Hobby Master Archive

Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series HA6703 Tornado IDS “Norm 95” 43+25, JaBoG 31 “Boelcke”, Norvenich, Germany, late 2000s

True 1/72 scale. Professionally painted. Great attention to detail. All markings are Tampoed (pad applied). Option to display the model on a stand that is provided. Model can be shown with the landing gear in the down or up positions. Loads of optional armament provided. Canopy can be displayed open or closed. Pilot figures included. Extremely heavy metal with a minimum of plastic. Highly collectable.

The Panavia Tornado was a joint effort between the UK, West Germany and Italy to produce a two-seat, dual-engine aircraft with variable-sweep wings. The Tornado took its maiden flight on August 14, 1974 with the first aircraft being delivered to the German Air Force on July 27, 1979. There are three main variants of the Tornado, the IDS (interdictor/strike), ECR (electronic combat/reconnaissance) and ADV (air defense variant) interceptor. By the end of production in 1998 there had been 992 aircraft of all versions built of which 745 were IDS variants.

The JaBoG 31 “Boelcke” began to relocate from Buchel AB to Norvenich AB in January 1958 and was fully functional by mid June. In January 1959 JaBoG 31 became the first German Air Force wing to join NATO. In 1961 the wing received the name “Boelcke” in honor of the WWI German fighter pilot Oswald Boelcke. In 1979 JaBoG 31 was the first unit to equip with the Panavia Tornado IDS. Tornado 43+25 completed its maiden flight on September 4, 1981 and was accepted by the Luftwaffe on October 21, 1981.

General specifications for the Panavia Tornado IDS Country of origin - Italy, UK, West Germany Service entry date - 1979 Crew - 2 Dimensions Length - 17.72 m (58.1 ft) Wingspan - 13.92 m (45.7 ft) expanded 8.6m swept (28.2 ft) Height - 5.95m (19.5 ft)

Weight Empty - 13.8 t (30,423 lb) Maximum take off - 27.9 t (61,508.9 lb)

Performance Powerplant 2 X Turbo-Union RB.199 Mk. 103 turbofans Producing dry with afterburners 2 X 38.48 / 71.50 kN Maximum speed - 2,236 km/h (1,389 mph) Service ceiling - 15.2 km (49,868.77 ft) Range - 1,390 km (863.7 miles) Ferry range with drop tanks - 3,900 (2,423.3) - 4,300 km (2,671.9 miles)

Armament Cannon - 2 X 27 mm IWKA-Mauser Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles Brimstone anti-tank guided missiles 454 kg free-fall bombs CPU-123/B Paveway II GBU-28 Paveway III laser-guided bombs