Cardiff International Airport Update

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One from the past............ Monarch Airlines - Airbus A300B4-605R G-MAJS @ Cardiff on 27 February 2006

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The Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment (TTTE) was based at RAF Cottesmore in Rutland County, England.

The name of the airfield is derived from the little village Cottesmore next to it.

The next big Town is Peterborough, approx. 30 Km southeast of the station.

A memorandum of understanding establishing the unit was signed in 1979 by the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy and the unit came into existence on 29 January 1981.

The first RAF Tornados arrived at the base on 1 July 1980; Luftwaffe Tornados arrived on 2 September 1980; and Italian Tornados arrived much later on 5 April 1982.

Flying training began on 5 January 1981.

The unit was manned by personnel of all three participating nations, trained 300 crews a year when at its height and consisted of three, later four squadrons of Tornados.

All servicing was done by RAF groundcrew.

In the post-Cold War era, the three nations decided that they would be better served performing their own type training.

There was also a need to find space for British aircraft returning to the UK from bases in Germany, such as RAF Bruggen, that were closing.

Consequently the unit disbanded on 24 February 1999, with Tornado flying ending on 31 March 1999.​

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TTTE - The Unit and its task

The Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment (TTTE) performed training on the Panavia Tornado for the Royal Air Force, German Luftwaffe and Italian Air Force.

The TTTE was responsible for the initial training of all Tornado aircrew as well as providing additional courses for experienced aircrew.

Funding was allocated according to workshare in the project, accordingly Germany 42.5%, Great Britain 40% and Italy 17.5%. Cottesmore was chosen as the base for TTTE operations, having previously been placed on Care & Maintenance.

The post of Officer Commanding TTTE rotated through the nationalities, having the title of Chief Instructor.
 
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Split into different flying units, the flying element of the TTTE was the Tornado Operational Conversion Unit (TOCU) which comprised 'A', 'B' and 'C' Squadrons, commanded by a German, Brit and Italian respectively, and the Standards Squadron, responsible for advanced training, instrument rating checks and special tasks (for example training the instructors and refresher training).

Also assigned to the TTTE was the Chief Ground Instructor, again the post rotated through the nations, who controlled four principal types of training aid; the Basic Flight Simulator, the Full Mission Simulator, the Nav-Attack Systems Trainer and the Basic Avionics Procedures Trainer.

All instruction was in English, not such a problem as one might think as it is the international language of air to air communications.

This enabled mixed nationality sorties to be done, further fostering relations between the three nations.

No weapons training has been done at Cottesmore, this was and is a function of the Operational Conversion Units in each air force.
 
Airframe Family:Panavia Tornado
Latest Model:Tornado GR.1(T)
Last Military Serial:ZA320 RAF
Construction Number:BT002
Latest Owner or Location:Defence School of Aeronautical Engineering, RAF Cosford

DatesEvent
​
Constructed as a Tornado GR.1(T) by British Aerospace at Warton, Lancs..
Two-stick trainer version​
14 December 1979​
First flight.​
1 July 1980​
Taken on Strength/Charge with the Royal Air Force with s/n ZA320.​
By 26 November 1982​
Transferred to TTTE, RAF Cottesmore.
Noted at RAF Cottesmore.​
By 26 November 1982​
Markings Applied: B-01​
5 September 2001​
Assigned to RAF Saint Athan for storage.​
8 April 2002​
New serial number assigned: 9314M RAF​
8 April 2002​
In the inventory of Defence School of Aeronautical Engineering, RAF Cosford, Shropshire, England.​
By 9 June 2013​
Markings Applied: XV, TAW
In 15 Sqn markings.​
 

Log Thursday 18/04/2024​


Cardiff IAP ..runway in use 30

ArrivedDepartedFrom/ToFlt No(s) Callsign(s)Type Identity Comments
09:4109:41Gloucester/GloucesterSFY1TMSky Flite 1TMDA42G-SATMTraining
09:5610:30East Midlands/NewcastleSYG041T/042TSynergy 041T/042TB738G-WEAHTraining
10:2410:24Gloucester/GloucesterAOS59Aeros 59DA42G-SUEMTraining
10:1611:18Lyon/LyonHMJ209Harmony Jets 209FA109H-SSG
12:39-Heathrow/BAMCBAW9174Speedbird 9174B77WG-STBIBAMC
07/0314:08BAMC/GatwickBAW9175Speedbird 9175B772G-YMMDRTS
 

Boards Thursday 18/04/2024​


Scheduled Arrivals
STAFlightCallsignFromTypeOperatorIdentityComments
08:00EI3620Greenstone 20GBelfast City
w85-h20-no
REA-EIN.jpg
G-CMJM-
09:15KL1087KLM 1087Amsterdam
w85-h20-no
KLMCe190.jpg
PH-EXY-
14:30TOM6423Tomjet 9VBLanzarote
TOM-B738new.jpg
w85-h20-no
G-TAWB-
15:40LM337Logan 17QEdinburgh
w85-h20-no
w85-h20-no
G-SAJS
16:45KL1091KLM 1091Amsterdam
w85-h20-no
KLMCe190.jpg
PH-EXO
21:10FR5543Ryanair 468HAlicante
RYR-B738.jpg
RYR.jpg
EI-ENA
 
