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I'm building a Tempest from 3 Squadron that flew over Normandy in late June of '44. My first inclination was to put bombs on it. But all the photo's I've come across show wing tanks or nothing ? No bombs, bomb-racks, or rockets ? So I'm now thinking wing tanks or clean ? What's the collective thought on this ? I cannot remember who the resident Tempest experten are ? I think the gentlemans first name is Chris. So if anyone knows answers or can help with this I'd really appreciate it. Dennis

Hi, One of those questions that will take a second for someone in the know to answer... RAF Typhoons seem to run a centre line tank for air shows, otherwise they are clean. Is this a CofG issue or is it more boring than that due to transit distances and loitering times?

Hi folks. I'm in the process of building the Eduard Mirage IIIC as a Djibouti based jet in the sand/brown over blue scheme circa the early 80's. I've found a few photos on the net of general airframe photos taken from a distance but no real close ups that are at least of a good quality. Does any of the membership have photos of these jets and would be willing to share some? I've found a few around the web but not a lot of them fill the quota of detail shots. One other thing, I'm planning on arming it with 2 500L supersonic tanks and 2 AIM-9B Sidewinders. Is this a reasonable load out for this period and location? Thanks, Mick

Hi Harriervites, I've been contemplating the load out options for Harrier GR7 and later, by reading through books and anything I can find online - which not too surprisingly often points me to topics on Britmodeller where people have tended to ask "Is this loadout OK for this Harrier during Operation X?" However, this "research" has made me realise that the options seem to be primarily role based, with the combat roles being: Close Air Support Air Interdiction Reconnaissance The non-combat scenarios seem to be: Ferrying Flight testing Development Air display Despite my lack of professional knowledge and experience, I thought I would stick my neck out and try to list the various options I have seen/heard talked about and invite correction and clarification from the pros/ex-pros/gifted amateurs who seem to frequent this site: Ref Role Name 1 2 L o/r 3 L Str 4 R Str 5 R o/r 6 7 1 CAS GCAS? PW4 CRV-7 BOL, AIM 9 Fuel tank Sniper DJRP TERMA Fuel tank BOL, AIM 9 CRV-7 PW4 2 CAS Anti-tank LAU-117,AGM-65 LAU-117,AGM-65 BOL, AIM 9 Fuel tank Strake/ Gun Pod DJRP Strake/ Gun Pod Fuel tank BOL, AIM 9 LAU-117,AGM-65 LAU-117,AGM-65 3 CAS Brimstone* Brimstone Brimstone BOL, AIM 9 Fuel tank Strake/ Gun Pod DJRP Strake/ Gun Pod Fuel tank BOL, AIM 9 Brimstone Brimstone 4 Interdicton? ? BL755 1000lb LAU 7A, AIM9 Fuel tank Strake/ Gun Pod (no pylon) Strake/ Gun Pod Fuel tank LAU 7A,AIM9 1000lb BL755 5 Interdicton? ? BL755 BL755 LAU 7A, AIM9 Fuel tank Strake/ Gun Pod 1000lb Strake/ Gun Pod Fuel tank LAU 7A,AIM9 BL755 BL755 6 Interdiction AI 1 PW4 PW4 BOL, AIM 9 Fuel tank Sniper DJRP TERMA Fuel tank BOL, AIM 9 PW4 PW4 7 Interdiction AI 2 - Fuel tank BOL, AIM 9 PW2 Sniper DJRP TERMA PW2 BOL, AIM 9 Fuel tank - 8 Interdiction AI 3 - Fuel tank BOL 1000lb TIALD (no pylon) Gun Pod PW3 BOL, ACMI Fuel tank - 9 Interdiction AI 4* - Fuel tank - Storm Shadow Strake/ Gun Pod (no pylon) Strake/ Gun Pod Storm Shadow - Fuel tank - 10 SCAR SCAR - - BOL, AIM 9 Fuel tank Strake/ Gun Pod DJRP Strake/ Gun Pod Fuel tank BOL, AIM 9 - - 11 CAP CAP? - CRV-7 BOL, AIM 9 Fuel tank Strake/ Gun Pod (no pylon) Strake/ Gun Pod Fuel tank