Interview with Tony "Pax" Paxton on the Tornado GR1 & F2/F3 

I remember Pax from when I was groundcrew on 5 Sqn Tornado F3. Just after he was promoted to Sqn Leader we were on an APC in Cyprus, and Pax was caught flying his aircraft below cliff height at high speed on one of the beaches. Unfortunately for him, he was so low people on the beach could read his tail number, which involved a subsequent one way conversation with the station commander of RAF Akrotiri! Brilliant interview, brings back the old times, Pax was one of the old school pilots.

It never fails to amaze me how all these fast jet pilots and navigators are so humble. Given their extraordinary abilities, it's a testament to their character, which makes them truly great role models to the younger generations regardless of career choice.

Great to hear Tony talk about the Lightning. I was at Binbrook when he was there, really nice guy.

These interviews are so much more interesting than listening to some "technical expert" who knows all the specifications but has no hands on knowledge of the aircraft being discussed. Much appreciated.

Tony Paxton, RAF fighter pilot, great guy and good story teller.

These are so brilliant. You learn so much more from those that were there. Being a massive Tornado nerd I love learning stuff like this, and its presented to me without trashy music, bone questions etc. Thanks for doing these mate!

I have always had the impression that fighter pilots were all "live hard, die hard" partying all the time, driving fast cars and fast women. (guess seeing Top Gun may have had some influence) Very interesting seeing these gentlemen who flew these magical machines, and many were indeed Gentlemen!!! Thank you for giving us mere mortals a look into these gentlemens lives :-)

What a lovely guy ! "Strap ourselves into the Tornado, fly at 250 ft at a speed of 450 knots and relax " lol epic, he had alot to tell, loved this interview, great work Mike !

07:50 "I didn't fancy camping, so I didn't want to go to the Harrier" pahahahaha!

Very interesting story about escorting the MIG-29s to the Farburough airshow :O Quite the historic moment.

Second watch for me Mike, pax was probably at leeming when i used to go and watch these guys and girl's fly ! I do miss the bone shaking of the F3s take off on afterburner, fantastic to see at night

Great interview, pilots and aircrew giving honest opinions on the subject matter. Priceless

Tony's seems a top bloke. Brilliant yarn!!

Always thank your captain. You never know how much you owe him :) Thank you Pax and all those who served

Great interview. The Tornado is my favourite military jet, so hearing from aircrew that have flown and operated it offers a really good insight. I live not far from the Tornado heritage centre, so I will no doubt become a regular visitor! Thanks so much for these video's, always look forward to watching this channel. Great work :)

Loved hearing of your experiences flying Pax

stunning video with a really nice professional guy + Pilot many thanks for all your time and kindness Sqn Ldr Tony ' Pax ' Paxton

another GREAT video! i love real pilots talking about thier airplanes and events instead of those overdramatic "Documentarys"

As a Sgt I worked as a techie and instructor on the tornado gr1 full mission flight simulator at Honington and would love to hear what pilots thought of their simulator experience/rating. Great characters these aircrew were, great videos thanks

'I didn't fancy camping, so.....' LOL

The F3 was epic. I was lucky to get a back seater at Leuchars years ago!

The best series of videos on RU-vid! cheers

I had to chuckle about the EF111 buzzing them. The Raven was so fast it could probably kill you with it's speed...Oh wait one did that to a Mirage, didn't it...

Just seen an episode of Bargain Hunt on BBC 1 with 'Pax' and his wife Helena participating - there were the runners up.

Super instructive, thank you so much for posting!!!

Well done Mike Young your best interview yet with a wonderful supportive guy and friend Mr Tony 'Pax' Paxton interview worth waiting for thankyou

Very interesting. An excellent interview.

What a fascinating channel, superb!

Brilliant.

Great interview again Mike and awesome stores and pictures from Tony's Career! Many thanks :o)

That was fascinating. Thanks for sharing.

Brilliant

Terrific work Mike. Enthralling to listen to actual pilots giving assessments on air frame performance Top work keep it up 😉

This is one of the better interviews to date. How well these go off really do depend on the guy being interviewed. Obviously, he had a lot of interesting stories to tell and was there doing an important transition period for the RAF. Right now, it looks like the Tornado GR/EW/ECR/IDS variants will be around for at least another 8-13 years. It was and is a superior ground attack plane. Probably the second or third most iconic jet ever operated by the RAF. I would rank only the Spitfire and Harrier higher for planes (prop or jet), period. I haven't seen or heard as much about the EE Lightning (although it feels like Aircrew has interviewed a ton of ex-Lighnting pilots) but it sounds (from the pilots POV) that it's held in very high esteem even as its issues were acknowledged. It looks like Tornado almost has or will tie the longevity the Harrier had. Probably be in service just a few years longer than the Harrier (in UK service) at this point... I don't think any air service that ever employed the ground attack variant has completely retired their Tornado fleet even as the ADV version has been completely retired from service with the RAF, Saudi Royal Air Force, and the Italian Air Force.

Thanks for this video. Very interesting :)

Great interview!

Good old TFR and GMR (TNR Radar), used to setup the radar at RAF Sealand (30MU) along with CRPMD (ARD) and eScope, superb vid.

