Looks like the boys at the Pentagon have been snooping on us. That's right! Where else would they get the idea to strap Harpoon anti-shipping missiles and a FLIR to a 737?!
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcontent.answers.com%2Fmain%2Fcontent%2Fwp%2Fen%2F5%2F51%2FMMA.jpg&hash=72cf63df40b54578ba4b435a1ad8689f93391e92)
:wub:
One of the guys over at ARC (http://s102164210.onlinehome.us/forums/index.php?showtopic=95113) suggested one in Coast Guard colors - now that's cool!
Well, if I can make one early enough it'll be a whif, since it is coming ...
ref 1: http://www.answers.com/topic/p-8-multimiss...ritime-aircraft (http://www.answers.com/topic/p-8-multimission-maritime-aircraft)
ref 2: http://www.navair.navy.mil/mma/index.cfm?m...ontroller.about (http://www.navair.navy.mil/mma/index.cfm?method=controller.about)
They did it before back in the '80s with a 757 based aircraft project that the DoD cancelled as not being needed at that time.
That's the P-8, the contract has been given for at least a year.
;)
And it'll probably still be in service before the Nimrod MRA.4!!!
Simon
QuoteThat's the P-8, the contract has been given for at least a year.
;)
Oh, far more than that. Metal has been cut on the first airplane. I have a good friend who is working on that project and is keeping me as up to date as security will allow him to. The P-8 is moving ahead smartly. Well, as smartly as flusing billions of dollars of defense money a month down the toilet in Iraq will allow.
J
QuoteAnd it'll probably still be in service before the Nimrod MRA.4!!!
Simon
Undoubtedly, and regardless of when it's in service, it will have *far* greater capabilities than the Nimrod could ever hope for - and with half the engines.
J
I said at least a year since I didn't knew how long before that it was known. I was covering my back. Had I been on Sniperscale, I wouldn't have said a thing.
A bit more on the 757-200 based P-7 project:
P-7 (http://www.boeing.com/news/frontiers/archive/2005/september/i_history.html)
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Cheers, Jon
My money's on Nimrod....................old stuff rocks! ^_^
It flew over the house during the Farnborough show, quieter than a 737 on approach.....................which was kinda disappointing!
QuoteUndoubtedly, and regardless of when it's in service, it will have *far* greater capabilities than the Nimrod could ever hope for - and with half the engines.
and with about half the style.
MPV's are more capable that a 69 camaro too, but i know which i would rather have.
QuoteMy money's on Nimrod....................old stuff rocks! ^_^
It flew over the house during the Farnborough show, quieter than a 737 on approach.....................which was kinda disappointing!
It was submitted and lost the competition as well
QuoteQuoteUndoubtedly, and regardless of when it's in service, it will have *far* greater capabilities than the Nimrod could ever hope for - and with half the engines.
and with about half the style.
MPV's are more capable that a 69 camaro too, but i know which i would rather have.
At least 737s have interchangeable parts :)
J
Each Nimrod MRA4 is handcrafted by artisans to a traditional and secret recipe.
And its paint is hand-mixed using only natural ingrediants by amazonian tribes that have yet to be discovered.
Spoke to a Nimrod scopey-dopey at Waddington, he was saying the gaps between the MRA4s new bits and the old bits were as much as 12 inches depending on whether the old bits were built in the summer or winter! :dum:
QuoteMPV's are more capable that a 69 camaro too, but i know which i would rather have.
Whilst you're over at your local dealership, can you pick me up a 70 Boss 302. In the meantime, we're seeing two or three Nimrod MRA4's coming through BAe Warton per month.
Not nearly as elegant as they were BEFORE the upgrade but stiil impressive.
Ian
QuoteThey did it before back in the '80s with a 757 based aircraft project that the DoD cancelled as not being needed at that time.
there's another to add to the to-do list... :D
Would it even be possible to build new build Nimrods?
I'd imagine the tooling costs would be huge, and there aren't many Comet airframes that could be liberated from museums either ^_^
Your probably right F-32, there's not much chance. When the MRA.4 was first mooted I think there was some thought about offering Nimrod for export, but one of the main reasons against it was that there weren't many Comet fuselages left, although it was thought the RAF might be able to spare a few. There was also a brief thought about new airframes but why not just build a new design if you where going to do that?
Simon
the nimmie may well be quiet on approach, but at an RAF Leuchars airshow a few years back one did a very fine inpression of the Vulcan display, howling intakes and all!!!
Mind you back when I was in the ROC we got a 12hr jolly in a nimrod out subhunting over the Atlantic. One of the crew remarked that toward the end of a patrol they start to shut down engines till they are on one, with one at idle. This was after dark and we sneaked up on a Soviet de boat that was hiding in amoughst some fishing boats. Anyway, the nimie flicked on the search light, to which the remark was "there goes a few fingers!". this being aimed at the fishermen who were gutting the fish.
Never mind the end of a patrol, the standard practice is to shut down two engines as soon as they reach the patrol area.
And, on displays, the crews aren't known for taking things easy. One former Nimrod pilot was apparently unimpressed by the USAF's display of a B-1 at a major airshow. Before taking off for his own display, he said to that crew, "Now, THIS is how to display a large aircraft...."
Over the course of the Nimrod display, the aircraft did a passable impression of a fighter display - they are quite happy with rolling and loops, I believe - before the pilot called finals a thousand feet above the runway. My old man completed his checklist about the same time as the wheels touched down.
On the volume issue, I couldn't say. They're part of the background noise here...