Prototype P.01 - D9591 later 98+04

- First Flight July 1974 with Paul Millett/Nils Meister.

- This airframe was initially used for general handling and performance trials although as later airframes incorporated more and more modifications it was then used as an engine test bed. 

- It was used to test the thrust reversers and later became the first airframe to be powered by the -04 version of the RB199-34R engine.

- Delivered in Panavia color scheme,

First Flight - Notes from "The Birth of Tornado" Royal Air Force Historical Society

The first flight had a small technical hitch, the small shaft that connects the APU to the engine gearbox broke.  Not a major problem, normally, but no spares were to hand.  Herr Herrold the flight engineer asked the crew to remain in the aircraft and disappeared.  He removed the broken shaft and subsequently brazed it back together.  The flight then proceeded. Comments from the Pilot concluded that for a first flight everything worked extremely well.  There were noises from the air conditioning plant and the aircraft was sensitive in pitch but other wise no major issues.

Pilot Paul Millett had been scheduled to command the first three flights. In fact he allowed Nils Meister to take the third flight with him in the rear cockpit due to the fact no major issues had been found in the initial flight envelope.

This airframe spent a number of years with the Luftwaffeninstandhaltungsregiment at Erding where it was used as a training aid. After which it was allowed to decay whilst being stored outside. The airframe was subsequently saved and refurbished, images available in the P.01 gallery above.
(Update provided courtesy of Juergen Guenther)