Where? Lagerlechfeld, Germany
When? 01/2011

Night flying is an essential part in the training of every jet pilot, and the ground crews as well. To lessen the noise disturbance in the neighbouring communities, the Luftwaffe conducts night flying training and operations only in the winter season when the dawn already starts at around 5pm. With around 10 jets flying in the afternoon and during the night period again this was quite a busy day with plenty of photo opportunities.

The main focus of this day were the two special coloured jets currently based at Lagerlechfeld:

• Tornado ECR 46+29, the JaboG 32 1st Squadron's Tiger Scheme from 2010

• Tornado IDS(T) 45+99, celebrating 55.555 flight hours at Holloman AFB, the Luftwaffe training centre in the United State

To see the Holloman jet was a special treat and rare opportunity, as this jet was transferred back from the US in late 2010 and with only a few remaining flight hours will soon be history... After seeing this scheme under the blue New Mexican sky a special set-up at dawn unveiled the silver colours with good effect.

The "Tiger Jet" participated in the daily flying routine, which restricted the access to the aircraft - but nevertheless very nice photo opportunities were provided to document this good looking scheme.
Besides these two colourful aircraft, plenty of the gray Tornados could be seen as well with the Luftwaffe pilots performing their daily training flights.

Some links to photos in higher resolution:

I would like to express my sincere thanks to JaboG32 Public Affairs for their generous support and approval of this visit!