I have to say the F3s at Leuchars Battle of Britain days in the 90s always put on a fab show. To see them sweeping in from the sea wings swept back just ahead of the sonic boom was always appreciated by the crowd, me included.
Great interview! Roy Mac is a total legend. If you do another of these F3 interviews I'd urge you to try get hold of Mark 'Skids' Richardson. He was both a pilot and a nav on the F3 and survived a head on collision with another F3. Really interesting guy, would make for a great interview.
He could easily be a painter and finisher like I was, responsible for repainting Tornado airframes. For a highly intelligent person that a fast jet pilot has to be, he makes for a very, very down to earth man with a demeanour and persona that masks that vast intellect and superior brain power.
@Dave Cochrane Hi, Dave. It must have been a delight working with and/or for him. I was at Leauchars myself (1994_1998) and applied many a 111 sqn marking. I left the RAF in 2006 after 19 years as an NCO. I lived in Goose Bay for a few years and now live in the USA. How did your life turn out (better than a former Painter and Finisher I bet)!
It's funny you say that because that was exactly what I thought when I first met him. I had no idea he was one of the RAFs best fighter pilots. No sense of ego (even though, unlike most, he could justify it). No sense of arrogance or self importance. Just a down to earth and highly capable individual with a real passion for what he does. Huge respect to Roy Mac!
Worked on the foxhunter radar for the Tornado for a while. Happy to hear they finally it got up to scratch, it wasn't well regarded when I was working on it.
I was at Wattisham with the last two UK based RAF Phantom squadrons, and recall the F.3 being really slated by the aircrew. Some at the time said they're rather leave the service than convert onto it! Funny thing is that some of them ended up being F.3 OCU instructors and squadron CO's!
What a fantastic guy, as they all seem to be on these interviews. During this Covid lockdown a lot of people are getting addicted to food and drink. I'm addicted to this site. I think a support group should be set up asap.
Brilliant! Perhaps you could've asked him about his opinion on the programme they ran to fit the F3 with the Blue Vixen and an IRST? As far as I've been able to figure out they fit one aircraft out like that, but then didn't take it further.
Roy was/is a class act. Had the pleasure of working with him during two tours at Leuchars 97-04 + 07-09. I wasn't aware that his colours were nailed over the 'dark side' of the airfield however. Adstantes.
BLOODY HELL THAT INTERVIEWR TALKED MORE ABOUT THE FHANTOM,THAT THE PANAVIA TORNADO,ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE RAF JETS,AND THE E,E LIGHTNING,AND THE JAGUAR.
Excellent insight into an interesting variant of the Tornado,ive been lucky enough to see a few F3's over the years at shows etc.I wonder if it was retired too early though,as the pilot said the electronics were maturing nicely and it had a few tricks up its sleeve (SEAD) just imagine what one could have been like with a pair of EJ200 Engines instead of the RB199's ?.More than enough capability for Bear/Backfire/Backjack meet 'n' greet over the North Sea.
“Stealth” is what retires all this great planes. I echo your sentiment in relation to the F-111 (ex Bomb/Nav troop ‘76-‘82). Ps. There’s 3 dislikes on this vid...a case of soulless dolts?
Hi 👋 nice information.. but I have a question.. do you think that the fighter planes with swing wing is problem or not safe for the plane ... it had to be automatically with the speed
TRue, the guys in the display aircraft made it look as a dogfighter with a bite to its teeth. I remember seeing one putting up a show in Leeuwarden AFB (The Netherlands) in the 90ies and I was really impressed, especially after having heard so many negative stories about it (mainly about medium/high level performance). I guess being an airframe optimized for low level flight, it made for an impressive airshow demonstrator nonetheless. Too bad the F3 and its pilot had me on the wrong foot. Still a very sexy looking aircraft though.
Can anyone tell me what function the intake looking protrusion at the bottom the vertical stabilizer on the tornado serves? I can’t find an explanation anywhere.
an American exchange pilot who flew tomcats flew the f 3 and and said it did not compare to tomcat as tomcat was more modern manoeuvrable and able to handle more Alpha
Can anyone give information on why tornadoes always had black suit around the base of the vertical stabiliser? Is that a result from the thrust reverser?
It's due to the central reflux valve being located in too a close proximity to the pressure differential ducts and the fact that the airflow and pressure regulating stableizers being inconsistent with the left and right configuration of the thrust monitoring sensors.....that's my guess anyway...hope this helps.
@@stevenlarratt3638 Thanks for humouring me, Steven. I used to paint them and talk shite like this to the techs. That black residue was particularly difficult to remove and caused a lot of work for us before the real work began! There are port and starboard ducts on both sides of the fin, mid line up from and behind the pre cooler, so I suspect it's exhaust gases from those vents that caused the deposits and not the thrust reverser buckets finction.
