This photo shows test pilot Keith Hartley from the British Aerospace company
flying a pre-production Panavia Tornado with the top down... or rather... completely off. In 1988,
Hartley conducted the risky test, piloting the Tornado, number XZ630, at 500 knots
without a canopy in order to ensure the safety and reliability of emergency escape procedures...
Panavia Tornado
The Panavia Tornado is a family of combat aircraft created as part of a tri-national
consortium called Panavia Aircraft GmbH. The group comprised the West German company MBB,
the English company British Aerospace, and the Italian company Aeritalia. As a twin-engine,
variable-sweep wing combat plane, it saw multiple roles and variations throughout its production.
The Tornado was operated by both the Royal Air Force and the Italian Air Force,
as well as the Royal Saudi Air Force during the Gulf War in 1991.
During the conflict, the aircraft was used to conduct low-altitude strike operations.
Versions of the plane were also used in the Kosovo, Bosnian, and Iraq wars
and the Libyan civil war. It played a smaller role in efforts in Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen.
The aircraft first flew in August of 1974 and entered service in 1979.
By the end of its run, 992 planes were produced, including all variants. The XZ630 version was the
first pre-production version, flying on March 14, 1977. It was part of the weapons release trials
carried out at Boscombe Down’s Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment.
Several additions and modifications developed through the testing of
the pre-production version were incorporated into later models.
Accidents and Testing
It is generally agreed upon that the Tornado aircraft was a safe and reliable plane by
the standards of its time. Unfortunately, it was involved in several mid-air collisions.
At least one took place each year between 1985 and 1989.
The Tornado features a front and rear tandem-seat cockpit with a pilot and
navigator weapons officer. In order to address concerns about the functionality and habitability
of the front cockpit, should it ever lose the canopy due to ejection from the rear cockpit,
Panavia Aircraft decided to conduct a test with pilot Keith Hartley in July of 1988.
The photo that captured the moment had Hartley flying at 500 knots
and successfully conducting the required flight.
The Israeli F-15 Incident
Canopy failures are rare, but they have occurred in real-life flight conditions,
such as an incident that took place in January of 2019.
Taking off from an Air Force base in Israel, an Israeli F-15 fighter jet soon
found itself in a dangerous situation when it lost its canopy mid-flight.
The plane was flying at 30,000 feet on a routine training exercise
when the canopy flew off without an apparent cause or warning. The navigator and pilot were
exposed to incredibly strong winds and intense noise. They also faced freezing
cold temperatures equivalent to around negative 45 degrees celsius or negative 49 degrees Fahrenheit.
The crew shouted and checked on one another as they struggled with the situation.
The pilot opted to try to land the aircraft at the closest military airfield,
which was Nevatim airbase, rather than ejecting from the aircraft.
The navigator then suggested reducing the flight speed to 300 knots.
An audio recording of the incident reveals that the pilot,
resolute in his goal of landing the plane and keeping his crewmember safe,
kept checking on him by asking [QUOTE] “Are you with me, brother?”
{VIDEO
EDITOR NOTE: CHECK WITH SAM AND INCORPORATE AUDIO}
The F-15 managed to successfully land, and both crew members appeared to be in good condition.
A medical exam was soon conducted and showed they were both unharmed.
The Commander of Israel’s Air Force at the time, Amikam Norkin,
ordered a temporary pause on F-15 training flights to investigate the event.
Interestingly, it was not the first time that an F-15 lost its canopy mid-flight.
In fact, it was the third occasion, with the first taking place in 2004,
again to a pilot from Israel’s Air Force. The other event had
taken place during a training exercise by the U.S. Air Force near Okinawa in Japan.