Tornado stick top info

[Jayviator]

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.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/829/40842418625_05d727a75f_c.jpg
Tornado stick top 1 by Jason Evans, on Flickr

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/982/40842415925_fc9fa2a406_c.jpg
Tornado stick top 2 by Jason Evans, on Flickr

[just another jocky]

It's been a few years but....

the big one in the top pic is the pitch & roll trim, the big one in the bottom pic is the ICO (Instinctive Cut-Out) which disconnects all Autopilot functions.

The rest are confusing me a little as I'm sure there was a Press-to-Transmit toggle switch on the control column which allowed transmission on either Box 1, Box 2 or both radios but I can't see it. I think the other buttons were part of the HOTAS for the Autopilot & TFR system, which could be complicated to remember until someone came up with the easier TBM (Top Bottom Middle = Take Back Manual (flying control)) or MBT (Middle Bottom Top = More Bloody TFR).

HTH.

[glad rag]

Crying out for some copper wire and lead seals...no it's not hotas and on GR4 used on trainer variant in rear cockpit.
Note the twin micro switches on trigger and trim ahhh proper fbw engineering!

[TEEEJ]

See entry for ZA369 at following link. If you hover your cursor over the info button on the right is will bring up a box with some details.

UK Serials (http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=ZA#)

[Jayviator]

Crying out for some copper wire and lead seals...no it's not hotas and on GR4 used on trainer variant in rear cockpit.
Note the twin micro switches on trigger and trim ahhh proper fbw engineering!
So its not the pilots control?
:-(

[Jayviator]

It's been a few years but....

the big one in the top pic is the pitch & roll trim, the big one in the bottom pic is the ICO (Instinctive Cut-Out) which disconnects all Autopilot functions.

The rest are confusing me a little as I'm sure there was a Press-to-Transmit toggle switch on the control column which allowed transmission on either Box 1, Box 2 or both radios but I can't see it. I think the other buttons were part of the HOTAS for the Autopilot & TFR system, which could be complicated to remember until someone came up with the easier TBM (Top Bottom Middle = Take Back Manual (flying control)) or MBT (Middle Bottom Top = More Bloody TFR).

HTH.
Thank you very much fir the info.

[Onceapilot]

So its not the pilots control?
:-(
It is a Tornado Pilot flying control sticktop. If it is from a rear cockpit, it would be from a Trainer version that had control stick and throttles in both cockpit positions, the normal Strike version had only a Nav hand controller for Nav/Attack system inputs in the rear position, roughly where the "stick" was in a trainer version.
The blank at the top left, to left of the rectangular trim button, was, if I recall correctly, where the the Autopilot engage/disengage button was originally, the same type as the small silver coloured ones further down on the LHS. However, that little silver button on the top left could get caught in the anti-G trousers during a full left deflection of the control stick. I believe this may have been responsible for fatal accidents. The switch was relocated and the blank fitted to prevent snagging.

OAP

[Stitchbitch]

OAP, that makes sense now, that’s why we used to stitch down the LH thigh pocket flap on speed slacks and goon bags (even on the air display variant) 😂.

[just another jocky]

Crying out for some copper wire and lead seals...no it's not hotas and on GR4 used on trainer variant in rear cockpit.
Note the twin micro switches on trigger and trim ahhh proper fbw engineering!

Don't recall there being a trigger on the rear seat control column.

[Jayviator]

It is a Tornado Pilot flying control sticktop. If it is from a rear cockpit, it would be from a Trainer version that had control stick and throttles in both cockpit positions, the normal Strike version had only a Nav hand controller for Nav/Attack system inputs in the rear position, roughly where the "stick" was in a trainer version.
The blank at the top left, to left of the rectangular trim button, was, if I recall correctly, where the the Autopilot engage/disengage button was originally, the same type as the small silver coloured ones further down on the LHS. However, that little silver button on the top left could get caught in the anti-G trousers during a full left deflection of the control stick. I believe this may have been responsible for fatal accidents. The switch was relocated and the blank fitted to prevent snagging.

