MRCA Development to First Flight

Film on the development of the Panavia Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA), including the testing of various aircraft components and systems, aspects of the aircraft’s construction and the MRCA’s first flight.

Film on the development of the Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA), later known as the Tornado. The narrator explains the need for an aeroplane capable of fulfilling several different roles for different countries, and comments on the aircraft’s engines, avionics and variable-geometry wings. Various scenes show wind-tunnel testing and tests on engines, undercarriage, cockpit configuration, fatigue life, 27mm cannon and ejection seats. Various views show construction and the MRCA’s first flight.