Douglas Skysearcher AEW(K)1

[PR19_Kit]

Soon after the first few cruises carried out by the new large Royal Navy carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, previously entitled CVA-01, it became apparent that the then standard FAA AEW aircraft, the Gannet AWE3, was over-stretched in its tasks and could do with much more range and endurance. Being a propellor driven aircraft fitting a refuelling probe would be no small matter, without considering the difficulties caused by the large speed difference between the Gannet and the FAA tanker Scimitars then in service.

Requests for proposals for a jet powered AEW aircraft met with little enthusiasm from the British aircraft industry due to the small number of airframes likely to be ordered, a maximum of twelve being considered to re-equip the FAA's specialst AEW squadron, 849 NAS. However assistance came from an unexpected direction as the US Navy was winding down its own ECM-cum-tanker fleet of EKA-3B Skywarriors amd a number were offered to the MoD at an attractive price. The EKA-3Bs could be fitted with the existing AN/APS-20 radar taken from the Gannets without lessening any of their existing capabilities and would add to the ability of the FAA giving them an ECM sensing task which was not previously available. As the Skywarriors already had probes fitted as well as hose-reels, drogues and overload fuel tanks, they could fulfill both tanker, ECM and AWE roles in a single aircraft.

To operate such a large and heavy aircraft the steam catapults then installed on the 'HMS Queen Elizabeth' and her newly launched sister ship, the 'HMS Duke of Edinburgh', were uprated and stronger arrestor systems fitted as well. With the existing deck lifts there was no possibility that the EKA-3Bs could be struck down below decks on the CVA-01 class carriers but due to the aircraft's long potential range, as well as their IFR capability, it was thought that major servicing could be carried ashore by 'hot swapping' 839 NAS's four flights between shore stations and the carriers.

Accordingly the US's offer was accepted and some fifteen standard EKA-3Bs were flown across the Atlantic to Marshall Aerospace's base at cambridge airport where they were fitted with the Gannet's radar systems in batches of four. This kept 849 NAS with an operational capability while their much augmented crews worked up on the new American aircraft. It was not lost on the squadron's historian that the unit had changed over from a Douglas aircraft to the Gannets originally as the same AN/APS-20 sets had been carried by Douglas Skyraiders almost since the end of WWII!

The first flight of Skysearchers, as the new type was known in FAA service, took post at RNAS Yeovilton in June 1978, and the number of available Skysearchers steadily increased until the whole squadron had been re-equipped by the Spring of the following year. Of the three spare airframes, one was held at Yeovilton as a local test and trials aircraft, one was allocated to RAE Boscombe Down for clearance tests and later test work, where it recieved the usual Raspberry Ripple scheme during the mid 80s and the third airframe vanished into the FAA's fleet of 'Special Tasking' aircraft, then based at RNAS Brawdy.

Suffering from a number of engine issues with the then un-familiar Pratt & Whitney J-57s the Skysearchers had a relatively short MTBF rate, but this was aleviated by the transfer of some RAF ground staff from RAF Wyton who had been specially trained on the foibles of the J-57 while working on 13 Sqdn's early Mark Meteor PR19s.

The capabilities of the 'Whales', as the Skysearchers became known in the FAA, following the lead of the aircraft's nicknaming by the USN, soon became very much appreciated by their associated squadrons, both aboard the carriers and shore based. Being able to refuel their CAP colleagues while at the same time being able to supply target information and control, not to mention being able to warn of potential enemy radar, SAM and AAA threats was a huge increase in capability.

The later activities of 849's second Douglas manufactured aircraft in the South Atlantic are well known of course, the Whales' capabilities being one of the primary reasons why both Argentinian attempts to invade the Falklands failed ignominiously. Until replaced by the BAe 197 Joint Service Support Aircraft in 2008, the Skysearchers gave long and reliable service to their user squadrons and some examples may still be seen in various aviation museums in the UK and abroad.

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My Blitz Build for Telford, to sit alongside JayBee's AEW Jetstream on the WhatIf side of the Project Cancelled AEW theme, is this pretty well standard Hasegawa EKA-3B but with an Delta Bits Gannet AEW3 resin radome added below its forward section. I can't ever remember buying this kit (!) but found it lurking in The Loft while looking for a suitable 'carrier' for the radome which I'd found earlier. It's not all THAT good, suffering from pretty dire panel fits in places, and one or two large gaps that'll need to be filled, but it sure looks IMPRESSIVE when it's put together! I have a RW ERB-66 Destroyer built up and always thought an A3D would make a good partner for it, so soon it'll have one.

