P-3 Orion or CP-140 Aurora Arctic & Antarctic AEW variants

[McColm]

Hi,
I've been on the web to find out if my Whiff  a real 'its has been done before and here is the proof' concept.
The idea is to fit skis to the undercarriage same as the LC-130 and P-2V-7LP (LP-2H) & P2V-2N Neptunes.
Although the Orion isn't a STOL aircraft the fitting of two auxiliary jet pods on the wings could compensate for the lack of RATO packs.
The ski variants could undertake long-range search & rescue missions or AEW for customs/MPR missions.

[Litvyak]

Hmmm, if workable I think you've got something, perfect for patrolling the arctic and ensuring sovereignty! And, perhaps a way to find those pesky American and Russian subs sneaking around under Canadian ice!

[rallymodeller]

It's a cool idea, but there really is no need for it. CP-140s routinely do sovereignty patrols now, flying direct from CFB Greenwood; They have the range to do so comfortably (a friend of mine from Air Cadets went on a familiarization flight with 407 Squadron, and the flight was something like 18 hours nonstop round-trip). They can also be deployed from Forward Operating Locations at Iqaluit, Yellowknife, Resolute Bay and Inuvik -- there are existing CF FOL bases at all four airfields, and all four have long, paved runways and more than adequate servicing facilities. In fact, Iqaluit -- formerly Frobisher Bay -- is big enough that Airbus did the cold-weather testing for the A380 there and CF-18s are staged out of Inuvik as a matter of course. This is not to mention Auroras can also operate from semi-prepared airstrips which gives them a dozen or more available airfields north of the Arctic Circle of greater than 5000' length. 

The CF also already uses the Hercules for sovereignty patrolling as well as SAR work in the High Arctic. There are several Hercs that are specially equipped for this kind of work. All the CC-130E and -H models were equipped for RATO but it is so rarely used that it is considered emergency-use only these days (i.e. getting one off a runway used for an emergency landing). It's very telling that he CF saw no need to buy any Hercules ski kits...

[GTX]

Leaving aside the reality aspect (after all the RNZAF for one has been known to operate unmodified P-3s from the ice in Antartica - see photos below), you could probably model a ski/RATO equipped P-3 if you wanted to.  The skis would probably be similar to those used by the P-2 (photo shown below as well) since the undercarriage arrangement is similar.  As for the RATO packs, I would probably have them fitted to the center-section/inner wing pylons on the P-3 (see photo below with circled section).  It trust this helps.

RNZAF Orion in Antartica - note wheel covers:




Ski- equipped P-2 Neptune:



Marked Pylons on Orion:



Regards,

Greg

[rallymodeller]

I think that a rack fitted to the aft section (about parallel with the sonobuoy tubes) would be better.

Actually, found this image that shows a P2V-LP with both skis and JATO units...

Something like that.

[McColm]

Thanks for your support and comments. When I was in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force posted out to Gibraltar, I managed to get a flight on a CP-140 during one of the live exercises. We were jumped upon by two Spanish F-18s,as the pilot strayed too close to Spanish airspace, I loved the crew as I got to play with their toys, rather than the sit quietly and just observe approach used by the USNavy.
Just need to source the skis, I know DJ Parkins do the LC-130 kit, but they might be a little too big. Is there a Neptune ski kit?

[McColm]

Found some skis on an artctic Nomad kit.