BOL, AIM 9 CRV-7 - 12 Ferry Ferry - Fuel tank BOL Fuel tank Strake/ Gun Pod Baggage pod Strake/ Gun Pod Fuel tank BOL Fuel tank 13 Training A/A training - - BOL, AIM Aq Fuel tank Strake/ Gun Pod (no pylon) Strake/ Gun Pod Fuel tank BOL, AIM Aq - - 14 Training A/G training - CBLS - Fuel tank Strake/ Gun Pod CBLS Strake/ Gun Pod Fuel tank - CBLS - 15 Development Brimstone test Brimstone Brimstone BOL, AIM 9 Fuel tank Camera Pod pylon Camera Pod Fuel tank BOL, AIM 9 Brimstone Brimstone 16 Development Paveway PW4 Fuel Tank BOL PW2 Camera Pod (no pylon) Camera Pod PW2 BOL Fuel Tank PW4 17 Test First Flight - - - - Strake/ Gun Pod (no pylon) Strake/ Gun Pod - - - 18 Test Test Flight - - - Fuel tank Strake/ Gun Pod (no pylon) Strake/ Gun Pod Fuel tank - - 19 Display Display 1 (no pylon) (no pylon) - Fuel tank Strake (no pylon) Strake Fuel tank - (no pylon) (no pylon) 20 Display Display 2 - Baggage pod - Fuel tank Strake (no pylon) Strake Fuel tank - - Abbreviations CBLS CBLS 200 Carrier Bomb Light Store - Pylon fitted PW2 Paveway II 2000lb LGB PW3 Paveway III 1000lb LGB PW4 Enhanced Paveway IV 540lb LGB Gun Pod The empty pods flown as an alternative to strakes, necessitating use of a shaped piece in the LID air dam BOL LAU-138 BOL Chaff dispenser/launcher LAU-7A AIM Missile launch rail LAU-117 Launch rail for AGM-65 air-ground missile AGM-65 Maverick Air/Ground missile Fuel Tank 290 (ish) Gallon external tank ACMI P4A-M Pod Sniper Sniper XR Targeting pod and dedicated pylon TIALD TIALD Targeting pod Terma Terma countermeasures pod + dedicated pylon Brimstone Brimstone anti-tank missile fitted on dedicated triple launch rail BL755 Cluster bomb AIM AIM-9 A/A missile * Planned but never flown as far as I can establish ? Is it? I've tried to put a name to each loadout but I have no idea whether or not this bears any relationship to how they are actually referenced - or indeed if there is any such thing as a standard name. If anyone can clarify this aspect (or even properly define the term "store"!!) I'd be very grateful. I suspect I've got myself in a pickle with the whole Paveway thing. I seem to remember Merv posting (maybe even on one of my referenced links) that the Paveway number was about the guidance system not the size of explosive carried. Feel free to correct me. There are a few roles that I've come across and stuck in the table but am very unsure about. E.g. did the Combat Air Patrol role that the FA.2 used to perform ever get covered by JFH? If I understand correctly, an FA2 would have worn AMRAAMS and guns for this role - none of which for obvious reasons are in the GR7/9's arsenal. Included are some apparently intended GR.9 capabilities that never saw operational clearance, such as Storm Shadow, which may have been fitted to or flown on the development aircraft. In such cases I've assumed that the pods are camera pods and that any missiles fitted are likely to be brightly coloured test versions. Dunno. Phimat? Anyone? Anyway, I hope this turn out to be useful to others. Cheers, Kirk References: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/26047-weapons-in-use-by-the-raf-in-172/ http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234927254-helpneed-taild-and-training-bomb-data/ http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/56364-how-do-you-identify-a-harrier-gr9/page-2 http://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=67373 http://www.airsceneuk.org.uk/hangar/2001/acmi/acmi.htm PS: Tried my hardest with table formatting - sorry if not as easy to read as a nice Word table...