Today i got 2 new additions to my Tornado collection, a combined airspeed and mach indicator and my favorite toy, a control stick top. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what the various buttons did, and if there is a way to find out when it was actually fitted to the aircraft (ZA369) its obvious that the red ones with guards are to release weapons and fire guns but there are various other things which I would like to find out. There is a plate screwed onto it which has a date code which looks like 3QBE0696 im guessing 06 is the month and 96 is the year but is that the year it was made, when it was fitted or when it was removed? the date on the paperwork that came with it is 27/02/02 that is probably when it was removed.
I'm considering removing the connecting cables as it will never be connected again and they just get in the way. It looks like I need a special star shaped tool to remove them.
Is there any way I can find out the service history of that particular aircraft, it would be cool to find out if it saw action when my stick top was fitted. It is amusing that the pilot has drawn a face on the weapons release button, although I suppose it could have been done as a joke by the technician who fitted it.
I saw similar grips which all state it is pre HOTAS, i know what that means but its a bit confusing as i would consider it is HOTAS, perhaps it was a more simple system but I still think it would be considered HOTAS.
The circled areas are the bits I would like to know more about.
Cheers.[img]
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