OAP
Thanks for the additional info, i guess I really need to find out if ZA369 was a trainer, the form says GR4 and I have bene trying to find out more about that aircraft I cannot see anything about it being a trainer, wouldn't it be a GR4T? maybe they might just not give the full designation, I cant really find out much about the trainer variant i have type in Tornado GR4 trainer and cannot find any photos of them especially showing the cockpit.
I have a feeling even though the form says GR4 my stick is probably from when it was converted from a GR1 to GR4 thats why it was removed as there seems to be no faults with it on the form it just gives the reason for removal as Redunant followed by a MOD code.

[insty66]

Thanks for the additional info, i guess I really need to find out if ZA369 was a trainer, the form says GR4 and I have bene trying to find out more about that aircraft I cannot see anything about it being a trainer, wouldn't it be a GR4T? maybe they might just not give the full designation, I cant really find out much about the trainer variant i have type in Tornado GR4 trainer and cannot find any photos of them especially showing the cockpit.
I have a feeling even though the form says GR4 my stick is probably from when it was converted from a GR1 to GR4 thats why it was removed as there seems to be no faults with it on the form it just gives the reason for removal as Redunant followed by a MOD code.


IIRC the top button was PTT and side AP Engage on those stick tops. It was a long time ago and am happy to be corrected.

It could well have come from a GR4 as the first GR4 through MLU didn't have the HOTAS and other mods embodied.

I don't think there were that many non HOTAS GR4 so yours could be reasonably rare:}

[EXFIN]

Last flew one 22 years ago but ZA369 was a recce variant GR1A then converted to GR4A not a trainer. The bottom most button on the left hand side was an ‘event’ record button, useful if you passed an unscheduled recce target, it would provide the PI’s (photographic interpreters) with a time marker on the video tapes.

[Onceapilot]

IIRC the top button was PTT and side AP Engage on those stick tops. It was a long time ago and am happy to be corrected.


Might have been but, not certain now!

OAP

[EAP86]

...I cannot see anything about it being a trainer, wouldn't it be a GR4T?

In strict terms it wasn't a 'trainer' being intended to be used for operational conversion; the aircrew had already been trained to fly. I believe the sensitivity to the term 'trainer' is to avoid the politicians challenge, "Why are we paying this much for a Trainer?". The GR1 and GR4 designations covered both the single and twin stick variants. The GR1A and GR4A designations covered the Recce versions. For completeness, the GR1B was the maritime attack version which was converted to carry the Sea Eagle missile but I'm not sure the designation was used very much by the Service.

EAP

[LOMCEVAK]

ZA369 had the production serial BS051 indicating that it was a Strike variant and not a Trainer (they were BT0XX). Therefore, if this stick was from ZA369 it was from when it was a GR1. Just a little to add on the buttons etc: The ICO paddle switch on the lower front of the handgrip disengaged the nosewheel steering as well as instantly disengaging the autopilot and flight director. The autopilot engage/disengage button that had been removed and was formerly located to the left of the pitch/roll trim switch was removed as part of mod 1749 (from memory) which was the fitment of the Autopilot and Flight Director System control panel on top of the left coaming. The black cover over the weapon release button was, I believe, later removed once the nuclear delivery option ceased (it certainly was removed from the rear cockpit stick of trainer variants of GR4 and F3). The top button on the left of the handgrip was the radio transmit button and I cannot remember what the bottom was and I don't remember ever using it; it may have been a radio mute button. I will do some research.

