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Airfix New Jet provost T3 now in stock!


Selwyn

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Got my kit today and overall I am very pleased, like the grey & day glo scheme so I may do that right away OOB!

However I am disappointed in 3 things - 1. the nose tire; 2. the right main tire; 3. the left main tire!!!

:angrysoapbox.sml: Before I became an Aviator in the RCAF I was an engine tech, so the tires were technically not part of my area of expertise, BUT, on an A-B check I would have called these tires FLAT!! I don't have the info for the J.P. but am willing to bet the tires are inflated to around 100 PSI, gawd Navy jets go above 200 PSI. At these levels tires don't go soft & squishy, no matter how much fuel you squeeze into the jet!!! I looked a group of pics of the J.P. that I have saved for reference and did not see any as flat as Airfix has given us in this kit!! Not even cars or trucks go that flat just under a heavy load! I wish they would go back to giving us round tires and let us decide how to deal with a/c weight! This is MHO but I do believe the pictorial evidence backs me up!!

OK they don't have an emoticon to show one getting down off the soapbox.....

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I am disappointed in 3 things - 1. the nose tire; 2. the right main tire; 3. the left main tire!!!

 

I do agree - it looks as if the JP has been left at the back of the hanger for 6 months with no maintenance. Hopefully we'll get some aftermarket ones to replace these.

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Tires were the same across the Mks 3, 4 and 5.

 

I'm not sure about the Mk1 tho.

 

In the photo's above, although XXW325 was built as a T5 she was never upgraded to T5A standard - you'll note she has no nose strakes and lacks the nose mounted ILS glideslope aerial..

 

She's also wearing the RAF Finningley crest so she ended up as a T5B.

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The T5B designation was an unofficial Finningley thing. LLADTS (the Low Level and Air Defence Training Squadron) had a mixture of T5s and T5As with the tip tanks refitted (to extend the range for the low-level attack sorties and the endurance for the high level air defence sorties). They were all fitted with twin DME, the ex T5As having ILS, the ex T5s not. The ex T5As having nose strakes, the ex T5s not. Hence the designation T5B.

 

The ducks bill aerial on the nose is the ILS glideslope receiver. ILS was only ever fitted to the T5A so the lack of the ducks bill is a dead giveaway that you are not looking at a T5A.

 

The fairing above the ducks bill was fitted to all the T5 variants - this carried a light that was wired through the undercarriage downlock and so would illuminate when the undercarriage was down (an additional system wired through the same switchery would put a 3 pulse tone after any radio transmission) thus telling Air Traffic that your gear was down and locked (students have been known to call the checks without actually doing the checks).

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1 hour ago, Ascoteer said:

.........(students have been known to call the checks without actually doing the checks).

 

Indeed.

 

On one of my earlyish trips my QFI noticed that during the downwind checks in the circuit (when the workload was pretty high for a newish stude) that I was rote reciting "undercarriage going down - three reds - three greens" but was finishing off the "three greens" whilst the undercarriage was still travelling - and so the lights were still red.

 

Classic maxed-out stude trick of saying you're doing the checks - but not actually doing em.

 

Bang on head courtesy of QFI - failed sortie (or dismal mark - can't remember which) and several sweaty sorties of even more intense scrutiny than usual :blush:

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Yup. Been there, got that T-Shirt.

 

I think my most embarrassing moment was an early Dominie CONVEX sortie (bearing in mind I had in excess of 3000hrs at that stage) - I'd been doing assymetric circuits (where you bring the gear up after take off) interspersd with normal circuits (where you don't). Of course I turned finals gear up dspite being convinced the gear was down. What saved me was the undercarriage warning horn going off as the flaps travelled to the fully down position.

 

I managed to initiate the go around before the caravan fired a red verey but it was all very embarrassing just the same. Cost me a few beers that night!

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Looks like the kit is up to £8 on Hattons. I got one for the £4 price. (and wished I had got a couple more) Then ordered an Eduard etch set which cost me 300% more than the kit did! :blush:

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