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Panavia
Tornado. Aviation art prints of the Royal Air
Force Panavia Tornado fighter aircraft. Tornado GR1's by aviation artists Geoff
Lea and Frank Wootton. Aviation art prints available from
aviationprints.co.uk, a subsidiary of Cranston Fine
Arts.
PANAVIA TORNADO Twin seat multi role combat jet fighter with a
maximum speed of 1320 mph ceiling of 50,000 feet and a maximum range
with in flight refuelling of 3,000 miles (normal range 1,000 miles)
Build by European consortium of British ,German and
Italian Manufacturers. The Tornado was the first swing wing aircraft to
enter service with the royal Air Force. Training commenced on the
Tornado in 1981 at RAF Cottesmore. and has become a major part of the
Royal Air Force of the 1980' and 1990's.
Pink Tornados by Geoff Lea A pair of RAF Tornado GRIs at low level during the Gulf War
operation Desert Storm, in their distinctive desert pink camouflage
colour scheme.
Spirit of 617 Squadron by
Michael Turner.A Tornado follows a Lancaster over the Derwentwater Dam. |
 | Pink Tornados by Geoff Lea. | 2 editions available from £52.80 |  | Tornado Strike by Philip West. | 3 editions available from £95.00 |  | Dawn Thunder by Keith Woodcock. | £50.00 |  | Feriens Tego by Robert Tomlin. | £70.00 |  | Display 25 by Robert Tomlin. | £42.00 |  | Blackpool Showtime by Robert Tomlin. | £60.00 |  | Friesland Scorpions by Robert Tomlin. | 2 editions available from £50.00 |  | High Speed Intrusion by Gerald Coulson. | SOLD OUT / SOLD |  | Spirit of 617 Squadron by Michael Turner. | £32.00 |  | RAF Tornado- Operation Desert Storm 1991 by Frank Wootton. | £120.00 |  | On Track by Ronald Wong. | £80.00 |  | In the Air Tonight by Michael Rondot. | £95.00 |  | Paveway Tornados by Michael Rondot. | £75.00 |  | Second to None by Michael Rondot. (AP) | £135.00 |  | Shiny II - Tornado Recce by Michael Rondot. | 4 editions available from £95.00 |  | Tornado F3 by Michael Rondot. (AP) | £150.00 |  | Panavia Tornado GR1 by Michael Rondot. | 2 editions available from £105.00 |  | The Marham Wing Over Sandringham by Michael Rondot. | 3 editions available from £80.00 |  | Operation TELIC by Michael Rondot. (AP) | 2 editions available from £120.00 |  | Atlantic Trail by Michael Rondot. | 2 editions available from £75.00 |
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Feriens Tego
by Robert Tomlin 25(F) Squadron of the Royal Air Force, based at Leeming
in Yorkshire is one of the premier Defence squadrons. Here, a
Tornado F3 makes a dramatic dash for the air in response to a potential
threat. The title comes from their motto Striking I
Defend. The border contains printed remarques of the first and
the latest fighters to serve with 25(F) Squadron, the autographed by Group
Captain Phil Goodman, OC 25(F) Squadron.
Display 25
by Robert Tomlin A Tornado F3 from 25(F) Squadron based at RAF Leeming
blasts off from the runway at Duxford to begin its display sequence.
Flown for the second year by Glt Lt "Willy" Hackett and
navigated by Flt Lt John Shields, this dramatic limited edition prints is
autographed by the two crew members.
Blackpool
Showtime by
Robert Tomlin At one of their favourite locations, pilot Flt Lt Simon
Stevens (now a member of the Red Arrows) and navigator Flt Lt Dave
Chadderton of 56 Squadron RAF display the fabulous Tornado F3 to thrill
the holiday crowds gathered in front of Blackpools famous tower.
High Speed Intrusion by Gerald Coulson Famous for the Dambusters raid during the Second World War, RAF
617 Squadron is now based at Lossiemouth in Scotland. With its high-tech
Tornados, the squadron today presents a very different picture to that of
the 1940s. In 1990 they again found themselves in a combat situation when
Iraq invaded Kuwait and their skills flying at high speed - low level were
called on once more. This impressive painting by Coulson is a fitting tribute to one
of this country's most famous Squadrons.
RAF Tornado- Operation Desert Storm 1991 by Frank Wootton
Countersigned by Air Vice Marshal Sir William Wratten
KBE, CB, AFC.
Dawn Thunder by Keith Woodcock A Royal Air Force Tornado GR1 takes off on a training mission into a
dawn sky.