Green screens: I hope they were better than the blurry green screens I did my Software Engineering HND with in the late 80s.They were bad for your eyesight.
I'm sorry to burst the bubble but the Tornado was a well below par aircraft compared to American or even Russian contemporaries. The current Typhoon is the first truly good elite aircraft the Royal air Force has had since the second world war. Too often it's been our exceptional personnel that have made substandard kit look good.
Hmm interesting comment, I watched a video of an American F15 pilot who flew in Tornados on an exchange visit. Whilst talking, he completly rubbished the plane and it's manual wing sweep system and the huge ass tail. He made some interesting observations. Good to see the alternate viewpoint from an RAF pilot praising the same systems. Having read pilot experiences of the Tornado, I think that the plane is probably average in performance and was more, a political response to the needs of the RAF due to financial constraints (let's not forget the economic problems that the UK had at the time). It was developed at the time as an all rounder that didn't quite fit into a single role but was competent in various scemarios. Just shows the quality of the pilots that flew them to garner the performance that they did.
The F3 wasn’t a dog fighter but it would lock onto a target 100 miles away, when they were demonstrating it to the Saudis it locked onto a Lightning head on, can’t remember the distance but it was incredible
USAF models did get the gun, but none of the Navy or British models were built with one. The Aussies developed something for their models and whenever USN/MC or British Phantoms were over there, they apparently asked very nicely to have some
But having the nose gun did incur a penalty as the F-4E had to be fitted with a smaller pulse radar. The British Phantom was essentially a modified F-4J equipped with the excellent AWG-11 (FG.1) and AWG-12 (FGR.2) radar with a pulse doppler. As usual with all military jets, you just have to decide on the compromise. ;-)
Justyn Keeble:: That's interesting. Everything is a compromise/trade-off.... The Missiles always had problems too, usually from storage and handling. It was amazing that they got any kills in Nam.
@@hvymtal8566 The Australian Air Force leased 24 Phantoms four roughly 4 years (1970-1973) due to the delay of the F-111C which they bought back in the 1960s! These were E-models taken from USAF stocks; they didn't buy them. They returned 23 of those planes after their F-111C force was ready for service. There was serious talk about keeping the F-4s but it was considered uneconomical to do that and the F-111 was a better ground attack plane anyway. The 24th Phantom was lost in an accident.
Yup. I saw that one as well. He moaned about ,manual selecting wing-sweep and the F-14 done it automatically. But that is typical American. RoyMac described it like driving a manual gearbox or an automatic gearbox. Which is normal for every American, they CANNOT drive manual gearboxes. Not so much the airframe that decides the outcome of battle but the weapons and tactics. Until they both fought one another - you would never know which is better.
I built the tornadoes and I'm very proud to have done so. Beautiful aircraft
He's a bloke you could go for a drink with , and just sit back and listen to his story's 👍👍
john lockwood find us a nice pub and I’ll buy the first round
@@davehowe4714 + Count me in.
Me too. Give me plenty of notice, though. I’ll be coming from Oregon.
Yes, but not just a drink: a SPEYside whisky.
Roy Macintyre is top drawer. Thanks for this.
I have to say the F3s at Leuchars Battle of Britain days in the 90s always put on a fab show. To see them sweeping in from the sea wings swept back just ahead of the sonic boom was always appreciated by the crowd, me included.
Sounds like a real genuine and honest guy. Nice to hear of his experiences. Always loved the Tornado. Thanks for helping defend our skies.
Amazing Roy !!!! Great interview hope see him again 👍
Totally fascinating, great interview and insight to operating the Phantom and F3. Bravo!
What a cool guy, very down to earth about a exciting career!
Great interview! Roy Mac is a total legend. If you do another of these F3 interviews I'd urge you to try get hold of Mark 'Skids' Richardson. He was both a pilot and a nav on the F3 and survived a head on collision with another F3. Really interesting guy, would make for a great interview.
Thanks Carols! I shall keep the name in mind.
Has to be my favorite Tornado variant! Great vid!
He could easily be a painter and finisher like I was, responsible for repainting Tornado airframes. For a highly intelligent person that a fast jet pilot has to be, he makes for a very, very down to earth man with a demeanour and persona that masks that vast intellect and superior brain power.
@Dave Cochrane Hi, Dave. It must have been a delight working with and/or for him. I was at Leauchars myself (1994_1998) and applied many a 111 sqn marking. I left the RAF in 2006 after 19 years as an NCO. I lived in Goose Bay for a few years and now live in the USA. How did your life turn out (better than a former Painter and Finisher I bet)!