Scheduled Departures
STDFlightCallsignDestinationTypeOperatorIdentityComments
06:00TOM6422Tomjet 9ATLanzarote
TOM-B738new.jpg
w85-h20-no
G-TAWB-
08:30EI3621Greenstone 21CBelfast City
w85-h20-no
REA-EIN.jpg
G-CMJM-
09:45KL1088KLM 70YAmsterdam
w85-h20-no
KLMCe190.jpg
PH-EXY-
16:10LM338Logan 33YBEdinburgh
w85-h20-no
w85-h20-no
G-SAJS
17:15KL1092KLM 86NAmsterdam
w85-h20-no
KLMCe190.jpg
PH-EXO
21:35FR5544Ryanair 40DNAlicante
RYR-B738.jpg
RYR.jpg
EI-ENA
 
G-20 Panavia Tornado IDS.(T), s/n 43+01 Luftwaffe at RAF Cottesmore on 29 November 1982

Here's another aircraft I used to work on at TTTE

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Airframe Family:Panavia Tornado
Latest Model:Tornado IDS.(T)
Last Military Serial:43+01 Luftwaffe
Construction Number:002/GT001/4001
Latest Owner or Location:Buchel Airf Base, Buchel - Alflan, Rhineland-Palatinate

DatesEvent
​
Constructed as a Tornado IDS.(T).​
​
Taken on Strength/Charge with the West German Air Force with s/n 43+01.​
By November 1982​
Transferred to Tri-National Tornado Training Unit, RAF Cottesmore.
Operated with markings: G-20​
Circa 1990​
Taken on Strength/Charge with the Luftwaffe with s/n 43+01.​
​
Transferred to JBG-33, Buchel.​
Circa 2013​
Transferred to TLG-33, Buchel.
Operated with markings: 55 Years JBG33/TLG33​
​
Placed on display with Buchel Airf Base, Buchel-Alflan, Rhineland-Palatinate.
As a Gate Guard.​
 
We used to be visited by other aircraft which would be serviced at our Visiting Aircraft Servicing Section (VASS)

GAF Starfighters were regular visitors.

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24+05 Lockheed RF-104G Starfighter cn 683D-8140 West German Air Force RAF Cottesmore 2 April 1985
This example was built in Holland by Fokker.
JBG33 visiting from Buchel in West Germany.
 
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XW791 Hawker Siddeley HS.125 CC1 c/n 25268 Royal Air Force RAF Cottesmore 12 April 1985​

Landing on runway 22.
32 Squadron home based at RAF Northolt.
Delivered to the RAF on 27May71. To G-BVTT 15Sep94. Next to N41953 and written off at Santo Domingo Airport 07Apr95. However the FAA website has it registered on 05Feb96 and cancelled on 04May15.

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XT661 Vickers 838 Viscount cn 371 Royal Aircraft Establishment RAF Cottesmore 17 June 1985​

Doing over shoots on runway 22.
Based at Bedford - Thurleigh.

Delivered new to Ghana Airways on 03Oct61 as 9G-AAV. Sold to the Royal Radar & Signals Establishment (RRE) later to become part of the RAE as XT661 on 22Feb65 and fitted with various belly pods for electronic trials work. Last flight Feb89. total time logged 6,346 hours and 45 mins. July 93 broken up.

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Log Friday 19/04/2024​


Cardiff IAP ..runway in use 30

ArrivedDepartedFrom/ToFlt No(s) Callsign(s)Type Identity Comments
09:4510:17East Midlands/Newcastle SYG041T/042T Synergy 041T/042T B738G-WEAHTraining
11:09Rochester GKAIR P28AG-KAIRGA Apron
13:3613:36Gloucester/GloucesterEXM05Exam 05DA42G-SUEITraining
14:4014:55Wellesbourne-Mountford/Wellesbourne-Mountford GCLRWP28RG-CLRWTraining
15:3715:53Gloucester/GloucesterAOS55Aeros 55DA42G-SUEMTraining
 

Boards Friday 19/04/2024​


Scheduled Arrivals
STAFlightCallsignFromTypeOperatorIdentityComments
08:00EI3620Greenstone 20GBelfast City
w85-h20-no
REA-EIN.jpg
G-CMMN-
08:55FR9223Ryanair 40JEFaro
RYR-B738.jpg
RYR.jpg
EI-DWH-
16:45KL1091KLM 1091Amsterdam
w85-h20-no
KLMCe190.jpg
PH-EXZ-
19:50LM337Logan 17QEdinburgh
w85-h20-no
w85-h20-no
G-SAJS-
19:55TOM6555Tomjet 4GXTenerife Sur
TOM-B738new.jpg
w85-h20-no
G-TAWB-
21:30FR634Ryanair 97JPDublin
RYR-B738.jpg
RYR.jpg
EI-ENHLate, 23:24
 
Scheduled Departures
STDFlightCallsignDestinationTypeOperatorIdentityComments
08:30EI3621Greenstone 21CBelfast City
w85-h20-no
REA-EIN.jpg
G-CMMN-
09:25FR9224Ryanair 9224Faro
RYR-B738.jpg
RYR.jpg
EI-DWH-
10:45TOM6554Tomjet 2CLTenerife Sur
TOM-B738new.jpg
w85-h20-no
G-TAWB-
17:15KL1092KLM 86NAmsterdam
w85-h20-no
KLMCe190.jpg
PH-EXZ-
20:20LM338Logan 33YBEdinburgh
w85-h20-no
w85-h20-no
G-SAJS-
21:55FR635Ryanair 31GJDublin
RYR-B738.jpg
RYR.jpg
EI-ENHLate, 00:13 Sat
 
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