Tornado Strike by Philip
West Todays
RAF Tornados and the aircrew that fly them offer a world-class
interdiction/ground attack and reconnaissance package that is second to
none. The Tornado GR4 is capable of supersonic speeds and flight at
low-level, making it one of the most potent attack aircraft in the world
today. New systems and weapons upgrades will ensure that the Tornado
remains a versatile, effective and vital platform for many years to
come.
Panavia Tornado GR1 by Michael Rondot Of all the television and press images of the Gulf War, few were as
dramatic as the pictures of the first waves of aircraft taking off to
attack Iraqi airfields under cover of darkness. Yet when this print of a
tornado taking off carrying a full warload of JP233 airfield denial
weapons was published, such a scenario was unthinkable. The events of 1991
are foretold in this powerful portrayal of a Tornado taking off in a blast
of steam from a rain drenched runway, with a Jaguar strike/attack aircraft
breaking into the circuit background.
Tornado F3 by Michael Rondot Signed by Air Marshal Sir John Curtiss KCB KBE this print depicts a
Tornado F3 taking off on a dark and wet afternoon with the characteristic
pink and blue afterburner plume blazing from its RB199 engines. The
controversial Tornado F3 replaced both the Lightning and F4 Phantom in the
RAF, and flew operational combat air patrols throughout the Gulf War. |
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Friesland Scorpions by
Robert Tomlin The 2nd Squadron of Fighter-Bomber Wing 38 Friesland is the
only squadron in Northern Germany to operate the Tornado weapon system.
Their main task is to support the Main Defence Forces (HVK) to protect
Germany and its Allies. Additionally their crews train co-operation
between themselves and reaction forces of NATO and the UN.
The 2nd Squadron, the youngest German Tornado squadron, was established
in 1988 with the introduction of the Tornado ECR (Electronic Combat
Reconnaissance) into the German Air Force. The crews perform the
service tests until the ECR achieved operational readiness. With the
changing political situation in Europe, the ECR's were transferred in 1994
to FBW 32 at Lechfield. The Squadron then re-equipped with Tornado IDS (Interdiction and
Strike) and changed its role to fighter-bombers. At the moment the
crews train in all tactical roles except nuclear. As the German Air
Force continued its re-organisation, the squadron closed in 1999. In the foreground of this print is a Tornado IDS painted in the special
colours of 2 Squadron. Behind is the last Tornado ECR of FBW 38
"F". They are depicted over the Westerhöven Lighthouse, a
famous landmark on the coastline of the Friesian Islands of Northern
Germany, an area over which the Squadron frequently flies.
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| Operation TELIC by Michael Rondot Royal Air Force Tornado GR4s in action over Baghdad during Operation
TELIC.
During February 2003, Tornado
GR4s from the Royal Air Force Marham and Lossiemouth Wings deployed to the
Gulf region as part of Operation TELIC (the UK code name for Operation
Iraqi Freedom). As the deadline for war in Iraq approached, the
detachments at Ali al Salem AB, Kuwait, and Al Udeid AB, Qatar, prepared
for action 12 years after the end of the first Gulf War in 1991.
This time, however, the RAF was much better prepared, with new weapons
systems and tactics developed after long years of operational combat
experience on Operation Southern Watch over Iraq and in the skies over the
Balkans. Operation TELIC was a high-tech air war for the Tornado GR4
using long-range reconnaissance systems and medium altitude attacks.
It was almost exclusively a precision-guided weapons conflict in which the
Tornado GR4 Force, its aircrews, groundcrews and support teams performed
with distinction.
This striking new painting by artist Michael Rondot depicts a pair of
Tornado GR4s on station over the Baghdad killbox. The aircraft are
powerfully set against the ominous background of central Baghdad sprawling
beneath the dark smoke of oil fires deliberately lit in an effort to mask
the city from airborne targeting pods. Many RAF aircraft received
colourful nose art during the conflict and these Tornados were no
exception; ZA542 'DM' and ZA560 'BC' became "Danger Mouse" and
"Brave Coq", and both carried tributes to favourite Scottish
Whiskies alongside their mission markings. With their paint finish
battered and weather beaten by the scars of battle, the aircraft are
portrayed in a typical Interdiction / Close Air Support fit, armed with
Paveway II GPS / laser guided bombs, TIALD pod and RBL-755 cluster bombs
to represent all Tornado GR4 Op TELIC operations. |
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Shiny II - Tornado Recce by Michael Rondot
Flying beneath an overcast of grey, threatening cloud, two Tornado
GR1As break formation as the lead aircraft turns and accelerates towards a
narrow gap in the cloud covered hills. The aircraft are flying a low-level
tactical reconnaissance mission, aiming to locate, identify and film a
camouflaged target using their sophisticated onboard video recording
sensors. As night falls and low cloud envelopes them, they have the
capability, unmatched by any other recce aircraft in the world, to fly
their mission in darkness, at very low level, and still locate and record
their target.