[just another jocky]

ZA369 had the production serial BS051 indicating that it was a Strike variant and not a Trainer (they were BT0XX). Therefore, if this stick was from ZA369 it was from when it was a GR1. Just a little to add on the buttons etc: The ICO paddle switch on the lower front of the handgrip disengaged the nosewheel steering as well as instantly disengaging the autopilot and flight director. The autopilot engage/disengage button that had been removed and was formerly located to the left of the pitch/roll trim switch was removed as part of mod 1749 (from memory) which was the fitment of the Autopilot and Flight Director System control panel on top of the left coaming. The black cover over the weapon release button was, I believe, later removed once the nuclear delivery option ceased (it certainly was removed from the rear cockpit stick of trainer variants of GR4 and F3). The top button on the left of the handgrip was the radio transmit button and I cannot remember what the bottom was and I don't remember ever using it; it may have been a radio mute button. I will do some research.

Yup. forgot about the NWS cutout..

Probably is a GR1 (non-HOTAS) stick then.....must admit I'd forgotten what they were like. The GR4 stick was much, much better.

[Onceapilot]

There you go Jayviator, lots of info, esp from Lom!:ok:

OAP

[Jayviator]

ZA369 had the production serial BS051 indicating that it was a Strike variant and not a Trainer (they were BT0XX). Therefore, if this stick was from ZA369 it was from when it was a GR1. Just a little to add on the buttons etc: The ICO paddle switch on the lower front of the handgrip disengaged the nosewheel steering as well as instantly disengaging the autopilot and flight director. The autopilot engage/disengage button that had been removed and was formerly located to the left of the pitch/roll trim switch was removed as part of mod 1749 (from memory) which was the fitment of the Autopilot and Flight Director System control panel on top of the left coaming. The black cover over the weapon release button was, I believe, later removed once the nuclear delivery option ceased (it certainly was removed from the rear cockpit stick of trainer variants of GR4 and F3). The top button on the left of the handgrip was the radio transmit button and I cannot remember what the bottom was and I don't remember ever using it; it may have been a radio mute button. I will do some research.
Cheers that is very helpful, I think the stick must be from ZA369 as that's the serial on the MOD form 731 which also has a part serial number which corresponds to the serial on the info plate on the stick. It looks like it wasn't a trainer version as you say because of the production serial number. Were the trainers built for that purpose or were they just modified? I did notice that this aircraft was one of 3 GR1As that served with the RAF component TTTE and it was a recce version, again I ask were the recce versions built for that purpose or could they be quite easily modified and converted back to a strike role, or could it have started life as a GR1 and then got converted to GR1A, really what i would like to know if the Tornado my stick is from (even if its possible the stick was not the original) has seen any combat. I would like to know if it has and someone suggested i try contacting the MOD and seeing of they can give me any additional info on it like what operations it was involved in, if it was only ever used as a recce aircraft then their will probably be not much info available.
Thanks once again to everyone who had helped me with my inquiry it is very much appreciated.

[Jayviator]

Last flew one 22 years ago but ZA369 was a recce variant GR1A then converted to GR4A not a trainer. The bottom most button on the left hand side was an ‘event’ record button, useful if you passed an unscheduled recce target, it would provide the PI’s (photographic interpreters) with a time marker on the video tapes.
Apologies, for some reason I missed your message, I just found out the info from searching around a bit, well the bit about it being a recce variant, but thanks for the info on the event record button, so can i assume that the standard GR1 stick did not have that button? I see that the cannons were removed on the recce version so did the trigger on the stick have another purpose or was it simply redundant, I also read that the recce variants were still able to carry and drop weapons so there is still a small chance that red button on my stick might have been used in anger, it is amusing that someone has drawn a face on the weapon release button, i guess the pilot did it, was that common practice?
Thanks for your help

[Jayviator]

IIRC the top button was PTT and side AP Engage on those stick tops. It was a long time ago and am happy to be corrected.

It could well have come from a GR4 as the first GR4 through MLU didn't have the HOTAS and other mods embodied.

