Panavia Tornado F4 Fighter at the RAF Air Base at Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland. XAV 4944-462
The Tornado was originally designed as a low-level supersonic ground attack bomber, capable of taking off and landing in short distances. This requires good high-speed and low-speed flying characteristics. In general, an aircraft which is designed to fly at high speeds usually has poor low-speed characteristics. In order to achieve the desired high-speed performance, an aircraft has a highly swept or ‘delta’ wing platform. However, these wing designs are very inefficient at low speeds where unswept wing planforms are required. In order for an aircraft to be operated efficiently at both high and low speeds, variable wing sweep is a desirable feature; this was incorporated into the Tornado design. When the wings are swept back, the Tornado GR4 increases its high-speed low-level capability by reducing drag. When sweeping, the wings partially slide into the fuselage, reducing the exposed wing area. This gives the aircraft a low gust response in turbulent low-level winds. This not only makes flight much more comfortable for the aircrew but importantly it makes the aircraft a more stable platform from which to aim and deliver unguided weapons at low-level. The aircraft was designed to be land-based and operate from large airfields that were considered to be vulnerable to aerial attack. Therefore, during the development of the aircraft, short field landing capability was considered essential in order to enable the aircraft to operate from short strips on potentially damaged runways and taxiways. With the wings swept fully forwards the Tornado GR4 generates greater lift because of the increased exposed wing area and the utility of full-span flaps and slats. This gives greater lift at lower speeds, reducing the minimum landing speed required and therefore shorter landing distances. In general, when the pilot wants to fly at low speed, they sweep the wings forward (through a selection lever in the cockpit) to maximise lift, and when flying faster they sweep the wings further
Size: 5354px × 3718px
Location: RAF Air Base, Lossiemouth, Moray. Grampian Region. Scotland.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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