Roles for the retired Nimrod MR2s

[Weaver]

You'd be amazed how small the Nimrod/Comet fuselage cross section is and how little headroom there is in the cabin: I think the Queen would feel it was come-down from the -146....

Incidentally, Antonov do an An-72 interior with luxury accomodation in the front half and cargo space in the back for the limo...

[McColm]

Hi Weaver,
I have met the Queen on six occasions, unless the Queen decides to wear high heels there is no way the height of the cabin of the Nimrod is going to be too low. The width may be a problem.
I'm six foot tall and have flown on the maritime Nimrod for the live exercises in Gibraltar.

[Weaver]

Hi Weaver,
I have met the Queen on six occasions, unless the Queen decides to wear high heels there is no way the height of the cabin of the Nimrod is going to be too low. The width may be a problem.
I'm six foot tall and have flown on the maritime Nimrod for the live exercises in Gibraltar.

LOL - I didn't mean tht she'd literally bang her head, I meant that it doesn't feel like an upgrade when you're used to the cabin of a BAe-146.

[B777LR]

You'd be amazed how small the Nimrod/Comet fuselage cross section is and how little headroom there is in the cabin: I think the Queen would feel it was come-down from the -146....

Incidentally, Antonov do an An-72 interior with luxury accomodation in the front half and cargo space in the back for the limo...

Qaddafi (Or Gaddafi, Qhaddafi, or whichever way you choose to spell it. He uses at least 2 versions himself, and nobody knows the official name) has a couple of those. I think it is the version with under-wing engines though.

[Andrew Gorman]

Jet train?  How about a captive/tracked hovercraft?  Spurred on by a review at modelstories.free.fr I found the Bertin Aerotrain:
http://www.bertin.fr/en/le_groupe_bertin/notre_vocation/aerotrain/
More information and links at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%A9rotrain
Maglev performance with Jet fuel consumption, and it howled like a banshee. C'est tres cool, though.  There was also a stillborn British version, and one in the US as well.

[elmayerle]

Hmm, with that cavernous weapons bay, I can think of several possibilities.  Swap the metallic weapons bay doors for RF-transparent ones and install either a whole lot of ELINT equipment, the equivalent of the JSTARS radar and consoles, or a Phalcon, or equivalent set-up.  I can see several possibilities this way.  Heck, you could even fit out a considerable command and control link and have the equivalent of "Looking Glass".

[Weaver]

Hmm, with that cavernous weapons bay, I can think of several possibilities.  Swap the metallic weapons bay doors for RF-transparent ones and install either a whole lot of ELINT equipment, the equivalent of the JSTARS radar and consoles, or a Phalcon, or equivalent set-up.  I can see several possibilities this way.  Heck, you could even fit out a considerable command and control link and have the equivalent of "Looking Glass".

Or, indeed, you could fit it with a ULF trailing wire antenna and loads of comms gear and make it a UK equivalent of the TACAMO aircraft for controlling the Polaris/Trident fleet. Paint it in RN colours, of course...

[nev]

Oooh, I do like that idea....maybe in 60s/70s RN camo when we had enough money and airframes to do that kind of thing and the nuclear deterrent was taken *very* seriously.

[elmayerle]

Well, since the E-6B and E-6C upgrades add Looking Glass functions to the TACAMO ones of the E-6A, that sounds quite reasonable.  You could probably do the same thing with the MR.2s.

[Cobra]

Think the MR2 would also work as a Communication Relay type aircraft for th UN?? always thought that plane had More to it than some type!!!!!!! stay cool!!!!!!

[McColm]

The BBC stated on one of it's news reports that the Royal Navy flew the Nimrods during the Piper Alpha oil-rig disaster. This story changed when Richard Branson and his power boat broke the Atlantic sea crossing World Record, as the Nimrods were flow by the RAF.

The Nimrod was offered to the USAF and the US Navy.

The Nimrod AEW's radar didn't work as well as the E-3, nor did it have any carpets. Even though the E-3D crews had to buy their own off the shelf GPS equipment.
The Chinese with a little help from the Swedes managed to get the radar working, but this was ten years too late.

As to the BAe-146, as long as Prince Charles isn't flying it, the Queen is quite safe.

The Brits use a different system to talk to their subs, or if Gordon Brown gets his way there won't be many left in service.