I don't think there were that many non HOTAS GR4 so yours could be reasonably rare:}

Cheers for the info, that would be interesting if it was that case, it certainly says GR4 on the form which is dated 27/02/02 as there seem to be no fault recorded on the stick so I recon it was removed to be replaced with the HOTAS stick

[just another jocky]

There is some mention of ZA369 in Peter Foster's "Tornado A History" (ISBN 978-0-7524-4514-4), Tempus Publishing Ltd (wx3 thehistorypress dot co dot uk) , focussing on the reconnaissance role. Originally assigned to TWCU at Honington she underwent GR1A upgrade in 87 but then went to TTTE in 87 then onto 20 Sqn in 88 finally to II(AC) Sqn in 89. Entered GR4 update programme in 96 then onto XIII Sqn as GR4A in 98 and then bounced between 12 and 14 Sqn. Foster states she was a "long-serving campaigner of the first Gulf War", assigned to II(AC) Sqn for the period but it does not state where she flew.

I flew her in Jun & Aug 2001 on XIII Sqn at RAF Marham, and again in Sep 02 and in Nov 02. Next flew her in May 04 on a failed Air Test.

Jayviator, I have taken some photos of the relevant pages from Fosters book. If you PM me your email address, I'll forward them to you.

HTH

[EXFIN]

Some of the early GR1A’s were converted from existing GR1’s which involved removing both guns and installing the TIRRS infra red video system and a SLIR which I believe was an upgraded version from the Chieftain main battle tank. The GR1A apart from not having any guns was fully capable of carrying conventional & nuclear weapons. The stick was exactly the same as the GR1 but with the event button ‘wired in’. The Nav/back seater also had a weapon release button too. I flew ZA369 at TTTE as they were released to various units prior to the formation of II(AC)Sqn. If I remember rightly ZA404 was present at TWCU about the same time.

[Just This Once...]

I see that the cannons were removed on the recce version so did the trigger on the stick have another purpose or was it simply redundant, I also read that the recce variants were still able to carry and drop weapons so there is still a small chance that red button on my stick might have been used in anger,

Quite a large chance that the pickle button was used in anger as the original converted GR1A recce jets tended to have most of the war-going mods so were frequently drawn to support operations which then triggered additional mods. Back then the guns were hardly used so their absence was not a big deal. The as-built batch 7 GR1A recce jets had less toys but were amongst the youngest in the fleet so went on to form a good part of the GR4 fleet.

The trigger was still utilised on the GR1A for Sidewinders and, for a period, ALARM missiles. Part of the haze above is not just because of our failing memory but due to the functions changing throughout aircraft life. Some were just bad design - the basic autopilot mode being a classic - a simple stick button that held the current attitude; in the days before the ‘head-up’ panel and warning bongs this innocuous button that lead to many pilot-induced-oscillations and wtf moments.

The GR1 trainers did have a trigger and rear-seat strafe was a good game with canopy rivet of the day vs bush of the day. As an aside, recce squadrons received the same training allowance of 27mm as regular GR1 squadrons but only had 1 or 2 GR1 trainers on the squadron with guns fitted. The harmonisation on the these jets was outstanding as all the squadron gun use was focused on them. It also meant we had quite a lot of ammo to burn through when we had a rare chance to use the guns. On a regular squadron strafe was usually a short burst from a single gun selected to slow rate. On a recce squadron I found myself with full ammo tanks and both guns at fast rate was the order of the day. It felt rather good, to say the least - brrrrrrrrrrrpppp.

[Jayviator]

There is some mention of ZA369 in Peter Foster's "Tornado A History" (ISBN 978-0-7524-4514-4), Tempus Publishing Ltd (wx3 thehistorypress dot co dot uk) , focussing on the reconnaissance role. Originally assigned to TWCU at Honington she underwent GR1A upgrade in 87 but then went to TTTE in 87 then onto 20 Sqn in 88 finally to II(AC) Sqn in 89. Entered GR4 update programme in 96 then onto XIII Sqn as GR4A in 98 and then bounced between 12 and 14 Sqn. Foster states she was a "long-serving campaigner of the first Gulf War", assigned to II(AC) Sqn for the period but it does not state where she flew.

