Hobby Master HA6703 | Tornado IDS "Norm 95" 43+25, JaBoG 31 "Boelcke", Norvenich, Germany, late 2000s

The Panavia Tornado was a joint effort between the UK, West Germany and Italy to produce a two-seat, dual-engine aircraft with variable-sweep wings. The Tornado took its maiden flight on August 14, 1974 with the first aircraft being delivered to the German Air Force on July 27, 1979. There are three main variants of the Tornado, the IDS (interdictor/strike), ECR (electronic combat/reconnaissance) and ADV (air defense variant) interceptor. By the end of production in1998 there had been 992 aircraft of all versions built of which 745 were IDS variants.

The Aircraft:
The JaBoG 31 “Boelcke” began to relocate from Buchel AB to Norvenich AB in January 1958
and was fully functional by mid June. In January 1959 JaBoG 31 became the first German Air
Force wing to join NATO. In 1961 the wing received the name “Boelcke” in honor of the WWI
German fighter pilot Oswald Boelcke. In 1979 JaBoG 31 was the first unit to equip with the
Panavia Tornado IDS. Tornado 43+25 completed its maiden flight on September 4, 1981 and
was accepted by the Luftwaffe on October 21, 1981.


General specifications for the Panavia Tornado IDS
Country of origin – Italy, UK, West Germany
Service entry date – 1979
Crew – 2

Dimensions
Length – 17.72 m   (58.1 ft)
Wingspan – 13.92 m   (45.7 ft) expanded 8.6m swept   (28.2 ft)
Height – 5.95m   (19.5 ft)

Weight
Empty – 13.8 t   (30,423 lb)
Maximum take off – 27.9 t   (61,508.9 lb)

Performance
Powerplant
2 X Turbo-Union RB.199 Mk. 103 turbofans
Producing dry with afterburners 2 X 38.48 / 71.50 kN
Maximum speed – 2,236 km/h   (1,389 mph)
Service ceiling – 15.2 km   (49,868.77 ft)
Range – 1,390 km   (863.7 miles)
Ferry range with drop tanks – 3,900   (2,423.3) – 4,300 km   (2,671.9 miles)

Armament
Cannon – 2 X 27 mm IWKA-Mauser
Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles
Brimstone anti-tank guided missiles
454 kg free-fall bombs
CPU-123/B Paveway II
GBU-28 Paveway III laser-guided bombs