@Dave Cochrane probably one of the most beautiful places in the world. Are you an an aviator then?
It's funny you say that because that was exactly what I thought when I first met him. I had no idea he was one of the RAFs best fighter pilots. No sense of ego (even though, unlike most, he could justify it). No sense of arrogance or self importance. Just a down to earth and highly capable individual with a real passion for what he does. Huge respect to Roy Mac!
nice intro and I would like to say thankyou to Dirty Bird Aero as well they have been amazing to me
Worked on the foxhunter radar for the Tornado for a while. Happy to hear they finally it got up to scratch, it wasn't well regarded when I was working on it.
Fantastic insight on the automatic wing sweep function.
I was at Wattisham with the last two UK based RAF Phantom squadrons, and recall the F.3 being really slated by the aircrew. Some at the time said they're rather leave the service than convert onto it! Funny thing is that some of them ended up being F.3 OCU instructors and squadron CO's!
Yes and can remember one CO. Lol
What a fantastic guy, as they all seem to be on these interviews.
During this Covid lockdown a lot of people are getting addicted to food and drink. I'm addicted to this site. I think a support group should be set up asap.
Thnaks very much! Great to hear you're enjoying the channel.
Awesome, just gets better and better.
Thanks Chris.
@@Aircrewinterview your welcome love your interviews
Brilliant! Perhaps you could've asked him about his opinion on the programme they ran to fit the F3 with the Blue Vixen and an IRST? As far as I've been able to figure out they fit one aircraft out like that, but then didn't take it further.
Roy was/is a class act.
Had the pleasure of working with him during two tours at Leuchars 97-04 + 07-09. I wasn't aware that his colours were nailed over the 'dark side' of the airfield however.
Adstantes.
Top jokey. I served on 12 sqn lossie, 617 & 16 jags.
Great interview- many thanks!
Thanks Rob.
Roy Mac. Legend. End of chat!
I like this guy. Would love to sit down and have a chat about fast jets with him.
Aviation has been part of my life for so long, my mother couldn't properly flare the airplane because I was in the way.
An excellent episode. Thank you
Cannot wait for the follow on interviews! 👍🏻
Fascinating stuff
BLOODY HELL THAT INTERVIEWR TALKED MORE ABOUT THE FHANTOM,THAT THE PANAVIA TORNADO,ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE RAF JETS,AND THE E,E LIGHTNING,AND THE JAGUAR.
Very interesting stuff thank you☺
GR4 was always my favourite
Excellent insight into an interesting variant of the Tornado,ive been lucky enough to see a few F3's over the years at shows etc.I wonder if it was retired too early though,as the pilot said the electronics were maturing nicely and it had a few tricks up its sleeve (SEAD) just imagine what one could have been like with a pair of EJ200 Engines instead of the RB199's ?.More than enough capability for Bear/Backfire/Backjack meet 'n' greet over the North Sea.
“Stealth” is what retires all this great planes. I echo your sentiment in relation to the F-111 (ex Bomb/Nav troop ‘76-‘82).
Ps. There’s 3 dislikes on this vid...a case of soulless dolts?
Hi 👋 nice information.. but I have a question.. do you think that the fighter planes with swing wing is problem or not safe for the plane ... it had to be automatically with the speed
26:56, Standing down of 56 Sqdn at Leuchars and RTB after 9 Ship tour of Scotland, including Aberdeen where I saw them?
TRue, the guys in the display aircraft made it look as a dogfighter with a bite to its teeth. I remember seeing one putting up a show in Leeuwarden AFB (The Netherlands) in the 90ies and I was really impressed, especially after having heard so many negative stories about it (mainly about medium/high level performance). I guess being an airframe optimized for low level flight, it made for an impressive airshow demonstrator nonetheless. Too bad the F3 and its pilot had me on the wrong foot. Still a very sexy looking aircraft though.
A long way from Airfix and fishing string Roy
Tornado kereeeeen❤
Hi Mike, can you do an interview with Tim Davies (Fast Jet Performance)? . That would be cool. Best wishes.
Fascinating! thanks very much.
Acusition please . Which fighter you see its better.. TORNADO. F 4 PHANTOM. OR . TYPHOON.
do you sign tornado / phantom books Mr Roy Macintyre
What's medium PRF? Or just PRF's for that matter? Also RHWR?
RHWR is Radar Homing Warning Receiver
PRF was to do with the radar, Pulse Repetition Frequency if my memory serves me
plus lot more thrust
Can anyone tell me what function the intake looking protrusion at the bottom the vertical stabilizer on the tornado serves? I can’t find an explanation anywhere.
