is by far the most capable tactical force in the world. After 16 years of service fighting in real conflicts it’s sad to see all these stupid comments by negative armchair generals are just pathetic. The real shame is if you took 30 minutes of your day and studied reliable sources like IHS janes or defence IQ instead of the fucking comics most country’s call newspapers you’d actually have an informed opinion and make valid intelligent comments.
@@markpengell23 i sort of agree, but its a truism that armies always prepare for the last war. we are about 30k soldiers below operational strength in the army alone, hence all the stupid adverts and dropping of standards to get the numbers up. that 30k number is based on pretty lean assumptions regarding future needs, by the way.
a small, flexible force is great for deploying to the falklands or side by side with uncle sam, but we have no hope of fighting a large conventional war without heavy reliance on the usa. we have an opposition party that has pretty much confirmed they wouldnt use the nuclear deterrent, so if labour ever do get in, i would say we would be ripe for the picking.
i suppose we should be asking where all the money has gone? our standing army used to be 4 or 5 times the current size it currently is. we had over 900 chieftain tanks in service down to a couple of hundred challenger 2s ( if half them havent been mothballed) .
someone will say the tech is better now. i would say that numbers matter, especially when you consider losses during training accidents, etc over the 40 year lives these equipments normally have. it doesnt matter have smart your weaponry is if someone drives your ship aground or in to a ferry at night.
also, what happens when we run out of this complex kit and the trained crews? can we build more of it during a war, or is it a case of straight to nukes? we might as well just buy a couple of planes, a rowing boat and a couple of dozen squadies and just let the enemu know when they are used up, nukes are our back up plan. we could save a fortune.
Martin Maddog our doctrine is based apon fighting with NATO so we have a large conventional force. It’s extremely we’ll networked. There will always be inherent problems in complex systems but we iron those out as we have always done. It’s down to the quality we have which has a quantitive effect all its own. You only have to look at how soviet thinking and doctrine has changed to meet A well aligned NATO. Janes did an in depth study 1 year ago into the tactical capabilities of both nato and Russia. Fight conventionally and we win. Nuclear everyone loses. Everyone bases the future on the particulars of the past and there are always good tactics and thoughts that remain solid. But with a world where emergent threats and technology’s change quickly the past is just as much of a hinderance as a help. If people looked at the economic trends they would realise that a large shooting war of any kind is not going to happen soon without ridiculous odds or accidents. The man reason for this is because to many people are getting rich and comfortable of defence industry’s and political systems that keep the general populous heated up with fear and poor information. Look at the limited interventions we have since Iraq and Afghanistan and that proves the point more solidly than anything. I’m afraid to many people are easily caught up in the bullshit of what the tabloids say about our capabilities than what we can actually do. Look at the recent exercise such as trident juncture red flag and so on and so on and you get the real truth. Capability gaps are real but when you work with such a large cohesive well trained force as NATO, although fresh form combat in a largely asymmetric engagement they are already adapting with the aforementioned exercises to large conventional operations. I’ve not got rose tinted glasses just the facts.
@@markpengell23 like i said, we are 30000 under strength in the army alone. it takes actual soldiers to occupy ground. if you dont have enough, as soon as the bombing stops, the enemy moves back in and retakes the area. high tech gear still crashes, etc but a) each crash cost disproportionately more b) has a bigger negative impact on your overall capability c) means its harder to replace the losses during a war d) it costs more and is harder to train replacement troops to operate the equipment. so, one on one, an f35 might beat 1 or even 2 chinese copies, but it will likely be facing 4 or 6 and weight of fire matters. same with tanks and artillery. attackers are able to concentrate their firepower in small areas while typically a defenders fire power is dispersed more to, well, defend a whole country.
Mega! Will be very sad to see the mighty Tonka bow out.
Indeed. It's going to be boring...
Wonder how many kept in running condition?
I'm going to miss the Tornado. She might not be as attractive as aircraft like the Typhoon, but she was damn great at her job. Unfortunately, though, technology moves on. I'm glad that she's not being wholly replaced by the pathetic excuse of a fighter that is the F-35, though, that'd be an insult to the Tornado's legacy.
I personally think the GR4 Tornado is the finest looking plane in the sky.
Low level and wings swept....nothing comes close.
@@Cowley46 For sure, I do have a slight preference for the sleeker looking Typhoon but the Tornado looks like a real bruiser, you know that she can hit hard just by the way she looks.
The f-35 in the last 6 months has destroyed the notion that it is not a fighter.
These aircraft could be kept, on other airforce is retiring them. We are doing it on cost!
one off the most gorgeous planes ive ever seen,, apart from the spitfire ,,
broke my heart seeing this ,,, rule britania