Harrier GR.3 stores

[Lord Riot]

My next kit will be the 1/48 Airfix Harrier GR.3. Continuing my 80's RAF theme, I'd like to make her as a 233 OCU machine, wrap around camo, circa 86-89. 

 

I'll use the underwing drop tanks, but would it be realistic to add one of those finless ACMI pods like a wingless Sidewinder? I saw someone had made one for an F-18 and it looked pretty cool. What colour were the RAF ones then?

 

It looks like I'll have to add the gun pods as the kit doesn't include the under fuselage strakes. I'm hoping the OCU flew with them fitted.

[Fat fingers]

The wingless sidewinder is an sidewinder acquisition round, which is basically a hollow metal tube with a sidewinder heat seeking head on it. This is to allow simulated air combat (the phantom pilot who shot down the jag in the early 80's, thought he had them fitted)! I have seen the tubes in various colours, light grey, dark grey and dark blue. The head is a live unit so is bronze green.

The OCU did fly with gun pods, it all depended on what stage the pilot's were on the conversion course, to what fit the aircraft was in, ie strakes/gun pods or pods with no guns fitted.

[Fat fingers]

Thinking about it a bit more, other fits would CBLS (practice bomb carrier) or SNEB 252 rocket cans.

[Sundowner14]

1 hour ago, Fat fingers said:

Thinking about it a bit more, other fits would CBLS (practice bomb carrier) or SNEB 252 rocket cans.

Agreed; a standard OCU fit from my time at Wittering in the early 90s.

[Lord Riot]

Thanks guys. So the OCU could have carried one of these ACMI pods then?

 

I need to find some CBLSs in 1/48 - most RAF mud-movers seemed to carry them in the 80s.

[Fat fingers]

A ACMI pod is different beast from a aquci winder, they were fitted in Sardinia when used on the NATO range at Deci. I think a range opened off the north sea in the 90's and the jets flew out of Conningsby. Saying that to the untrained eye, or scale come to that, they do look much the same.

 

 

[Selwyn]

18 hours ago, Fat fingers said:

Thinking about it a bit more, other fits would CBLS (practice bomb carrier) or SNEB 252 rocket cans.

No such thing as a 252 rocket pod, the RAF used M155 pods. The other  SNEB  pod used was the war use only M116. Remember the GR3 Harrier only used the 100 series CBLS not the later and longer 200 series used on Tornado.

 

Selwyn

[st george]

252 is a RAF form I was given a few times if I remember correctly lol.

[Sundowner14]

4 hours ago, Fat fingers said:

A ACMI pod is different beast from a aquci winder, they were fitted in Sardinia when used on the NATO range at Deci. I think a range opened off the north sea in the 90's and the jets flew out of Conningsby. Saying that to the untrained eye, or scale come to that, they do look much the same.

 

 

The ACMI pod was a completely different bit of kit from the Sidewinder acquisition round. Google it; you’ll see that it has a probe sticking out of the front.

 

The range at Deci was primarily used for air combat training - ACMI stands for Air Combat Manouvering Instrumentation. Given that the GR.3 was a mud mover, AFAIK, an ACMI fit would have been rare. Possibly whilst doing an air combat phase on the OCU at Deci, but I never saw the fit whilst I was at Wittering, 91 to 95.

[Lord Riot]

I'll probably leave the ACMI pod for another kit then, hopefully if I ever find an affordable RAF Phantom!

 

Inthink for the Harrier it'll be fuel tanks and possibly something on the outer pylons. What was the most frequent fit on OCU Harriers in the late 80s? Most of the SNEB photos seem to be from the 70s to early 80s. I'm guessing it may have been either empty outer pylons or practice bomb dispensers?

[Fat fingers]

Ah, 155 not 252 of course, what a plonker!

Main GR3 fit on 1 sqd in the late 80's was cbls, tank, cbls on the centre line, tank, sneb. 

The sqd used to go to Deci twice a year, once for APC and the other for air to air (when the acmi pod was fitted).