I flew her in Jun & Aug 2001 on XIII Sqn at RAF Marham, and again in Sep 02 and in Nov 02. Next flew her in May 04 on a failed Air Test.

Jayviator, I have taken some photos of the relevant pages from Fosters book. If you PM me your email address, I'll forward them to you.

HTH
That is excellent info thank you, its pretty cool to speak to someone who flew the exact aircraft my stick was from, I'm guessing its very likely that the stick was in place when you flew her in 2001, maybe it was you who drew that face on the WRB! the form says the year 2002 which i think is the date it was removed, and i would guess they don't replace them on a yearly basis, i wonder if there is a way to track down the exact period my stick was in use.
I will probably get that book but would still appreciate if you could forward those photos to me.
Cheers!

[Jayviator]

Some of the early GR1A’s were converted from existing GR1’s which involved removing both guns and installing the TIRRS infra red video system and a SLIR which I believe was an upgraded version from the Chieftain main battle tank. The GR1A apart from not having any guns was fully capable of carrying conventional & nuclear weapons. The stick was exactly the same as the GR1 but with the event button ‘wired in’. The Nav/back seater also had a weapon release button too. I flew ZA369 at TTTE as they were released to various units prior to the formation of II(AC)Sqn. If I remember rightly ZA404 was present at TWCU about the same time.
That is awesome that i have had 2 replies from pilots who have flown the very aircraft my stick was from, i guess you all have logs to show which aircraft you flew, my log inst that big, consisting of probably an 60-90 minutes worth of Chippie AEF flights and unfortunately my 3822 got lost so I will never be able to find out which aircraft i flew, if you can call taking the controls for a short while flying! plus more recently i took the controls of a Piper PA28 Warrior 11, in a way i feel like i had more control of that than the chippie because i actually got to taxi the aircraft, something we didnt do in the cadets i guess probably because of the Chipmunk being a tail dragger i expect it takes considerable skill to taxi one of them.
I wonder if i can find out if ZA369 was one that was converted from GR1 or one of the later batch built models.

[just another jocky]

...with full ammo tanks and both guns at fast rate was the order of the day. It felt rather good, to say the least - brrrrrrrrrrrpppp.


And the smell of burnt cordite (or whatever it was).....Mmmmmmm.

Most of the restrictions from the GR1 days were lifted by the time of Afghanistan and the gun was a very useful low collateral persuasive tool. Long bursts in high angle dive from long range were the norm.

Night EO shallow angle strafe was another thing entirely though! :eek:

[Onceapilot]

I flew ZA369 twice in Feb 85. A 1.20 laydown bombing trip and a 1.45 TFR trip. Cheers

OAP

[Jayviator]

I got myself a new stick top, this one is from a GR4 ZA449. I've done a bit or research into this aircraft and found out it carried the name Strathisla during operation Telic and I think it has seen action in Operation Herrick, Ellamy, and is still in service now on Operation Herrick. I wonder if it also was involved in the gulf wars as a GR1 I cant seem to find much info about it when it was a GR1 but as my stick is a GR4 I am more interested in the aircraft history as that.
There are a few more controls on this stick compared to the GR1, i think i know what some of them are, the big red trigger at the back is obviously for firing guns and missiles, there is a smaller round red button on the front I assume that is for bombs, however, unlike the GR1 stick it has no guard and the trigger is also unguarded, so perhaps the round red button is the arming button and has to be pressed in conjuction with the trigger so maybe the trigger is for guns bombs and missiles? to the right of the round red button is a round "switch" which moves up and down and left and right, i think this is the trim controls to the right of that is another switch thing which moves up and down left and right and can be pushed down as well perhaps this was used to select different targets or items from a menu on a computer, perhaps it took over from the hand controller on the left console,there are 3 other buttons which i dont know what they did, one was probably a transmit button. another selector is on the left side of the stick it moves up and down and can be pressed, i read on the F3 version this selected missiles, long range and short range and guns, I presume on the GR4 it was still used for weapons selecting but between bombs and missiles and guns and there is the paddle switch at the bottom which is similar to the one on my GR1 stick so i think its failry safe to say it performs the same function, autopilot disconnect.
If anyone can enlighten me to what those other 3 buttons did i would be most grateful, and also if my guesses are correct about the otjher controls. And of anyone has more info on ZA449 I would also love to hear that.
Cheers.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmforum.com-vbulletin/715x1024/stick_top_from_za449_tornado_gr4_715x1024__e277a546d8d9c8844 ec8e6bd30ec2efe4c2c67e1.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmforum.com-vbulletin/678x1024/za449_stick_top_showing_trigger_and_other_buttons_678x1024__ bcfd0a2640c90f82210443fa74880fdc478a58c5.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmforum.com-vbulletin/630x1024/gr4_za449_stick_top_on_perspex_mount_630x1024__c522f20bff015 fde8ed7766c53d0abd484e35356.jpg

