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Tornado - What’s behind the panel?


speedy

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I’ve watched a video where it shows the ground crew opening 2 small panels just below and aft of the cannons, on a GR1. The Starboard side looks like ground power and the port side looks like telecoms.

Can somebody confirm this and has anybody got photos of the inside.

Steve

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14 minutes ago, speedy said:

photos of the inside

Think they are Avionic bays slide in/out Black boxes (not that kind of black box ). I remember some of my mates on Tornado courses up at TTTE RAF Cottesmore in the late 70s talking about these Boxes up the front one ,I think was for systems checking . Someone with hands on will be more accurate. I've just asked my mate who was on them .

Photo link

 

https://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2015/08/panavia-tornado-gr1-za361-new-york-lincolnshire-farm/

Edited by bzn20
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42 minutes ago, speedy said:

ground power

Here the link for 3 photos of the open panel for Ground Power (socket missing) , Being NATO Standard the socket is the same as other Aircraft .

Go about half way down the page, the whole page is probably useful to you with lots of open panel shots .

 

https://twitter.com/TornadoZA326

Edited by bzn20
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52 minutes ago, speedy said:

I’ve watched a video where it shows the ground crew opening 2 small panels just below and aft of the cannons, on a GR1. The Starboard side looks like ground power and the port side looks like telecoms.

Can somebody confirm this and has anybody got photos of the inside.

Steve

If you look at my Walkaround from when I vited RAF Marham the Port Side appears to be an earth, and the stbd Ground power.

Lot of other open pannel there. https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/71270-panavia-tornado-gr1-gr4/

 

This walkaround from Kandahar shows the same; https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971017-panavia-tornado-gr4-zd843-operational-kandahar-afghanistan/

 

Nigel Heath's walkaround from the engineering wing at Lossiemouth shows the inside of the pannels better; https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971011-panavia-tornado-gr4-zd793-raf-lossiemouth-engineering-logistics-wing/

 

Julien

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The LH panel is indeed the earth point and has the older type three pin power socket in there.

The RH is the normal ground power point which was a four or five pin plug

I cannot now remember where the ground comms plugs in though!

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5 hours ago, speedy said:

port side

I got this off an ex Tornado rigger

Electronic stuff, Circuit Breaker board and black boxes. Lox pack

Edited by bzn20
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That was the older type that we used on (In my case) Wessex and Puma.

Positive, negative and if I remember correctly, one to trip the power input relay.

I think (Though not sure) that it was only there in case the aircraft landed at a

remote base that didn't have the correct multipin plug. NATO standardization you see.

In later years I used the three pin type on other aircraft too.

The Tornado was thirty odd years and several aircraft types ago for me, so some memories are blurred by time.

Cheers
Pete

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Sorry , I thought you meant the big panels on the left side . That small one has the Earth symbol on it .

 

or if you didn't...More info coming in over the ether

Battery and cbs in the front Lh panel. Lox pot in a panel on the left hand side just forward of the intake. Rh open panels would probably be the refuel panel and the BITE panel

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Thanks folks, I’ve got more info here than hours poring over reference books and the internerd, BM to the rescue again👏.

 

I’m doing a 1/32 aircraft GR.1, currently just about to finish the Airies cockpit. I’m at the point where the tub will be fitted to the kit. So it’s decision time on what to open up before it all gets closed up. My plan is to open up a couple of panels with flaps down, air brakes open + ladder and refuelling probe. But I like to be different with my builds so it will have pylons fitted but no ordinance and I’m going to have a go at intake guards (not FOD covers). With regards what Sqn I’ve no idea, initially I thought a 27 Sqn cab but having asked the question on the TornadoSig there aren’t any, so we’ll see; TOEU or an early production cab, wrap around either way.

 

There is a guy in work who is ex-Tornado in Saudi but he also has memory fade and isn’t available in the evening/weekends.

 

Steve

Edited by speedy
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15 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

The LH panel is indeed the earth point and has the older type three pin power socket in there.

The RH is the normal ground power point which was a four or five pin plug

I cannot now remember where the ground comms plugs in though!

Ground comms ( long lead) plug into a socket underneath the right intake and telebrief into the yellow capped socket on the right hand main leg.

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Ah, now it comes drifting back. Thank you.

We were doing a night engine run after an ECS snag. The pressure was on, the main intake FOD guards were fitted

but not the aux intake ones due to a problem with the fitting pins (can't remember what, maybe one missing).

I was up on the spine near the tail, on a long lead, doing leak checks on the BASOF under the fin.

Suddenly I realized the comms had gone quiet. Why? 'Cos the long lead had gotten sucked into

a Right hand auxiliary intake door and the RH front engine fan had chopped it to bits.

So then it was an engine change too. There was a bit of Flak about that.

 

 

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