Slightly different to what is reported in Flight Global.

It reports that 8 of the remaining 22 Tornado GR4 are still on operations from Cyprus and those operations will cease at the end of February when the jets will return to Marham.

Whichever, you are absolutely right about how significant this remarkable fast jet has been to the RAF - for nearly 40 of its 100 year history.

The good news is that there will still be over 250 Tornado in service with German, Italy and Saudi Arabia for at least till 2025.

What he said!

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Appreciate that.
Please don't think that I was doubting you word.
I was simply commenting on the slightly different report from flight global.

Typhoon has some incredibly large shoes to fill but whether it will be as busy in the years to come remains to be seen.

Yep, I was talking to a GR4 pilot in December and he said January 31st was the last combat sortie...

Speculating here but I suspect additional Typhoons will be getting sent out to Cyprus so the tempo of operations isn't effected?

At one time that was being mooted, to allow the tempo to be maintained. My understanding is that this is no longer the case, and the very unconfirmed rumour is that Trump's announcement of the US withdrawal is being used to justify a reduction in the UK's sorties.

Do you work for CNN? MSNBC? ABC? Or some other news media network with an axe to grind against the President?

Just checking.....

"Because of Trump" is a lazy answer, especially when the UK Government have announced no such plans... neither have any such plans been leaked. It's not surprising why there's so much distrust in the mainstream media.

I'm not endorsing that view, merely reporting it. I do not work for any of the listed media organisations, and I have no particular 'axe to grind' against the President, though it does sadden me that a great, liberal nation that I have admired my whole life should now find itself being led by such a deeply unimpressive and unlikeable buffoon.

The Daily Mail (a news source that I do not endorse nor necessarily believe) reported that the withdrawal of Tornado from Shader was down to Trump's decision

See: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...raq-Syria.html

That's plainly wrong - the withdrawal of Tornado and the Tornado OSD was set months, if not years ago.

It was subsequently reported that the decision not to 'beef up' the Typhoon det was down to the same thing.

I believe that not to be the case, though my understanding, after talking to senior officers at Marham on 10 January at the F-35 IOC declaration media bunfight, is that the Typhoon det will not be increased in size. This did not seem to be a big secret, nor was it viewed as being in any way contentious.

Indeed Easy Street's analysis seems to me to be on the button. The tempo of operations has reduced, as has the area held by Daesh, and it would not seem necessary for the RAF to maintain the tempo of operations that it has been sustaining.

Have you been talking to DCOM OPS, Easy Street? Air Marshal Atha said much the same thing today!

Warmest congratulations to Chris S on receiving his 6,000 hours badge today.

6,000 hours. In the back of a Tornado.

I think your axe to grind against the President is very clear. Claiming that you have no particular axe to grind against the President, but then following up with, "though it does sadden me that a great, liberal nation that I have admired my whole life should now find itself being led by such a deeply unimpressive and unlikeable buffoon" is contradictory to say the least!
To be perfectly clear, I don't have a problem with it, just be honest about it. President Trump is a very controversial and divisive character, and even as a person with conservative political views, I don't necessarily agree with everything he says and does... but I will neither hide approval or disapproval of some of his words and actions.

As for the Daily Mail, that website is a pioneer in what is known as "Fake News."

May I ask what usually happens to planes when they get retired now that, I presume, none are needed for operational spares etc? Are any other nations still using them? Can they be sold on? Genuine question from a civvy.

The remaining in-service Tornado GR4's will be Reduced to Produce upon retirement at RAF Marham, meaning the airframes will be dismantled and any viable/working/relatively low hours parts will be stripped, refurbished and used on existing Tornado fleets in Saudi Arabia, Germany or Italy. Anything else will be scrapped. A few airframes are likely to be preserved as Gate Guardians at various RAF stations or displayed in museums, but not many.
Obviously anything that relates solely to the GR4 and is restricted/classified will be appropriately disposed of in the UK. I suspect most of the power plants will be refurbished and sent overseas to sustain other Tornado fleets.

Really nice guy, remember him well from 17(F) at Bruggen.

I agree about the Daily Mail - it's a dreadful rag. As I said before, I merely reported what it reported, and expressed my belief that they 'got it wrong.'

I don't believe that the tangoed oaf's decision to withdraw US forces had anything to do with the British decision to withdraw Tornado, nor the decision not to boost or reinforce the number of Typhoons on Shader - but both of those claims have been made, and I passed them on, with a suitable caveat.

I don't have an axe to grind with your current president. I don't like him, I don't respect him, and I don't rate him, but I don't have any axe to grind. I watch with a mixture of horror and amusement as he demonstrates his unfitness to lead, and watch, 'popcorn in hand', waiting to see whether he escapes being impeached.

On this, as so often, Trump is an irrelevance.

One GR4 has already made its way to Hangar 4 at IWM Duxford, complementing their GR1 already resident in Airspace. They both have some nice associated kit with them including TIALD (From GW1 with resident 'Fat Slags' Artwork), JP233, AIM-9 and Brimstone as well as ECM/Chaff/Flare pods.

Thanks for the answers re post active service life.

6000 hours on a fighter bomber type might not just be an RAF record. IIRC, Wayne Yarolan scored 5000 on the F4, but have not heard of any more than that.

...inclined to agree; not come across or heard of anyone notching up that many hours in a single FJ type (I know a couple who hit 5k) - although standby for some hairy old Hawk QFI to emerge!

I spent many an hour scanning the North German Plain for 4-ships of Fins barreling through a few feet above us. A couple of years later, I was sitting around the sandpit whilst some very brave people were committing JP233 runs.

Hats-off to all Tornado Muds. Fine crews operating a great aircraft that served us well.

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/th...ts-day.691133/

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/th...ts-day.691606/

Jacko got confused......

The crews for the last mission:
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....20bf608338.jpg
"The aircrew on the LHS does not wish to be named", Wing Commander James Heeps, OC IX Squadron, Wing Commander Matt Bressani, OC 31 Squadron and Sqn Ldr James Boning (Bonning?).

My last point, as I'd hate to detract the attention away from the fine men and women of the Tornado GR Force, past and present: He isn't my President - I fly the Union Flag. :)

I think the straps are a feature of the latest mark of life preserver. The updated jacket was introduced to hold the head higher out of the water to reduce the likelihood of drowning if unconscious, and the straps must be to stop the jacket riding up (or the body dropping down, whichever way you want to look at it). I heard that the larger size of the stole gave some aircrew difficulties with head movement so they were allowed to stay with the previous mark of jacket. If you notice, OC IX Sqn doesn't have the straps and his stole cover is of different material. As so often, fix one problem, introduce another...

A little earlier I was checking up some facts on the Lightning (not the new one) and was surprised to learn that there are over 60 Lightnings surviving in various states of preservation, predominantly in the UK, but also in various other countries, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the USA.

Correct: the new(ish) Mk43 life preserver was made to meet more exacting floatation standards than the old marks. The crotch strap was introduced as meeting the freeboard requirement with immersion representative of parachute landing in water proved challenging: if the jacket rides up a small amount when total buoyancy never places your mouth a great distance above the water, then that small amount of ride up becomes significant.

He certainly seems to be very highly regarded.