As you can see from the piccies the radome has been grafted onto the forward end of the 'canoe' carried underneath the EKA-3B and faired in with some Milliput that seems to have worked quite well. I'm going to add all the bits that Hasegawa suggest are 'surplus', just because I can  and we'll see how it goes on.

I'm building this in a caravan on the N Devon coast at the moment so facilities are a tad limited, the nearest LHS would seem to be around 50-60 miles away, and around here that may as well be on Mars, but I'll be home late Friday to do serious work on it.

I have two ideas for the colour scheme, one in ESDG and Sky, just like the Gannet AEW3s, and the other in Navy Blue/Grey with white undersides, like 892 NAS's Phantoms. In both cases it'll have the  wonderful black and yellow sunburst with a bumble bee on the fin, as carried by 849's Gannets.

What do you guys think would look best on this Whale?

[Captain Canada]

Beauty ! Love the idea.

[McColm]

Great idea,
I was thinking of building an ASW version of the B-66, using parts from the S-3A Viking; engines ,MAD boom ,inflight refueling probe ,weapon bay and sonar bouy tubes .
I will follow your build with great interest .

[Father Ennis]

Why does it look like a B-66 with warts ?

[PR19_Kit]

Why does it look like a B-66 with warts ?

That's because it IS a B-66 with warts...........................and a hook!  

[Dizzyfugu]

What? Where are the extra U2 wing tips? I am disappointed...

[JayBee]

Why does it look like a B-66 with warts ?

That's because it IS a B-66 with warts...........................and a hook!  

Nah! The A3D came first and was developed into the B-66 for the airforce. First flights were respectively 1952 and 1954.

[PR19_Kit]

Why does it look like a B-66 with warts ?

That's because it IS a B-66 with warts...........................and a hook!  

Nah! The A3D came first and was developed into the B-66 for the airforce. First flights were respectively 1952 and 1954.

You must be one of those JMN fellows................ 

[Army of One]

Those wings long enough........??

[JayBee]

Why does it look like a B-66 with warts ?

That's because it IS a B-66 with warts...........................and a hook!  

Nah! The A3D came first and was developed into the B-66 for the airforce. First flights were respectively 1952 and 1954.

You must be one of those JMN fellows................ 

Just a Total Aviation Person, that's all. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Those wings long enough........??

A serious question! 

[sandiego89]

I have two ideas for the colour scheme, one in ESDG and Sky, just like the Gannet AEW3s, and the other in Navy Blue/Grey with white undersides, like 892 NAS's Phantoms. In both cases it'll have the  wonderful black and yellow sunburst with a bumble bee on the fin, as carried by 849's Gannets.

What do you guys think would look best on this Whale?

Brilliant.  849's yellow and black with the bumble bee is one of the best markings ever.  Perfect.  Think it looks best on the EDSG and Sky.  The Gannet in that scheme sure looked the business. 

The hook up points for the launching bridle look dangerously close to the radome.  My have to fiddle with those, or consider nose gear rework for a launching bar on the nose gear- would require beefing up.     

[TallEng]

Nice
May I humbly suggest overall Dark Sea Grey, with pale blue serial and side numbers,
As per the Buccaneer, late on in its Navy career?
Saves all that pesky masking.

Regards
Keith

[Weaver]

Great project Kit - really neat idea! 

I'm a sucker for EDSG over Sky, but if you find yourself up against it time-wise, you could always do it in an "operational" Falklands scheme of overall Medium Sea Grey (I think that's what it was?) with minimal markings, i.e. the same repaint jobn that the Sea Harriers got in real life.

[PR19_Kit]

Terrific, I ask which of two schemes I should use and you lot give me two votes for one of them and two other schemes I'd never even thought of!  

Glad you like the idea anyway guys, like the original PR19 it came to me in a flash when I found the Slywarrior kit in The Loft.

That's a good point about the cat hook-up points sandiego89, they are directly under the REAR end of the radome and would be totally un-get-atable in service. The time line would allow for a nose leg launch bar so I'll add one and add a bracing bar at the rear too.