During the Gulf War recce Tornados were tasked
to fly deep-penetration low-level missions at night into Iraq and the
Kuwait Theatre of Operations, searching out troop concentrations, armour,
and mobile SCUD missile launchers. Their missions were dangerous and
lonely work, flying alone and without fighter escort, often into the most
heavily defended areas of Iraq and Kuwait. None were lost on these
missions, but the dangers they faced, and the professionalism displayed by
the aircrews from No.II (AC) Sqn, and No.13 Sqn, were recognised in the
Gulf War Honours List by several awards for bravery in the air, including
the DSO and DFC. Already regarded as one of the finest strike and attack
aircraft in NATO, the Recce Tornado dispenses with conventional cameras
altogether, and instead, features infrared linescan and side-looking
thermal imagers mounted inside the forward fuselage gun bays.
Paveway Tornados by Michael Rondot Low level action at sunset by a pair of
FLIR-equipped Tornado GR4s
carrying a TIALD laser designator pod and GBU-24 Paveway III laser guided
bombs. These weapons, used to such devastating effect during the Gulf War
by USAF F-111F and F117A Black Jet aircraft, now give the RAF the same
capability to attack targets with pinpoint accuracy, both day an night, in
adverse weather and from all altitudes.
In the Air Tonight by Michael Rondot During the opening nights of Operation Desert Storm, hundreds of RAF,
US and Coalition aircraft unleashed a tidal wave of low-level bombing
attacks on airfield targets in Iraq and in occupied Kuwait. Spearheading
the RAF attack were Tornado GR1 units based at Tabuk and Dhahran in Saudi
Arabia and Muharraq, Bahrain. These early missions, flown at low-altitude,
often under cover of darkness, were strictly for the brave. A Tornado GR1 with JP 233 airfield denial weapons taking off at the
start of a night low-level mission to attack an airfield target deep
within Iraq. The bad weather and dark, overcast evening sky of the first
days of the war add power and atmosphere to the dramatic scene as the
Tornado accelerates along the runway with afterburners blazing. As a
Jaguar pilot working alongside Tornado crews at Bahrain, Michael Rondot
witnessed many scenes like this, and his painting pays tribute to those
who flew the Tornado, some of whom, tragically, did not survive the war.
Prints are signed by 19 RAF Tornado aircrew form Operation Desert
Storm, including holders of the Distinguished Service Order and
Distinguished Flying Cross awards for gallantry.
Second to None by Michael Rondot "Second to None" is the unofficial motto of No II (AC)
Squadron Royal Air Force, whose Tornado GR1A aircraft are portrayed by
Michael Rondot in this painting of a pair of aircraft landing on a
typically filthy and rainswept summer afternoon. Signatories: Wg Cdr. R F Garwood
DFC, Air Vice-Marshal G E Stirrup AFC,
Air Commodore T G Thorn AFC, Gp Capt.. R Fowler AFC, Wg Cdr. D C Ferguson
AFC, Gp Capt.. N J R Walpole OBE, Air Commodore R H G Weighill CBE DFC,
Sqn Ldr. RM Pugh AFC.
Atlantic Trail by Michael Rondot Ever wondered what it is like learning to tank? Imagine a fragile
basket flailing six feet up and down at the end of a 50 foot hose as the
tanker flexes its wings in turbulence. In your cockpit it feels like the
throttles are connected to the engines with knicker elastic. To keep
straight in the tanker's wingtip vortices you have applied right spoiler
and a bootfull of rudder, whilst your death grip on the stick is inducing
a violent porpoising motion. Over the radio a calm voice from the tanker
clears you in, so with one engine in afterburner and with eyes like
saucers you move forward to attempt a controlled mid-air collision.
Welcome to the air-to-air refuelling club.
In Michael Rondot's remarkably accurate portrayal of refuelling
operations high over an Atlantic panorama, a Tornado moving forward to
refuel makes contact with the basket trailed by a VC10 tanker. In these
last critical moments the Tornado's probe can either move snugly into the
centre of the basket and plug in, or rip through the spokes, sending a
shower of debris into the engine intake. It is all a matter of skill,
judgement, age and luck.
On Track by Ronald Wong A Tornado GR1 of 12 squadron RAF, carrying a comprehensive array of
weapons and defence measures streaks low on a training sortie. |
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