[Timelord]

Jayviator,

Well, I was a back seater but here is my contribution. Firstly, the GR4 is (soon was) a software driven aircraft, so the functions of the different buttons varied with the software, which changed about annually. That having been said you are roughly correct. The central ‘China mans hat” is the trim. The right hand “castle switch’ controlled various display and menu functions. The trigger and the red, left hand, button both controlled weapon release. This too varied with software variant but broadly speaking the trigger released forward firing weapons and the red button allowed the computer to release gravity bombs. There was certainly one software release that allowed a trigger press to fire ALARMs and the gun simultaneously, giving you the possibility of shooting down your own missiles shortly after release!

The small button on the top and the two on the side control the Terrain Following Radar, Flight Director and Autopilot ( cant remember which is which but the sequence was Top/ bottom/ middle to disengage and Middle/bottom/top to reengage) These give the pilot the ability to engage and disengage the Auto TF using his / her right hand only as conditions change.

Hope this helps.

TL

[Timelord]

Oh, and the forward/back/ press under your thumb is transmit box 1 (forward) box 2 (aft) and press (something completely unrelated to radios!)

[Jayviator]

Thanks Timelord that is very helpful

[frodo_monkey]

Top/bottom/middle (also known as Take Back Manual for the obvious disengage reason):

Top - autopilot
Bottom - Flight Director
Middle - TFR

[Easy Street]

Pressing down on the radio transmit switch selected air-to-air weapons and the relevant HUD modes: one press for guns, a second for missiles, subsequent presses to attempt lock-on.

Both trigger and weapon release button are unguarded but are functionally independent: no combination presses required. The separate (guarded) late arm switch on the coaming essentially acts as a safety catch for both.

The paddle switch is properly called the Instinctive Cutout (or ICO) and as well as disconnecting the autopilot, it disengages the nose wheel steering system. This needs to be done in a hurry if it malfunctions during takeoff or landing.

The ‘castle switch’ functions changed a lot during my time on the jet. I have to admit that some of the more obscure ones (FLIR gain, head-down display modes) were never committed firmly to my memory and the functions differed depending on what was displayed on the head-down display. The ones that do stick in the mind are ‘left’ and ‘right’ in the normal mode, which step through the navigational waypoints in the planned route. A guaranteed way to cheese off the WSO but very useful when flying a lucky passenger on an air experience sortie!

In return for this information can you tell me/us where you got this and how much you paid, because I want one too :)

[Jayviator]

Cheers Easy street that was very informative, is that info regarding the GR4?
As for where i got the stick, eBay is your friend, they vary in price but you would be hard pressed to get one for less than £250 mine set me back £265 there is one at the moment with the initial starting bid at £200 there's one with a buy it now price at £349 or best offer, personally I think that's a bit steep. Some of them don't even have any paperwork or aircraft serial number associated with them, that's important to me as I like to find out about the history of the aircraft they have been removed from.
One company has made a full sized resin replica which sells at 110 euros (£96.82) but who wants a replica!

