600 Knots at 200 Feet

David Eagles, British Aerospace chief test pilot at Warton, describes what it would be like to fly a combat mission in the RAF swing wing, all-weather Tornado. His report is based on one first published in AirForce Magazine.

The need to stay fast and low these days is obvious to all strike pilots. The higher you fly, the more likely ground-toair weapons are to pick you off and this is true even when you’re using defensive electronic countermeasures. The ability to stay down at 200 feet even at night in our famous European ‘murk’ is invaluable. The Tornado is the first aircraft produced in Europe that has this capability.

As you walk around the aircraft, you’ll be surprised at its small size. That’s another aid to survival in the low level attack game. Its empty weight is around 30,000 pounds but it is densely packed and has about the same surface area as the F-18.

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