Researched 2026-10-11 from the sources listed below. Airframes move between hangars, workshops and loans: check with Montrose Air Station Museum before travelling to see this one.
The airframe in brief
| Serial / registration | ZD744 |
|---|---|
| Type | Panavia Tornado GR4 |
| First flew | 24 July 1984 |
| Delivered | 20 September 1984 |
| Units / operator | Every front-line Tornado GR squadron, including Nos. 2 and 617 |
| Operations | Gulf War 1991; Iraq 1993 and 1998; Iraq and Syria |
| Flying hours | 6,991 hr 5 min; 4,091 sorties, 474 operational |
| Withdrawn | RAF Marham, March 2019 |
| Arrived | May 2022 |
| Status | On display |
| Where | Montrose Air Station Museum, Montrose |
The story of ZD744
ZD744 first flew on 24 July 1984 and was delivered on 20 September 1984. It spent its first five years based in Germany. In January 1991 it deployed to Bahrain for the Gulf War and logged 114 hours over enemy territory in two months.
It later flew operations over Iraq in 1993 and 1998, and as a GR4 it struck Daesh targets in Iraq and Syria. Over 35 years it served with every front-line Tornado GR squadron and at every front-line Tornado base. Its units included No. 2 Squadron and No. 617 Squadron. Among its pilots were two officers who rose to Air Chief Marshal and Squadron Leader Colin McGregor.
On 28 February 2019 it flew in the nine-ship farewell formation over RAF Marham and RAF Cranwell. It was the last of the nine to land. By then it had flown 6,991 hours and 4,091 sorties, 474 of them operational. It was dismantled and stored at Marham from June 2019. It was first earmarked for training at Honington, but RAF Heritage chose Montrose instead, where No. 2 Squadron formed in 1913. It left Marham by road on 18 May 2022, nearly 500 miles from its new home. A JARTS team reassembled it in one of the 1913 hangars.
Seeing ZD744 today
Displayed with code 092 in Burke's Shed 1b, a 1913 hangar about 160 m from the main museum, alongside the Hunter and a Jaguar. Visitors may only be able to see it from the side, behind a barrier.
| Museum | Adult entry | Airframes | Headline exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montrose Air Station MuseumMontrose, Angus | £10 | 14 | The 1913 fabric itself, plus the resident ghost stories (Montrose is Britain's most famously haunted airfield, a claim the volunteers… |
Also known as: 092 · ZD744/092 · Tornado GR1 ZD744