„Good Bye Tornado, we had a good Time.“

On June 25 2010 the Tornado era of FBW 31 "Boelke" ends with the official Flyout of the last Tornado from Nörvenich airbase. Officially the Tornado is set out of service at FBW 31 to the 30th June 2010. All airplanes have been given away to the remaining Tornado wings in Germany. July 15 2010 the very last Tornado with the tactical registration 45+59 and the special paint "End of an Era" leaves the wing towards FBW 33 in Büchel. The crew reports out to a last training flight to the commanding general of the "Luftwaffenführungskommando" General Lieutenant Peter Schelzig.

„Good Bye Tornado, we had a good Time.“ A magnificent era of the wing and the whole geman Luftwaffe ends. Hello Eurofighter!

former jets of Fighterbomber wing 31 "boelke"

Like at most of the GAF (Fighterbomber-) wings the jets of FBW 31 underwent a certain extent of changes in color and camouflage. Besides the norm paintings like 83 A/B, 95 and Navy scheme, you can also find some special paintings which were given in the course of time. The following pictures show all presently at jet-prints.com recognized combinations of camouflage and external load of the jets of GAF Fighterbomberwing 31.

Wing patches

311 Squadron	Wing	312 Squadron

Geographical Position

history of fbw 31

More than 45 years ago the wing was set to service at its present station. FBW 31 "Boelke" belongs to the oldest operational flying units of the German Luftwaffe. The wing was in the course of the years several times the spear tip for important markings in the history of the Luftwaffe, e.g. the legendary F-104G "Starfighter" and the PA-200 "TORNADO" where set to service the first time at this airfield.

Milestones in the wing's chronic:

• June 1958 - set to service.
  The FBW 31 was one of the first operational flying units which were set to service after the founding of the post war Luftwaffe.
• January 1959 - The wing is assigne to NATO with its weapon system F-84F.
• April 1961 - the wing is awarded the traditional name "Boelcke" (name of a german WW I flying ace)
• Automn 1961 - Transition to the F-104 G Starfighter.
• April 1982 - 200.000 flying hours Starfighter
• May 1983 - last Starfighter flight
• June 1983 - 25 years FBW 31 "Boelcke"
• July 1983 - first flight Panavia PA 200 Tornado
• December 2000 - 125.000 flying hours Panavia PA 200 Tornado
• June 2005 - the 1.000.000st total flying hour for Tornado in the German Luftwaffe flown at FBW 31
• September 2006 - 163.033 total flying hours on Tornado flown at FBW 31
• Februar 2008 - 169500 flying hours on Tornado flown at FBW 31
• Juni 2008 - 50 years Jagdbombergeschwader (FBW) 31 "Boelke"
• Dezember 2009 - Eurofighter introduction
• Juni 2010 - Last flight with the weapon system 200 Tornado. Total flyinghours: 176000

airplanes and armament

The FBW 31 "Boelke" will until the transition to Eurofighter be equipped with the Tornado IDS in the roles as described in the next paragraph. The Tornado in these roles carries the following armament:

• AIM-9L (I) "Sidewinder", respectively.
• after its introduction the IRIS-T missile as a defensive air-to-air weapon.
• 2 Mauser Mk-27 cannons for the air-to-air operation in self defense situations, as well as for air-to-ground operations during CAS/OCA/AI missions.
• BL-755, Mk-82 (slicks) and delayed MATRA
• GBU-24 laser guided precision bombs and
• TAURUS cruise missiles.

task and assignment of fbw 31

With its weapon system PA-200 Tornado FBW 31 is competent to conduct its mission as a designated national main defense force.

The all weather fighterbomber Tornado is equipped and tasked for the following attack roles:

• Air Interdicition (AI)
• Offensive Counter Air (OCA)
  

an in a small amount also for

• Close Air Support (CAS) to ground forces

Additionally since January 1996 the wing is assigned to NATO as rapid reaction force (RRF) with one squadron equivalent and can - depending on national political decission - be used for humanitarian purposes, peace keeping and peace enforcement.

For this the wing has - after receiving the appropriate orders - to be capable after a very short time to send its jets to any place in the NATO territory and establish a mission ready state for the two roles:

• Air Interdiction
• Offensive Counter Air

In its national assignment FBW 31 stays under the command of the Second Air Division.