Marham 23 Jan 19 - Marham 'Special' day

[Rockstar]

Nice pics. We had some lovely light yesterday afternoon showing the schemes off at their best. There was more flying planned for over the airfield with the specials but unfortunately a low cloud base stopped play.

[Drinkmat]

Excellent set of images altho' must say I find the retirement scheme on ZG752 decidedly underwhelming and the Sqn. badges are titchy! Not a patch on what Leuchars did with the F3 retirement scheme back in 2011.

There's always one!
Would you be happier if they hadn't bothered at all?


Excellent photos - thank you for posting. Good effort, Marham.

[seven]

If you look hard enough, I think you'll find 'F3's opinion may be a little biased..

Great capture of a sad event though. I think its spot on!

7

[toom317]

Nice set of pics, and thanks for posting. For all the folk who were there, there's a lack of pics on the forums.

[F3]

This would seem an appropriate time to provide a reminder of the F3 retirement in 2011 and the special scheme produced to mark the occasion. Some of you may appreciate having both schemes in the same place to allow for comparison. I know which I prefer but now you can all decide for yourselves. All I will say is that if you study the formation @ pic #4 there is absolutely nothing which stands out. Even the lettering and dates are grey on grey. Surely a bit of colour would have provided some relief. Why not a fin band for instance? Minimalism is all very well but not for a celebration such as this. I think people are just getting carried away by the retro camouflage scheme. My point is that this is less photogenic than a standard squadron jet of the period which at least had some colour and interest provided by the unit markings. I'll be posting pics of all the units which operated the type in their original schemes in due course and you'll see what I mean.

98 ZE791 in special retirement mks after delivery into RTP by Michael Britton, on Flickr

[romeo bravo]

Nice set of pics, and thanks for posting. For all the folk who were there, there's a lack of pics on the forums.

All on FaceAche

[Blackcat1]

Stunning shots. Classic, awesome looking aircraft!! The Tornado that is

Thanks for sharing , I wish I had been there

[Bilvo]

This would seem an appropriate time to provide a reminder of the F3 retirement in 2011 and the special scheme produced to mark the occasion. Some of you may appreciate having both schemes in the same place to allow for comparison. I know which I prefer but now you can all decide for yourselves. All I will say is that if you study the formation @ pic #4 there is absolutely nothing which stands out. Even the lettering and dates are grey on grey. Surely a bit of colour would have provided some relief. Why not a fin band for instance? Minimalism is all very well but not for a celebration such as this. I think people are just getting carried away by the retro camouflage scheme. My point is that this is less photogenic than a standard squadron jet of the period which at least had some colour and interest provided by the unit markings. I'll be posting pics of all the units which operated the type in their original schemes in due course and you'll see what I mean.

98 ZE791 in special retirement mks after delivery into RTP by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Sorry but the GR.4 looks much better than that F.3 I've never been a fan of special schemes and markings, to me the aircraft should appear as they did during their operational life and this wrap-around camo GR.4 is superb Although they should NEVER have been painted grey In camo they look purposeful, in grey they look tatty and old.

[Bilvo]

Cracking set of photos BTW Slogan

[reheat module]

From a Veteran's perspective, having served operational tours at both Laarbruch and Brüggen on the Mighty Fin, these are great to see.
Nice to see the range of Sqn crests along the fuselage too.

[MR TERRY GREEN]

Great tribute to a wonderful aircraft,she has served us well.I wonder what events will happen in the f-35s history.Thanks to everybody who has served on team Tornado past and present.

[nightwatch]

Great shots - Many thanks for sharing. Very much appreciated !

[Stroudy]

I think the camo scheme looks great. They couldn't have had it in a single squadron finish because that would have been too bias given that it served with many squadrons. It's a Tornado GR, in full camouflage, in 2019.. what's not to like!

[PeteHemsley]

This would seem an appropriate time to provide a reminder of the F3 retirement in 2011 and the special scheme produced to mark the occasion. Some of you may appreciate having both schemes in the same place to allow for comparison. I know which I prefer but now you can all decide for yourselves. All I will say is that if you study the formation @ pic #4 there is absolutely nothing which stands out. Even the lettering and dates are grey on grey. Surely a bit of colour would have provided some relief. Why not a fin band for instance? Minimalism is all very well but not for a celebration such as this. I think people are just getting carried away by the retro camouflage scheme. My point is that this is less photogenic than a standard squadron jet of the period which at least had some colour and interest provided by the unit markings. I'll be posting pics of all the units which operated the type in their original schemes in due course and you'll see what I mean.

98 ZE791 in special retirement mks after delivery into RTP by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Although a nice scheme, it's a black spine and a 25 on the tail. The camo wrap scheme is a celebration of where the Gr started where the other specials celebrate where they end. For me, that is how an aircraft retiring should be celebrated.

[Thunder]

Have to agree with F3, the camo scheme is a bit boring. Would’ve been better if they applied full colour period Sqn marks for 9 Sqn on one side and 31 Sqn on the other, with all the Sqn crests applied along the drop tanks on both sides. Just my opinion.

[Seacat192]

Looks like it was a great day - thanks for posting

[fazer11]

Lovely photos. Thanks for sharing!

[AshBailey]

The sadness is - I remember the MRCA being introduced with much fanfare, and now it goes out with a whimper... I'm getting old!

Thanks very much for posting.