The Panavia Tornado was the result of the combined efforts of Germany, the UK, and Italy to provide a dedicated strike aircraft. First flying in 1974, production aircraft started entering squadron service around 1980 and soon took over from the likes of the Phantom II and F-104G that were being used by the partner nations. By far the biggest user of the type was Germany which received 324 of the type, followed by the UK with 229 and the Italians with 100. Others were sold to Saudi Arabia and Oman. They have proved their combat capabilities in the Gulf and in the Agean. Many of the surviving airframes are being updated to provide service until at least 2020.

Following the usual format, this book starts with several pages of overall images of various Tornadoes. It then goes into the detail portion of the book with images from mostly German aircraft. This then is followed by a goodly section on stores as the Tornado is able to carry a wide array of weapons and sensor pods.

The freebie in this one is a set of canopy masks in 1/72 and 1/48 scale. Since it is basically a black sheet, I've not shown it.

Overall, an excellent volume and one that I can most highly recommend to those of you who like to see the detail bits of various aircraft.

October 2005

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