[Just This Once...]

I flew ZA369 twice in Feb 85. A 1.20 laydown bombing trip and a 1.45 TFR trip. Cheers

OAP

I last flew ZA369 exactly 10 years later - Feb 95 - leading a pair to Norway (Ex Strong Resolve?). Bad snowstorms, dwindling fuel and an unplanned and IMC blind join on a VC-10, thanks to a helpful F3 that we forcibly glued ourselves to. If I remember correctly we were all grounded afterwards due to (a rather bizarre) fuel contamination with a VC-10 that had gone on to 'infect' loads of receivers.

Doesn't feel like 23 years ago.

[Easy Street]

Cheers Easy street that was very informative, is that info regarding the GR4?


Yes, GR4... these stick tops (front cockpit only in 2-stickers) were part of the upgrade from GR1.

I’ve remembered another consistent function of the castle switch - a long press ‘in’ selected Target of Opportunity mode, which allowed most air-to-ground weapons to be aimed through the HUD at whatever the pilot wished without the need for data to be inserted to the main computer beforehand. Didn’t work for ALARM or Storm Shadow, but most others could be used in this way with varying degrees of accuracy...

[just another jocky]

Easy Street.....your memory is clearly much better than mine as I've been struggling to remember the role of some of those buttons.

I do recall MBT (More Bloody TFR - Middle/Bottom/Top) and TBM (Take Back Manual - Top/Bottom/Middle) on the front thumb and rear 2 buttons though.

Probably flew ZA369 at some stage but don't have time to look back through 3 logbooks right now!

[LOMCEVAK]

Jayviator,

When ZA449 was a GR1 it spent some time in the flight test world. We had it at Boscombe Down on 'A' Squadron/Fixed Wing Test Squadron and I first flew it there on 27 August 1987 and last flew it there on 17 May 1990. We used it for training, supporting some missile tracking system trials as a target and for RHWR trials. I also flew a sortie looking to expand the crosswind landing envelope of some of the degraded CSAS modes, a 3-tank handling sortie plus a sortie as a receiver during the Tristar tanker development trials. I don't think that there was ever any flight test instrumentation fitted so we must just have used on-board observations plus data from the ADR.

I also flew it when I was on Experimental Flying Squadron at Farnborough, the first sortie being on 6 December 1993 and the last 26 January 1994. We used it for training flying and again as a target supporting other trials including a helmet mounted sight trial in a Jaguar. EFS moved to Boscombe Down in April 1994 when military flying at Farnborough ceased. I flew 449 again at Boscombe on 5 December 1994 on a sortie to clear a fixed FLIR pod on station 5. I think that it may then have been on the strength of the SAOEU as this was their trial as a pre-cursor to the GR4 entering service but it was initially a joint trial with EFS.

Happy memories!

[Jayviator]

Thanks again for the very informative replies and it is nice to hear the personal accounts of the flights in the particular aircraft. It will probably be quite some time before I get to hear stories about more recent missons ZA449 has been involved in. I have a feeling my stick from 449 has seen more combat action than my GR1 stick from 369 especially as 369 was a recce version well i know it was involved in a lot more operations. I wonder if I mifght be a bit sadistic but I enjoy the fact that the trigger and button has probably given some terrorist a really bad day, probably more from the button than the trigger. Mind you they could have mde it a bigger button, at least big enough to draw a smiley face on, like someone did on my GR1 stick!
I beleive ZA449 is still in service, well i know she has a new stick and a new total fuel contents indicator as my latest part is the fuel indicator and thats from 449 as well! I just need one more intrument now to have the full front cockpit panels, minus a few buttons and switches.

[glad rag]

draw a smiley face on,

This :) or this :( ?

[Jayviator]

One or the other