Really good interview. Very detailed accounts which is great. "MUD moving!"

Brilliant, really down to Earth guy (pardon the pun).

great video,thanks

What a jolly nice chap !

Another good one !

This is going to sound weird, and it might not be the same person, but I recognise the voice. In about 1997 (i was 7 going 8) we stopped at EMA on the way home because back in the day you could go to the restaurant on the top floor and have dinner while watching the planes. I was already somewhat interested in aviation and was watching a 757 doing circuits and go arounds and talking to my dad about approach angles when a crew on the opposite table sat down. One of them took an interest as I was pointing out some of the interesting bits of another 757 on the ramp. The crew told me how they where dhl cargo and just moving over to the 757 due to the restrictions and talking to the flight engineer about what that meant for his career going forward etc etc. The captain said to me to finish school and college. join air cadets, get a ppl or a flying scholarship, and to look him up when I was 21 if I wanted help getting into a career in aviation. After that day, I knew what I wanted to do, and I did all of that, except to look him up. Partly because I had no other info other than a guy at dhl based at EMA and partly because I felt a bit silly trying. At any rate, if it was Pax, then thank you! You inspired me to follow a career in flying and I wouldnt have changed a thing!

Ade Brown was correct about the initial deployment to Saudi. It was 5 Sqn on APC in Cyprus.

Tony is a good guy :)

Again you pull it out the hat, great interview. I am particularly looking forward to Roymac,s interview, Roy McIntyre.

Quality video and quality guy

Great info on the day of fast jet jockey... And the aircraft systems.. 😷😊

You were showing off at Lake Windermere with Strike Attack

A good taste in beers! Cheers to Harveys

I didn't realize the tornado was such a versatile aircraft. All we ever saw here in the united States during Gulf War I was the Tornado attacking ground targets, airport runways and such.

Of course there is a "sound barrier". Just ask some Spitfire or P-38 pilots. It is possible that be EE Lightning was designed in such an optimal way, that the pilot wasn't aware when he reached and surpassed the sound barrier.

What an interesting guy.

This filmed at Hawarden? Another great interview.

Can you believe those guys had to beg just to get chaff and flares for Desert Storm?

I cannot believe the answer to the last question: 727 or Gnat when you have time in Lightning and Tornado, or even the Hunter. What could he have been thinking? Maybe afterburners just aren’t any fun?

cooling guns with fuel seems a bit hazardous .....loved it

E F treble one. If he didnt say Raven and then "jamming" I wouldnt have known what ac he was referring to. I'm used to it being referred to as an E F One-Eleven Raven. It takes stones to cross into enemy territory without so much as a sidewinder to defend yourself.

Isn't this one beautiful warhorse?

Video en español x favor

5:21 Amazing how the MoD loves flip flopping their way though removing guns from fighters. Even with Typhoon they decided 'guns are unnecessary'... makes me think the brain boxes at Abbey Wood have no experience whatsoever with aircraft combat

F3. Such an unserviceable jet. During APC it took 3-4 just to get 1 aircraft up.

Ya' know, what could potentially be interesting? there's this dude ru-vid.com/show-UChs73Q9cJpqcPk43a6OfWjw (also has a livejournal here, but it's in russian letchikleha.livejournal.com/) i know he used to fly mig-21 and su-17 back in the soviet days, iirc, but for not a very long time, from what i know. maybe you could ask him for an interview to get a little more international or something.

I've never ever understood this concept in the 60s that dog fighting was over so remove the guns. Even if they were right and you are only to intercept bombers 20mm cannons would still work on bombers after you fired your missiles. It then gives the fighter the ability to bring down one or two more bombers far cheaper than missiles! I've never understood why they believed cannons wouldn't have any effect on bombers and not just for fighters. And they were wrong about dog fighting.

Really would’ve loved to see a DACT of a Lightning vs a Tornado. I guess all the Tornado could do would be try to survive until the Lightning hit bingo fuel.

didn't fancy camping 🤣🤣🤣

21:43

Gg.Andrew Paxton

its a shame Air Chief Marshall Stuart Peach isn't contactable

You may have got a bit mixed up, the 29 Squadron a crew had hassle with the blue circle cement radar was there on 2290 see you, not on 29 Squadron it’s off. The tornado are you showed was a 29 Squadron aircraft which had no hassle and had radar... Plus the aircraft you showed was a tornado F3 and not a tornado 2

Although the guy flew it, it was And a superiority fighter using technology, plus the advantage of the highly technical advanced missile system to shoot from a distance rather than a dogfight? I’m pretty sure thats what you meant? Superiority was designed to be different with this aircraft then say an F15, 16, or lightning.

Superb programme from a superb channel but lets hope that you find some aircrew who don't mind talking about their experiences unlike this taciturn chap :-)

I’m sorry to keep commenting on this video as I watch it, but this gentleman’s recollection is totally out of kilter what happened during the run-up to Gulf War one And which squadrons Where out in Akrotiri when Saddam Hussein invaded. Sorry to be nitpicky but it has to be said

I’m sorry to keep commenting on this video as I watch it, but this gentleman’s recollection is totally out of kilter what happened during the run-up to Gulf War one And which squadrons

Where was this filmed?