S-2 Tracker, E-1 Tracer, C-1 Trader, E-2 Hawkeye, and C-2 Greyhound

[kitnut617]

Does anyone have a photo of any of these, google doesn't show anything that I can find

EDIT:  Don't worry, I've found what they are.  I thought they were turbo Tigercats but they are really turbo Trackers

[Captain Canada]

The Turbo Firecat is way cooler than any Turbo Tigercat could ever hope to be.....long live the Tracker !



I wish somebody would come up with a resin prop and nacelle set to build one......

 

[kitnut617]

I'm sure I have seen a conversion, I've got a feeling it was a South American outfit but do you think I can find it now.

[elmayerle]

AVM Models in Chile makes a S-2T "Turbo-Tracker" conversion, but I don't know what would be required to make a Firecat from that.

[kitnut617]

AVM Models in Chile makes a S-2T "Turbo-Tracker" conversion, but I don't know what would be required to make a Firecat from that.

There you go, thanks I knew I had seen it sometime ago.  Do they ever have some neat stuff!

[Jeffry Fontaine]

So there I was looking at "Chrisonord's" S-2 COIN project on the current and finished projects forum board and came up with an idea that has to be shared.  How about a kit bash between the E-2 Hawkeye an the S-2 Tracker?  The advantage is that by mating up the E-2 Hawkeye wings to the S-2 Tracker fuselage you get the advantage of the bomb bay and the shorter fuselage.  Expensive project since it will require purchase of two kits to achieve success but the advantages of the kit bash can not be ignored.  Sure beats trying to build new turbine engine shapes for the S-2 Tracker.  So after you build this kit and turn it into an attack aircraft or counter-insurgency aircraft you can take the radar dome and supports and use that to create a surveillance aircraft WHIF based on your favorite cargo aircraft or airliner so two projects out of the two kits and neither one out of the box. 

"Chrisonord's" S-2 COIN projectThe result would be much like the, proposed and almost procured, S2F-4.

Thanks Jon, 

The first thing that I thought of when I saw that first image was why did you not do a bit of "cross-dressing" between the S-2 Tracker and the E-2 Hawkeye?  It would have been a match made in heaven with the turbine engines and wings from the E-2 attached to the S-2 since it has the bomb bay.  That of course would require plenty of cashola to make it all come together.  Perhaps your next project could involve both subjects with similar results?  I like the addition of the wing tip mounted tanks which really improve the appearance and add a coolness factor surpassed only by spats.  That does look pretty much like what I had in mind with the original S-2 tail.  I will say that the twin tail arrangement in that drawing may start to grow on me after a while. 

[chrisonord]

AVM Models in Chile makes a S-2T "Turbo-Tracker" conversion, but I don't know what would be required to make a Firecat from that.

I was going to buy one of these conversion kits, but they only accept moneygram and not paypal.
I have heard too many bad things about money gram so I didn't get the conversion kit, much to my disappointment of course

[chrisonord]

Thanks Nils. I'm looking forward to the RV scheme 

I got the twin tailfins idea from a combo of the WF-1/E-1B Tracer and the Hawkeye. Most float types need a little extra fin area. Probably the Beaver-style underfin would be easier to do though.

Chris: is that AVM conversion still available? I went to their site and couldn't find it.

The kkit should still be available as I emailed them, and talked several times with the guy responsible for the conversion kits. He wouldn't accept paypal so I had to decline. He quoted me £50 all in to post to the UK. Which would have been quite a good deal at the time
Chris.

[rallymodeller]

The Conair conversion is the PT6-powered one. Conair is part of Cascade Aerospace, and Cascade has a prettygood website.

[chrisonord]

Thanks Chris.

I just had a thought ... is this conversion for the TPE331-powered S-2T Turbo Tracker or for the PT6A Turbo Firecat?

Hya Tommy,
The conversion kit is for the Chilean turbo s-2 tracker, the engine pods are different also from what I recall. I am not sure if the Taiwan turbo trackers are the same as the firecats either.Have a look at these.
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?aircraft_genericsearch=Grumman%20S-2%20Tracker%20(G-89%2FG-121%2FS2F)&distinct_entry=true  

[kitnut617]

In the latest Combat Aircraft magazine there's a small article about the Brazilian Navy who is about to sign an order for some Turbo-Trackers.  The deal depends on whether they can find enough stored airframes that are acceptable for conversion to turbo prop.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Chatting with Tom earlier today about an AEW version of the C-2 Greyhound.  Could call it the Greyhawk to keep part of each name.  Basically an AEW aircraft version of the Greyhound since it would have so much more room inside for equipment and that in turn might make it a bit more comfortable for the crew with that little bit of extra room.  The tail ramp would be retained to allow access to the aircraft.  The whole idea would allow simplification of the assembly line to produce one airframe that could perform COD or AEW missions based on minimal modification to the airframe and the addition or removal of the equipment.  Since both aircraft share the same tail empennage this WHIF could be done using the E-2 kit from Fujimi, Heller, or Hasegawa (all depends on how much you want to spend) and the vacu-form conversion for the C-2 Greyhound.  How about a profile showing this lash-up?

[GTX]

Chatting with Tom earlier today about an AEW version of the C-2 Greyhound.  Could call it the Greyhawk to keep part of each name.  Basically an AEW aircraft version of the Greyhound since it would have so much more room inside for equipment and that in turn might make it a bit more comfortable for the crew with that little bit of extra room.  The tail ramp would be retained to allow access to the aircraft.  The whole idea would allow simplification of the assembly line to produce one airframe that could perform COD or AEW missions based on minimal modification to the airframe and the addition or removal of the equipment.  Since both aircraft share the same tail empennage this WHIF could be done using the E-2 kit from Fujimi, Heller, or Hasegawa (all depends on how much you want to spend) and the vacu-form conversion for the C-2 Greyhound.  How about a profile showing this lash-up?

Great idea   - possibly merege it with the Greyhound 21 proposal as a E-2 replacement:






Regards,

Greg

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Interesting concept.  Personal preference would have the fuselage mounted stores stations removed and the landing gear attached to the fuselage in a fairing (similar to what is found on the C-27 and C-130) allowing the engines to be unencumbered with that additional equipment underneath. 

[GTX]

Chatting with Tom earlier today about an AEW version of the C-2 Greyhound.  Could call it the Greyhawk to keep part of each name.  Basically an AEW aircraft version of the Greyhound since it would have so much more room inside for equipment and that in turn might make it a bit more comfortable for the crew with that little bit of extra room.  The tail ramp would be retained to allow access to the aircraft.  The whole idea would allow simplification of the assembly line to produce one airframe that could perform COD or AEW missions based on minimal modification to the airframe and the addition or removal of the equipment.  Since both aircraft share the same tail empennage this WHIF could be done using the E-2 kit from Fujimi, Heller, or Hasegawa (all depends on how much you want to spend) and the vacu-form conversion for the C-2 Greyhound.  How about a profile showing this lash-up?

If someone can give me a good quality C-2 3-view, I can knock you up a line art profile.

Regards,

Greg