On 14 August 1974, the first prototype of the MRCA Tornado took to the sky for its maiden flight from Manching (West Germany). The jet was crewed by BAe test pilot Paul Millet and MBB test pilot Nils Meister. Exactly as planned, D-9591 recovered back to the same airfield after thirty minutes.

 

Fast forward to 2024, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of this first flight the Luftwaffe decided to paint one of its Tornado IDS aircraft in special colours. This is a mix of the red/white colours worn by the prototype back in 1974, and the green/grey cammo which adorned the Luftwaffe Tornados for many years until the fleet was painted in overall light grey colours.