What a fantastic guy. If I could have my life again I would pull my finger out at school.
does this guy sign tornado books / prints
To keep up with the new kids on the block.....lol
an American exchange pilot who flew tomcats flew the f 3 and and said it did not compare to tomcat as tomcat was more modern manoeuvrable and able to handle more Alpha
Remember the first F3 fatality, a great loss to 23
Can anyone give information on why tornadoes always had black suit around the base of the vertical stabiliser? Is that a result from the thrust reverser?
It's due to the central reflux valve being located in too a close proximity to the pressure differential ducts and the fact that the airflow and pressure regulating stableizers being inconsistent with the left and right configuration of the thrust monitoring sensors.....that's my guess anyway...hope this helps.
Yes, thrust reversers
@@garryharriman7349 good guess👍 spot on
@@stevenlarratt3638 Thanks for humouring me, Steven. I used to paint them and talk shite like this to the techs. That black residue was particularly difficult to remove and caused a lot of work for us before the real work began! There are port and starboard ducts on both sides of the fin, mid line up from and behind the pre cooler, so I suspect it's exhaust gases from those vents that caused the deposits and not the thrust reverser buckets finction.
@@garryharriman7349 i used to be a tech 😂... it is a paint job... the navy should domit with their anchors ports so as to hide the rust...
Green screens: I hope they were better than the blurry green screens I did my Software Engineering HND with in the late 80s.They were bad for your eyesight.
I'm sorry to burst the bubble but the Tornado was a well below par aircraft compared to American or even Russian contemporaries.
The current Typhoon is the first truly good elite aircraft the Royal air Force has had since the second world war.
Too often it's been our exceptional personnel that have made substandard kit look good.
Hmm interesting comment, I watched a video of an American F15 pilot who flew in Tornados on an exchange visit. Whilst talking, he completly rubbished the plane and it's manual wing sweep system and the huge ass tail. He made some interesting observations. Good to see the alternate viewpoint from an RAF pilot praising the same systems. Having read pilot experiences of the Tornado, I think that the plane is probably average in performance and was more, a political response to the needs of the RAF due to financial constraints (let's not forget the economic problems that the UK had at the time). It was developed at the time as an all rounder that didn't quite fit into a single role but was competent in various scemarios. Just shows the quality of the pilots that flew them to garner the performance that they did.
The F3 wasn’t a dog fighter but it would lock onto a target 100 miles away, when they were demonstrating it to the Saudis it locked onto a Lightning head on, can’t remember the distance but it was incredible
Interesting accent.
Glaswegian
@@kyliemull3709 He said in the interview he's from Stirling.
@@kyliemull3709 don't tell it to Roy, he could feel offended and throw his whisky on your face!
His accent is Stirling-ish, Probably more Bannockburn. Of course the RAF will have influenced and changed his dialect.
@@berty1422 Causewayhead/Bridge of Allan.
Originally, the Phantom did not have a gun, but got one later after they decided that leaving the gun out was a bad idea.
USAF models did get the gun, but none of the Navy or British models were built with one. The Aussies developed something for their models and whenever USN/MC or British Phantoms were over there, they apparently asked very nicely to have some
But having the nose gun did incur a penalty as the F-4E had to be fitted with a smaller pulse radar. The British Phantom was essentially a modified F-4J equipped with the excellent AWG-11 (FG.1) and AWG-12 (FGR.2) radar with a pulse doppler. As usual with all military jets, you just have to decide on the compromise. ;-)
Justyn Keeble:: That's interesting. Everything is a compromise/trade-off.... The Missiles always had problems too, usually from storage and handling. It was amazing that they got any kills in Nam.
@@nimrodquimbus912 I gather from a guy who worked on F-4E's in SEA that it was a pretty awful environment for anything electronic due to the humidity!
@@hvymtal8566 The Australian Air Force leased 24 Phantoms four roughly 4 years (1970-1973) due to the delay of the F-111C which they bought back in the 1960s! These were E-models taken from USAF stocks; they didn't buy them.
They returned 23 of those planes after their F-111C force was ready for service. There was serious talk about keeping the F-4s but it was considered uneconomical to do that and the F-111 was a better ground attack plane anyway. The 24th Phantom was lost in an accident.
I once heard a yank pilot who flew the tornado f3 and the f14 tomcat he said the f3 was a bag of crap way inferior to the f14
Yup. I saw that one as well. He moaned about ,manual selecting wing-sweep and the F-14 done it automatically.
But that is typical American. RoyMac described it like driving a manual gearbox or an automatic gearbox.
Which is normal for every American, they CANNOT drive manual gearboxes.
Not so much the airframe that decides the outcome of battle but the weapons and tactics. Until they both fought one another - you would never know which is better.
Love the Toronto, it keeped killing the F/A-18 and F-14's the UK is number 1.