Oliver Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Okay so i just saw the repeat of the panorama programme on the current Nimrod fleet, and i was wondering, whats the current state of play with the MR.2's replacement? Anytime soon or are they being cancelled? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard E Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I'm fairly sure I read something in the papers (so it must be true) about problems that had been picked up in flight testing with flight stability in some parts of the flght envelope that were having to be rectified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 It's down to 12 aircraft now, and the first three are undergoing flight testing at Warton now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobski Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 The latest I have heard is that flight testing is proceeding apace and EIS is expected in 2009. I didn't see the Panorama programme on the MR.2 Nimrod. Was it the expected over-hyped media rubbish or did they actually do a sensible programme for once? On a slightly different note, how simple do people reckon it would be to make an MRA.4 out of Airfix's 1/72 Nimrod? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 On a slightly different note, how simple do people reckon it would be to make an MRA.4 out of Airfix's 1/72 Nimrod? You'd need to scratch build everything... it's not out yet, you know I'll get my coat (IGMC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 (edited) You'd need to scratch build everything... it's not out yet, you know I'll get my coat (IGMC) Know how you say you're feeling ill just now Mike, it's not a mental illness by any chance is it? Come to think of it, is you're coat a nice white one with lots of straps and buckles and long sleeves that wrap around the back to save you hurting yourself? Edited June 8, 2007 by Col. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary West Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 (edited) I didn't see the Panorama programme on the MR.2 Nimrod. Was it the expected over-hyped media rubbish or did they actually do a sensible programme for once? Let's put it this way - IF it was factually based, we can thank the BBC for bringing into the public domain the appalling state this government have allowed our Air Force to decay into. Most shocking thing I thought was only 5 of 15 Nimrod's are ever serviceable at any one time. Sounds like something you read about the Albanian AF not the Royal Air Force. Also goes a long way to explain why so many aircraft have been removed from the air show circuit lately - not cost saving or commitments abroad, but we can't keep em in the poxy air. Edited June 8, 2007 by Gary West Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thx6667 Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 On a slightly different note, how simple do people reckon it would be to make an MRA.4 out of Airfix's 1/72 Nimrod? Almost a case of jack-up windscreen and fit new aircraft - the changes are more extensive than at first glance. At one stage the viability of an MR.4 out of the MR.1/2/R.1 tooling was looked into but it would have required so many changes it was just not feasible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenshb Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Just a small factoid from one of my ex colleagues who worked on the flap design for the MR.4 - the wing attacment points of the MR.2 fuselages varied in position by as much as 4 inches, so that each wing would have to be manufactured to a specific fuselage... Jens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedy Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I'm in the RAF and stationed at Boscombe. All of your comments have made me smile, but i'd love to put what i know here, but i've got a mortgage to pay, which im sure you can understand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobski Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I'm in the RAF and stationed at Boscombe. All of your comments have made me smile, but i'd love to put what i know here, but i've got a mortgage to pay, which im sure you can understand I'm starting a job at Warton in September, so I expect I'll be in the same boat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desmojen Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I'm in the RAF and stationed at Boscombe. All of your comments have made me smile, but i'd love to put what i know here, but i've got a mortgage to pay, which im sure you can understand Er, ditto! Jen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I'm in the RAF and stationed at Boscombe. All of your comments have made me smile, but i'd love to put what i know here, but i've got a mortgage to pay, which im sure you can understand Can't you give us some clues using the medium of dance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Most shocking thing I thought was only 5 of 15 Nimrod's are ever serviceable at any one time. Lies, damned lies and statistics eh? That may or may not be misleading. As I understand it, most RAF fleets have more airframes than are actually in operational service as airframes are rotated in and out of storage and major servicing to spread out the hours across the fleet. Perhaps Jen could share more about the Hercules fleet without breaking OPSEC or committing PR suicide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard E Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 (edited) The "five aircraft" may relate to the initial buy of overland surveilence kit used by the that had to be swapped from airframe to airframe as required. Am I alone in wondering why an island nation like the United Kingdom only needs 12 maritime surveilence aircraft and a very small navy ...... Edited June 9, 2007 by Richard E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Lies, damned lies and statistics eh? That may or may not be misleading. As I understand it, most RAF fleets have more airframes than are actually in operational service as airframes are rotated in and out of storage and major servicing to spread out the hours across the fleet. Perhaps Jen could share more about the Hercules fleet without breaking OPSEC or committing PR suicide. The head of the RAF actually confirmed this was the cases. Apparetnyl they are taking parts off some aircraft to keep others flying. This can be standard practice with the RAF, indeed one of the aircraft at Marham was obviously a hanger queen and had been striped down for parts, can happen if an airframe gets over G'ed. However to have only a 30% servicable rate is not good. I thought the programme was on balence good which was a surprise for panorama! Julien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliver Posted June 9, 2007 Author Share Posted June 9, 2007 According to the programme, only 5 out of the fleet of 15 are servicable at any one time, though this year the Air Chief Marshall proudly stated we managed to get 6 operational, whoopdedoo! Of more concern was the fact that in order to get those 5-6 aircraft flyable our engineers are having to scavenge parts from the other aircraft as the spares aren't available and our flying aircraft are suffering alot of fuel leaks, which is speculated to have come from the inflight refueling apperatus. As apperently this was never meant to be a perminant addition to the Nimrod fleet, and only a quick fix for the falklands. Thanks for the info on the MRA.4 folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 Also, don't forget those Nimrods are bloody long in the tooth... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowan Broadbent Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 This is not a problem so long as Al-Qaeda don't have a navy and the Red Banner Northern Fleet stays tied up alongside and rusting at Murmansk...OTOH, maybe someone at the MOD should have a look at some Google Earth piccies of the harbours at Cherbourg and Brest... Cheers, Chris. Quoi, exactement, are you suggestifying, mah leetle cabbarge? You ave erd of zee entente cordiale, non? Anyroadup, Sarco ees goin to ave enuff trebull wiz zee guerre civil, je pense! An bah zee way, ah em entitle to speek write wiz ze phoney French accen, parce que ma warffe ees of zee froggy persuasion et elle me donne un licence - vraiment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobski Posted June 13, 2007 Share Posted June 13, 2007 A little less money on pointless Big Brother domestic surveillance programs and a little more money spent on defence would sort the problems out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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