A Panavia Tornado of the German Air Force is about to take off from RAF Fairford. On the tail the aircraft has a sticker to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Luftwaffe.
The Panavia Tornado is a multi-role combat aircraft. It is equipped with advanced equipment and sensors which make it suitable to perform day and night penetration missions at very low altitudes under all possible weather conditions.
The Tornado has a pilot and a weapons controller as crew. Propulsion is provided by two Turbo Union RB199 Mk102 turbofans. Depending on the role for which the aircraft is used, it can carry a very diverse armament, ranging from ordinary bombs to the WE.177 (RAF) or the B61 (Luftwaffe) and (AMI) atomic bomb.
I took this photo on 11 July 2016 during what is known as departure day at RAF Fairford. This is the day that most participants in the Royal International Air Tattoo fly back to their home base.
I am Jaap van den Berg and photography has become a great passion of mine since 2010. Since then I travel all over the world to take pictures of military aircrafts. But besides aircraft I also love to photograph other subjects like landscapes, architecture, flowers, animals, .. Read more…