Thinking how to whiff a Hawkeye

[Mossie]

Another plus for the IFR probe is that the RAF stuck them on everything after the Falklands war.  I agree with Nev, an interim to replace the creaking Shacks until the Sentry's arrived after the Nimrod AEW debacle.

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

I'd definitely go with wingtip ESM pods, and if you're feeling brave...... a V-tail !

Ian

[upnorth]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Definitely the AEW role will be kept. I'm sort of envisioning Britain as an early Hawkeye customer. Possibly as early as the B version.

The Gannet AEW would be only a very interim type until the Britiah Hawkeye order was filled in the late 60s. The FAA's B (Hawkeye AEW.1) version Hawkeyes would be identical to the American versions as they were only on loan until the C/K version could be brought into production.

The loaned B versions had all been handed back to the Americans well before the conventional aircraft carrier had been phased out of British service and the Hawkeye AEW.3 (E-2K) fleet was handed over to the RAF, along with AEW responsibilities for British forces when conventional carriers were decommisioned.

The Hawkeyes filled the gap left by the ill fated Nimrod AEW project and negated the need to convert tired Shackletons to the AEW role.

Over the years, the British Hawkeye increasingly diverged from the American lineage via a series of upgrades to keep it competitive from an AEW standpoint and closely tailored to British requirements. The AEW.3 was disginguishable from the baseline E-2C by the presence of an IFR probe, the absence of an American style catapult tow bar in favour of the older bridle style catapult arrangement in use on RN carriers and prominent RWR units on the wingtips . British production of Hawkeyes was intitially handled by Hawker, and later by BAC.

While the British Hawkeye never officially served in any mark higher than AEW.3, the designation itself encompassed at least four upgrades culminating in the Hawkeye AEW.3 phase IV which was the last British Hawkeye to serve before the type was replaced in RAF service by the Sentry.

Attempts were made to sell the retired RAF Hawkeye fleet, but failed largely because the British aircraft had become so specialized and divergent from the baseline E-2C Hawkeye standard over their service, that nobody wanted them.

I'm planning to build my Hawkeye as an AEW.3 phase III aircraft. Based on the fully British built phase II aircraft, the phase III included a re-winging program that saw the aircraft's wings outboard of the engines replaced with new wings of largely composite construction. Part of this re -winging program was the removal of the wing folding mechanism.

Phase III also saw the RWR system moved from the wingtips to fuselage positions under the nose and tail areas.

For the bulk of the Hawkeye's tenure in the RAF, it was operated By two squadrons 8 and 19. 8 was headquarted at Lossiemouth while 19 was headquartered at St. Mawgan. The OCU for the Hawkeye was at Lossiemouth but was eventually given the 60(R) nameplate and made a shadow unit of 8 Sqn.

The RAF Hawkeye fleet existed as flights of either 8 or 19 squadrons at various locations over the years.

In the final years of the Hawkeye's RAF service, 19 was reassigned to training duties and made a Hawk unit and all remaining Hawkeyes came under 8 Sqn. jurisdiction and were moved to Waddington in preparation for conversion training to the E-3 Sentry.

[Archangel]

An Attack variant would be easy to do. Probably just use some spares from an A-4/A-37 kit and if you need a gun(s) then use either the mini gun pods from an O-2 kit or an A-1 Skyraider. IF you wqant a bigger gun then the 20mm gun pods fron the Hasagawa weapons sets should do add the early ECM pods too For self protection and give it a nice SEA camo with black undersides or the three tone greys used by the AP-2's

[Shasper]

Did someone say IFR?





Did this beaut up a few yrs ago as a KE-2D, new phased array radar & buddy refueling stores added (hey, the bird is already doing a NASCAR thing, why not give it somethinelse to do?)


Shas  

[nev]

Another possibility:

Fit windows and passenger seats. Remove the dome, and you have a nice ATR/Dash-8 competitor

That would be called the C-2 Greyhound

[Supertom]

If you want to be really hardcore, try converting it to a Yak-44, the Russian prop-driver AEW plane.  It was cancelled just after the demise of the Soviet Union.  It bears a passing resemblance to the E-2.  Plus if you could figure out how to replicate those fierce looking counter-rotating, curved props you'd earn the awe of respect of everyone here 

[Maverick]

I did a Littoral Warfare conversion of the Hawkeye in 3 tone greys and gunship mods quite some time ago.

Regards,

Mav

[The Rat]

You seem to be set on AEW, but if you have any second thoughts how about ASW? I'll bet it could haul lots of big-banging stuff.

[upnorth]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I'd go more hardcore on this and really take the plane out of it's known element, but I'm really after a simple build that won't take a lot of time and will satisfy my desire to see a Hawkeye as a RAF AEW platform.

I've wanted to do a Hawkeye up in the RAF hemp over grey scheme for a few years now and made an unsuccessful attempt early on with the Heller reissue of the old Fujimi Hawkeye (that kit's a pig!)

I might pick up another Hawkeye kit or two for future, more extensive, whiffing (read seaplane variant into that, Rat ) but the key for this particular build is "simple". Basically the box stock kit with a different paint scheme and a few lumps and bumps to set it ever so slightly apart from the baseline E-2C variant.

This year has been slow for model building. For those who have been following my increasingly misnamed "summer project" of the bubbletop Hurricane, it's still going and hopefully I can get it done while my girlfriend is on a business trip to South Africa later this month. I've been so close to finished that build for so long that it's driving me nuts, things just keep coming up and getting in the way everytime I think I can get a bit of time set aside for it.

I definitely need a real easy build about now to recharge myself.

[dragon]

Add S-3 Viking engines or some airliner engines (given the scale).
Add counter-rotating turbo-prop engines a la BEAR.

[GTX]

Add S-3 Viking engines or some airliner engines (given the scale).

If I remember correctly, there was a real world proposal a few years back to mod Hawkeyes (or was it C-2 Greyhounds?) with turbofans - will try to find reference/picture.

Regards,

Greg

[Thorvic]

Well you could always do one as an alternative to the Sentinel R1 ?

G

[The Rat]

I might pick up another Hawkeye kit or two for future, more extensive, whiffing (read seaplane variant into that, Rat )

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAA!!!

[Geoff]

It could be that the as the RAF planes could not raise much on the open market when the were retired perhaps a few of them went as a job lot to the RNZAF when they purchased their Agave equiped Jaguars?