Not gonna lie I got a little emotional earlier when they flew over my office on the way to RAF benson.
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I can imagine. Tonka was a big part of aviation here in Europe for most of our lives. Sad to see the old dogs go, but they were the past. Its ok. Its not like they went early like the mighty turkey. Or unreplaced like the tadpole.
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I had the luck of working over three years at the Italian Airforce Tornado Simulator* and it truly was an intense airframe.
*We had two different configurations but Iām not sure I can detail which ones. Got to squeeze some neuronsā¦
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Nothing NOTHING! Rocked an airshow like a tornado on full re heat. (OK maybe the vulcan) it will be a little easier on the ears now the tornado lightning and buccaneers in the museums.
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You havent heard the panther yet, have you?
@komemiute you guys have the ids, interdiction/strike and the ecr, electronic combat / recon.
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Multiple times. In fact I think Iām I double figures now and they are nowhere near as loud as a tornado.
definitely as loud as a raptor and probably a super hornet but by god those tornadoes make some sound!
The one I was most surprised by was the Ukrainian flanker at Fairford last year was not the thunder machine I thought it would be. Not quiet by any stretch but it flew after ralfale m and the difference was marked.
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Hopefully one more time through the Mach Loop. 
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I āthinkā that happened today as well, Iām waiting on a rain soaked train enthusiast who has been sat on a hill all day moaning to call me and let me know. Iāll upload his pics when he sends them to me
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Sometime remind me to tell about all the plane spotters that came aboard USS GUAM during its 1994 port visit to Southhamptonā¦a few of them were also train enthusiasts that arrived aboard an old steam locomotive. How they got that locomotive to the rail spur next to the pier, I will never know.
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The end of an era. I think the Hawk and C130 are just about the only types still in RAF service from my days in the āmobā.
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Getting old sucks! Todayās flying machines are dull compromises. If I were a kid today I would much rather be a mechanic than a āpilotā pushing buttons on a F-35. The Tornado just screams awesomeness. I was in Heathrow this morning. Itās been years since Iāve been there. We taxied by the Concorde on the way to 27L. And I thought, āMy how weāve moved backwards!ā That plane was built when human ego and ambition easily vetoed frail shareholder interest. The Tornado and Bogusā beloved F-111 were like that. They both brought crushing power, speed and noise to a world that couldnāt get enough of it.
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Well said!
Technically incredible incredibly dull compromises lol.
I really wish I could of seen the early Paris and Farmborough airshows. Those guys were doing it to sell aircraft. Not to please the spectators. It really was a different world.
if you ever get time to Google the old SBAC or Paris shows its a great bit of viewingā¦ Lightnings racing starfighters (unofficially) and such.
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You are most probably correctā¦(actually it is mostly a touch screen)ā¦or possibly the F-35 may resonate with the X-Box/iPhone generation.
When I was on active duty I read something about them sticking first year cadets at the US Air Force Academy into an F-35 simulator and told them to fly and fightā¦and they did. Iām imagine most has some interest in and/or knowledge of aviation. But still, they figured out the interface and were able to get it going. Would they have done as well in a āsteam gaugeā cockpit? 
ā¦well would they do as well after you explained why we call it and what a steam gauge isā¦and why we used to use steam in the first placeā¦