All at Sea

[PR19_Kit]

 I think Revell did a 1/144 kit of the 146STA, adding a tailhook & scribing wing folds shouldn't be too difficult if you can find it.

I'm not sure if they did it as an STA but they certainly released the 146 itself.

If you're looking for one ensure it's a later moulding as the early ones had oval engine nacelles! Revell even offered free upgrade sprues to those of us unfortunate to have bought the early ones.

[The Rat]

Just remembered - one that I started last year was a B-25 COD, gotta find it and get it back on the bench.

[Mossie]

 I think Revell did a 1/144 kit of the 146STA, adding a tailhook & scribing wing folds shouldn't be too difficult if you can find it.

I'm not sure if they did it as an STA but they certainly released the 146 itself.

If you're looking for one ensure it's a later moulding as the early ones had oval engine nacelles! Revell even offered free upgrade sprues to those of us unfortunate to have bought the early ones.

Found it!  From what I can gather it's a rare boxing:
Revell BAe 146STA on Modellversium
Revell BAE 146STA box art on Findmodelkit

[Weaver]

Again with COD, wasn't there a proposal to navalise the Bae 146STA?  This would probably make more sense for a carrier aircraft.  I think Revell did a 1/144 kit of the 146STA, adding a tailhook & scribing wing folds shouldn't be too difficult if you can find it.

Yup - there were tanker, COD and EW versions offered. All the drawings are/were in the Avro Heritage Centre at Woodford.

[Weaver]

...There was even talk of a carrier version of the Tornado GR1. The Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm and the Lossiemouth boys would have preferred the F3 with the GR1 nose.

Would you please elaborate? Apart from the obvious storage space issue below deck with the longer snoot, what was the point of going blunt? From whatever references I can find, it doesn't seem that the pointy beak had any major impeding landing view characteristics, but again, I might be badly mistaken.. 

On the original issue - SAAB is currently studying a navalized Gripen. Apparently, most of the structure is existant so it is mainly a matter of beefing up the already beefy landing gear a bit, it seems.

A never explored option by the same manufacturer could have been the Viggen as this machine already had tough enough legs, designed for a sink rate at touchdown of 5 m/s, almost twice the standard rate for land based aircraft. Also, the stability and visibility forward/downward during approach was excellent, a requirement from the RSwAF in order to facilitate STOL landings on very cramped unprepared roads and strips when the bad reds had bombed out the main bases.
Ah, the cold war, when designers had to design for th unexpected rather than a preplanned text book conflict not likely to materialize outside the offices of the finance chaps at the MoD.. 

A navalised Viggen is on my to-do list. Folding JA-37 tail fin and outer wings, twin ventral fins on the wing roots to leave space for an arrestor hook. Gun pod instead of the KCA: hurts, but assuming Sweden's carrier(s) are small, you need the maximum flexibility of as many pylons as possible on your handful of aircraft.

In my mind's eye, I can see it in blue/grey splinter next to a section of island with BEWARE JET BLAST AND ROTORS written on it in Swedish....

[perttime]

If you want Swedish Viggens flying from a carrier, you also need to imagine a Sweden that wants to project power far from its own borders. I think the Baltic is a bit small for carrier operations to make sense.

[PR19_Kit]

Found it!  From what I can gather it's a rare boxing:
Revell BAe 146STA on Modellversium

That looks great! I wonder if it was a Germany only version? Daft if it was but then Revell do have brain fade sometimes. I'd love to get hold of a couple of those kits.

[Spey_Phantom]

i bought a Revell Bae146 a few years back (TNT boxing), and the parts for the STA (IFR probe) was also included.
its currently on my shelf a a Polish Air Force STA, im planning on getting another one day and make it a Belgian one (like the one ive seen at the IPMS stands on various airshows over the years)

[PR19_Kit]

That's good news Nils, thanks. The TNT boxing has been available in UK previously too. Does yours have the STA decals and colour scheme shown too?

[Spey_Phantom]

unfortunaly, no 
only the parts for the STA, not the decals.

[The Rat]

A Swift on a casrrier? It better have had a MASSIVELY long deck or a very pokey catapults!

A Swift needed full 'burner to get off with a decent load on land, and if the 'burner failed it would go in. I saw one do exactly that at Benson in 1958 or so, not fun. 

Well, in my version of events Tiltman Langley Labs (who in the real world should be given more credit than they get for even getting the aircraft into service) solved a few more problems, and the RN accepted it. The advantage of the Swift was the fact that at low altitude it was a damned fine performer, far superior to the Hunter, and could be used in a PR role (which it was in the RW), and as an attack platform.

[Pellson]

A navalised Viggen is on my to-do list. Folding JA-37 tail fin and outer wings, twin ventral fins on the wing roots to leave space for an arrestor hook. Gun pod instead of the KCA: hurts, but assuming Sweden's carrier(s) are small, you need the maximum flexibility of as many pylons as possible on your handful of aircraft.

In my mind's eye, I can see it in blue/grey splinter next to a section of island with BEWARE JET BLAST AND ROTORS written on it in Swedish....

All Viggen's already got foldable fins in order to fit into the cold war nuclear safe rock hangars.


The arrestor hook would ideally be placed alongside the ventral fin or even integrated in it. Such solutions aren't that uncommon. Look f.i on the F-105.


And as the Oerlikon gun of the JA37 is friggin awesome and doesn't interfere with the three existing ventral pylons, I really can't see why you want to leave the gun off.

If you want Swedish Viggens flying from a carrier, you also need to imagine a Sweden that wants to project power far from its own borders. I think the Baltic is a bit small for carrier operations to make sense.

Well, these days, the main task of the Swedish Armed Forces actually by policy is support of international missions such as the Afghanistan one, where there at any time are few hundred Swedish infantrymen and women together with a small helicopter detachment. Also, Swedish corvettes (the largest proper warships in the RSwN) have been heavily involved in the antipiracy work of Somalia as well as the international patrolling of the Gaza coast. Furthermore, half a squadron of RSwAF JAS 39 Gripens performed the lion share of all tactical air recce over Libya last autumn.

So - in the light of the above - why not a proper carrier? As the Viggen basically is able to launch without catapult from any larger carrier, a diminutive ship with cats (think UK Invincible size, but one cat instead of ski jump) would probably be feasible albeit limited in endurance, ammo storage and hangar space. 

[McColm]

The B-17N Sea Fortress, C-47 Dakota or a Biz-jet.

[Hobbes]

So - in the light of the above - why not a proper carrier? As the Viggen basically is able to launch without catapult from any larger carrier, a diminutive ship with cats (think UK Invincible size, but one cat instead of ski jump) would probably be feasible albeit limited in endurance, ammo storage and hangar space. 

The Viggen has a takeoff run of 400 m (http://www.vectorsite.net/avvig.html) so I don't see it taking off with any load without a catapult.

[famvburg]

      I bet that's 0 wind & maybe even clearing the proverbial 50 foot obstacle. What do carriers usually travel for launches? 25 - 35 knots? Consider that 7 remove the obstacle, it might do it.

So - in the light of the above - why not a proper carrier? As the Viggen basically is able to launch without catapult from any larger carrier, a diminutive ship with cats (think UK Invincible size, but one cat instead of ski jump) would probably be feasible albeit limited in endurance, ammo storage and hangar space. 

The Viggen has a takeoff run of 400 m (http://www.vectorsite.net/avvig.html) so I don't see it taking off with any load without a catapult.