Lockheed AWACS

[maxmwill]

For a while now, I have been thinking of an alternate to the venerable Boeing E3 AWACS, and have been contemplating this from the Navy's standpoint.

There is a precedent here, in the form of the EC-121 Warning Star.

Now, that was based on Connie, arguably the most beautiful airliner ever built.

So, thinks I, what if the Navy did to the L1011 what it did to the Connie, what kind of AWACS would the TriStar have made?

And, I have to confess that I am secretly biased, as I have always been in love with the L1011.

[maxmwill]

Actually, I am planning something like that, with the radome on struts one top of the fuselage ahead of the intake of the center engine, with vanes in between struts and intake to provide some flow straightening because of possible turbulence from the struts.

I'm not too sure about the paint scheme, though.

[Captain Canada]

Good question. I wonder about the third engine but you wouldn't think it would be effected. It would still look cool and keep Lockheed in the game longer opens up other ideas 

[maxmwill]

All the engine would care about is that the air coming through the intake is relatively turbulence-free.

I'm planning on taking a 1/200 L1011 and combing the dish and struts from a 1/144 E3 kit.

[Captain Canada]

Sounds like a plan to me !

[maxmwill]

I have a really dumb question to ask, but I'll ask it anyway: What were the colors of the Navy's EC-121's?

[McColm]

The top was always white with blue or grey fuselage. Some had dayglow red tail fins and wingtips, a few had the front of the fuselage painted dayglow red as well.
Generally it was white and blue for the Navy and the Air Force all white or light grey.

[maxmwill]

I've seen some pics of it. What is the name of that shade of blue?

[McColm]

Olive drab was applied to the C-69A straight out of the factory with yellow Lockheed logo .
The VW-1 and some VW-2 s had an all over navy blue colour scheme until 1962 when it was designated as an EC-121K.
The EC-121R had the three tone paint scheme- Batcats.

[jcf]

Fin mounted like one of the early Boeing 707-based concepts. A notion later adopted by Antonov.




Colours would probably be like the late USN EC-121M:


... and being that the aircraft wouldn't enter service until the late '70s, only be in that scheme for a handful
of years before being repainted overall grey with lo-vis markings. 

[maxmwill]

I was never aware of that, either

[jcf]

BTW, Lockheed's entry in the AWACS competition was C-141 based.

[McColm]

I've always wanted to build that, Sanger vacform do the Be-50 Midas AEW version of the iL-76 in 1/72.
A future build for me after the EC-97 AEW with the Hawkeye E-2 Rotodome.

[McColm]

I did try using a Heller 1/72 DC-6B with the Lockheed Warning Star radars. The top one fitted perfectly but the lower radome is a lot wider than the wing- box- section and the ground clearance was compromised.
Might work with the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye Rotodome.

[McColm]

Fin mounted like one of the early Boeing 707-based concepts. A notion later adopted by Antonov.




Colours would probably be like the late USN EC-121M:


... and being that the aircraft wouldn't enter service until the late '70s, only be in that scheme for a handful
of years before being repainted overall grey with lo-vis markings. 

I've gone for the vertical tail mounted APS-125 on a Airfix 1/72 HS/BAe Nimrod MR1
"Mad Hatter" as the Mad Cap had already been taken. I'll refer to the pictures on my other AWACS/AEW builds.