Roles for the retired Nimrod MR2s

McColm · August 20, 2009, 09:46:45 AM

Hi Guys,
I know the retirement of the Nimrod MR2 is way off in the distant future and the MR4 will continue the tradition of fareplay whilst watching over the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and Gibraltar to name but a few. I had the opportunity of flying on the Nimrod MR2 or is it MR2P? Yes I was one of the aircrew who kept tripping over the hose connected to the in-flight refuelling probe before their refit. The food was great!

Some of you have suggested that a bomber version be created. B787 and myself have come up with a water bomber/ aerial fire fighter.

Maybe Dan Air could convert them back into airliners or cargo planes. I'm not sure if the Nimrod has ever been used as a refueling tanker like the VC-10. Tanks in the weapons bay and fuselage could be used if all the maritime gear was stripped out.
If they are throwing away the galley and toilet please keep one set for me as they came from the Comet, the first jet passenger service.

Or they could be turned into boats, by taking the wings off and plugging any holes.
Or a hotel?
Or a house?
Or one of those wing in ground effect aircraft or are they classified as boats these days? They could cross the Channel quicker than the Eurostar.

What do you suggest?

Cobra · August 20, 2009, 10:15:14 AM

Might be Useful to turn the Nimrod into a 'Flying Studio' so the BBC and others can have 'On the Spot' broadcast Ability!!!!!!!!! or as an ASR/SAR platform to help with Maritime Rescue!!!!! just my 2 Cents!!!!

Weaver · August 20, 2009, 10:16:46 AM

Well the MRA.4s are being made from old MR.2 airframes, so a proportion of the MR.2 fleet will no longer exist.

B777LR · August 20, 2009, 11:23:33 AM

Possible Nimrod roles: (as new builds in the 60s/70s, and as retirement schemes)

Passenger version, seating maybe 100, possibly 130? It would have a more suitable cargo hold than the Comet, possibly stretched to accomodate as many pax as the smaller 707.

Air-to-air refueling.

Cargo aircraft.

Troop transport.

AWACS, with a proper AWACS dish. Perhaps using the Hawkeye equipment.

JSTARS

Weaver · August 20, 2009, 11:30:55 AM

Or AWACS using a Phalcon-type system. The pannier sides are vertical (ideal for the side arrays) and there's plenty of room behind them. The standard radome isn't small either, so you could get a decent phased array antenna in it.

It's been said here (Woodford) that if the Comet fuselage jigs still existed, it would have been easier to build the MRA.4s from scratch. There was also talk of making new jigs for new fuselages if a significant export order had been achieved. So in a Whiff context, why not allow the old jigs or new jigs to exist? They would then have to justify the expense of keeping/creating them by seeking as many alternative applications for the airframe as possible.....

RLBH · August 20, 2009, 12:03:17 PM

Since you mention the great food (I assume 'all-weather eating machine' will mean something to you...), why not a restaurant? Lose the wings, park it in a layby somewhere and have the mother of all burger vans.

B777LR · August 20, 2009, 01:13:30 PM

Quote from: RLBH on August 20, 2009, 12:03:17 PM
Since you mention the great food (I assume 'all-weather eating machine' will mean something to you...), why not a restaurant? Lose the wings, park it in a layby somewhere and have the mother of all burger vans.

But why a Nimrod then? Paint it anything but grey or green and it's going to look like an airliner. In that case you might as well go for a larger retired 737/747/757/767/A300/A310/A320/A340 with many more windows in it.

McColm · August 21, 2009, 02:17:05 AM

Thanks for your replies.

P1127 · August 21, 2009, 05:06:04 AM

You could make them homes for asylum seekers

McColm · August 21, 2009, 05:53:29 AM

When the Nimrod visited air shows and military tattoos. The front end before the wing joint was converted into a cheap simulator in the early days. A mobile display used this idea and mounted the forward fuselage onto a four wheeled trailer. The trailer was no longer than 15 feet.

Hobbes · August 21, 2009, 10:00:49 AM

I like the idea of converting them into tankers, to replace the VC-10s

McColm · August 21, 2009, 10:06:19 AM

I think that the Nimrods may need to be lengthened for tanker use, or the floor ripped up behind the cockpit. With the internal space created a similar tank to the one they use in the VC-10 would be viable.

Hobbes · August 21, 2009, 12:06:29 PM

nah, the nice things about fuel tanks is they can be made to fit any shape. And I suspect the fuselage as it is has enough volume that you can fill it to MTOW with fuel.

McColm · August 28, 2009, 09:27:02 AM

If anyone is looking for a project to do with a spare Nimrod kit, show us what the tanker would look like!!

Weaver · August 28, 2009, 11:30:51 AM

Quote from: Hobbes on August 21, 2009, 12:06:29 PM
nah, the nice things about fuel tanks is they can be made to fit any shape. And I suspect the fuselage as it is has enough volume that you can fill it to MTOW with fuel.

You could probably get it to near MTO by re-engineering the pannier to be solid fuel tankage. This wouldn't be "auxiliary tanks in a bomb bay" with all the waste space that implies, it would be more like a conformal tank. That would then leave the main cabin free, so you could trade off fuel against cargo/passengers in the way that a Tristar does. While you're at it, you could swap the radar aerial for the height-finding one from the Sea King AEW, fit a JTIDS terminal, and you have a "fighter support" aircraft, providing long-range radar, datalinks and fuel to a flight of Tornado F.3s.

Roles for the retired Nimrod MR2s

B777LR

B777LR