BAe 146 - Skynet

[darthspud]

ZP222 the first of 6 BAe146's to 210Sqn RAF
Elint and Maritime reconnaissance aircraft, produced in response to the termination of the MRA4 Nimrod programme, when the capability shortfall became apparent BAe systems were tasked to purchase and outfit these aircraft.
BAe were restricted to extant BAe airframes and with the 146 already in use on 32 The Royal Sqn, ground support and engineers eqpt being widely available, the procurement of surplus frames from desert storage in Nevada proceeded very quickly. From contract award date to first flight was a little under 18 months.  
With side looking Synthetic aperture radars, broad spectrum & multi-phase radar and MAD Boom, as well as underwing droptank and or self defense AAM suite fitted as standard along with inflight refuelling capability and a buddy pack to be able to refuel other aircraft the Skynet 146's quickly became a firm favourite amongst the aircrews.






Kit was the Revell RJ45 1/144
Odds and ends from the spares bin, including the nose off of a Heller T-Bird Harrier, drop tank from a Hurricane.

can't get them bigger, probably cos I uploaded them as .png files.

[Captain Canada]

Very nice. Always been a fan of that aeroplane, ever since I saw one display at the CNE airshow. Nimble and quiet !

Love all the lumps and bumps, and the paint scheme looks good as well. Interesting position for the hard points too. Some bigger pics would be nice.

[sandiego89]

Really ugly- in a perfect WHIF way!

Like the paint and extra bits, especially the MAD boom and drop tank.  Well done.

[pyro-manic]

Can't really see much, due to the tiny pictures. Can we have some bigger ones? Sounds like a neat idea!

[lancer]

I like that. I remember building seperate AEW amd MR versions, both carrier borne, many moons ago. They were even displayed at SMW, but I cannot remember which one.

[Weaver]

That looks neat!

When I worked at Woodford, I used to imagine a coastal MPA version, a bit like the An-72P. We also fantasised about an order for transports to quickly boost the RAF's capability for Iraq/Afghanistan, but it never happened. Ironically, the RAF did end up buying a couple of RJs for exactly that reason, but they were 2nd hand ones and it was way too late to save the production line.

While I was working there though I got to do some work on a camouflaged 146 from a foreign military, had no markings and even if I had asked I wouldn't have been told so I have no clue where it came from or went to, but the image of it has stuck with me as it looked fantastic and I would like to model something similar.

Cammo with no markings sounds like the BAe 146STA prototype. As far as I know, no military flew 146s in cammo. The RAF ones are white or grey.

[Weaver]

That looks neat!

When I worked at Woodford, I used to imagine a coastal MPA version, a bit like the An-72P. We also fantasised about an order for transports to quickly boost the RAF's capability for Iraq/Afghanistan, but it never happened. Ironically, the RAF did end up buying a couple of RJs for exactly that reason, but they were 2nd hand ones and it was way too late to save the production line.

While I was working there though I got to do some work on a camouflaged 146 from a foreign military, had no markings and even if I had asked I wouldn't have been told so I have no clue where it came from or went to, but the image of it has stuck with me as it looked fantastic and I would like to model something similar.

Cammo with no markings sounds like the BAe 146STA prototype. As far as I know, no military flew 146s in cammo. The RAF ones are white or grey.

It was 2 tone dark green (may have been 3 tone, it was a long time ago for my memory), I can remember brushing lots of green on access panels etc... Had a feeling it was heading to Singapore, Indonesia or some other Asian destination above Australia, like so many other aircraft that passed through there.

Was it this one?



If so, it's the STA demonstrator (actually the second prototype). It definately went through Aus some time in 1988.