High-speed build

Hobbes · February 27, 2006, 03:03:21 AM

Oh my, that looks great! Can't wait to see the final result.

cthulhu77 · February 27, 2006, 05:55:02 AM

Very nice, great backstory, great jet !

Damian2 · February 27, 2006, 12:15:55 PM

Hmmm need to pick up a lear...maybe a gunship?

GO RALLY GO!!!!

rallymodeller · February 27, 2006, 03:58:01 PM

Well, I figured out the camera problem. Turns out I had a bum USB cable. Just got home from work, and once I artfully set up the pic, they will be presented...

rallymodeller · February 27, 2006, 08:20:51 PM

Right, then. TO hell with the pretty background. If I fiddle with this thing anymore I'll never get it posted. So I submit for your approval:

The MC-21E Pave Lear USCG interdiction aircraft!

Starboard side, with SUU-19/A .50" Minigun pod, Sidewinder and fuel tank

Port side, with SNEB rocket launcher, 'Winder and fuel tank

Underneath, showing SLAR fairing and FLIR turret

Cominagetcha!

As I hinted in my story, this comes from a near-future scenario where South American drug runners have upped the ante in the smuggling game by employing fast business jets and such mounting "off-the-shelf" electronic componentry to try to fool the extensive early-warning networks the US has strung across the Caribbean. The Pave Lear project was a joint program between the US Coast Guard, the USAF and the Department of Homeland Security. Each Pave Lear carries three crew (pilot, co-pilot and systems specialist). They have surface-search belly radar allowing surface target acquisition, FLIR and and AN/APG-65 radar unit for airborne intercept duties. In addition they mount sophisticated ECM of their own allowing, among other things, jamming of GPS and intercept of cellular and satellite transmissions. Although based on USAF C-21 airframes, the aircraft are extensively modified and strengthened for their new roles.

So there. Took longer than I had planned, and there are some things I'm not particularly happy with, but overall I am pleased with the result. I'll probably tweak it some in the coming weeks.

K5054NZ · February 27, 2006, 08:26:42 PM

Talk about breathtaking, literally! I love it!

But who'll be first to do the Learbomber I dreamed up years ago?

Any chance the Pave Lears could be seconded for the strike role?

Brian da Basher · February 27, 2006, 09:12:08 PM

Jeremy that is without a doubt the most fearsome looking Lear I've ever seen! I'm impressed at your imagination and skill at pulling this one off! Incredible!

Brian da Basher

Hobbes · February 28, 2006, 12:01:16 AM

W00t!This is so cool!

And FOUR tanks? How much range do you need?

nev · February 28, 2006, 03:15:32 AM

Works for me

Love the asymmettrical loadout

anthonyp · February 28, 2006, 05:58:30 AM

WWWHHHHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I really like this. This would fit right in with my Coast Guard. I love the low-vis CG paintscheme on the thing.

Anyone know where I can get a 1/72 Learjet?

F-32 · February 28, 2006, 06:03:32 AM

Sweet, lovely job my friend!

Ollie · February 28, 2006, 02:04:44 PM

Wicked!

rallymodeller · February 28, 2006, 06:22:08 PM

Thanks for all the kind words, guys! Coming from y'all, that means a lot.

To answer some questions:

First off, as any coastie aviator will tell you it's all about range and endurance. The Pave Lear (as have imagined it) would be able to take off from it's base (be it Key West, Clearwater, Jacksonville, Mobile or wherever on the Gulf Coast) and stay in the air patrolling for many hours without refuelling. I would imagine that doubling (or more, the other large pylons are plumbed for fuel too) the Lear's already good range would make for an impressive patrol endurance. Perhaps not so important for intercept but remember it is after all a USCG aircraft and SAR is also among the available mission profiles. The belly radar would be ideal for finding life rafts, or what have you.

Could it be used in the ground-attack role? Don't see why not. The pylons could probably accept TER's or Maverick rails with no problem. And the APG-68 radar
(made a mistake in the text above -- I had always meant it to have F-16C radar) is a multi-mode unit with ground attack and bomb-aiming capability.

In answer to a question some might have but have not voiced ( I had to think about this one after loading the pylons), yes, the landing gear is long enough. I see one of the Pave Lear program's modifications being dual-position landing gear (like the FG.1 Phantom's nose gear or the pogo nose gear on CF-5's) with the ability to raise itself a foot or more for clearance. Quick measurement with the kit's main gear shows that in this configuration the drop tanks would be about six scale inches off the ground. So it can raise itself up (while under power). At rest it would naturally settle to the normal gear height. Powered hydraulics and all that. A secondary benefit would be rough field capability when unloaded...

Again, thanks for the praise.

Supertom · February 28, 2006, 07:53:29 PM

Holy crap that's cool. Decidedly A-10nish too.

AeroplaneDriver · February 28, 2006, 08:03:59 PM

Approval enthusiastically given!!!

as for the extra tanks...well the 35 doesnt have the longest legs out there, so all that fuel is definitely a good thing.

High-speed build

K5054NZ

F-32

Ollie