RARE
TOR
Panavia Tornado
The Tonka
“Three nations, two engines, one very fast airplane.”
Panavia (UK/Germany/Italy) · military
NO PHOTO
Length
54 ft 10 in
Wingspan
45 ft 8 in (spread) / 28 ft 3 in (swept)
Max speed
Mach 2.2
Range
750 nmi (combat)
Ceiling
50,000 ft
Engines
2x Turbo-Union RB199 afterburning turbofans
Crew
2
Typical config
2-seat strike/attack
Built
990
The Tornado was Europe's Cold War heavy hitter — a swing-wing strike jet built jointly by Britain, Germany, and Italy to go very low and very fast in very bad weather. German and Italian Tornados still fly operationally, so catching one is a genuine event.
Fun fact
Its wings sweep from 25 to 67 degrees in flight — spread for landing, swept back like a dart for high-speed dashes.
How to spot one
Swing wings, shoulder-mounted intakes, and a tall single tail. If the wings look different in every photo, that's the Tornado.
Crews call it
The Tonka
Sounds like
Two RB199s in afterburner — a ripping, crackling roar, usually at very low level
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The Tonka from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook. Coming to iOS and Android.
Get Bogey